Data Scientist in Tourism: Needs, Skills, and Scope

Abstract

Data scientists have become one of the coolest professions of the twenty-first century. Amid the rising and unmet demand for data scientists, organizations are offering the most lucrative salary packages possible to this profession, and education institutions are scrambling to offer data science courses. On the other hand, despite tourism being a highly information-cum-data intensive sector, where big data and digitalization increasingly play a greater role, the literature on data science is extremely limited. Therefore, the present study has attempted to scholarly postulate the needs, skills, and scope of data scientists in the tourism sector. The needs section is built upon three types of trends such as megatrends, micro-trends, and sectoral trends, which justify the need for data scientists in tourism. A general notion of the data scientist skillset, the main focus of this study, is conceptualized in the next section. The present study also calls for future in-depth research studies on the aspect of data science skills especially in the context of the tourism domain. Lastly, the scope of data scientists in the tourism field has been framed across the business sector, research sector, governance sector, and smart tourism, including the future growth prospects and the importance of these skills in human lives and society.

Recommended citation: Sharma, S. (2024). Data Scientist in Tourism: Needs, Skills, and Scope. In: Sharma, A. (eds) International Handbook of Skill, Education, Learning, and Research Development in Tourism and Hospitality. Springer, Singapore.
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