Kosovo's hospitality and tourism sector has significant potential to create productive employment and support economic growth, but persistent gaps between the skills taught in training programmes and those needed by employers are limiting opportunities for young people, according to a new assessment by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The ILO report, "The vocational education and training system in Kosovo: addressing skills needs in the hospitality sector", finds that existing qualifications and training programmes do not yet fully reflect the industry's evolving needs. It calls for updated and more flexible qualifications and curricula, with greater emphasis on customer service, digital, green and entrepreneurial skills, supported by more systematic use of labour market information.
The assessment also identifies fragmented governance, insufficient employer engagement in curricula development and training delivery and uneven implementation of work-based learning as key challenges. While the expansion of dual vocational education and training (VET) represents important progress, other forms of work-based learning also need to become more structured and consistent, with clearer arrangements between training providers and businesses, stronger coordination and supervision, and closer alignment with curricula and learning outcomes.
Stronger quality assurance and better VET data are equally important. Fragmented data systems and the lack of systematic studies tracking graduates' employment outcomes make it difficult to plan effectively. Better links between VET and labour market information could support more responsive decision-making.
The report also calls for more strategic investment in modern training facilities and equipment, considering functionality, occupational safety and health, energy efficiency, accessibility and effective use of resources. Other priorities include more sector-specific career guidance, expanded recognition of prior learning and stronger measures to improve access to VET for underrepresented groups.
To address these challenges, the report recommends developing a comprehensive skills strategy for the hotel, restaurant and catering (HoReCa) sector, informed by labour market information and shaped jointly by public institutions, training providers and social partners - the representative workers' and employers' organisations. It also calls for strengthening the HoReCa Tripartite Sectoral Skills Council as a mechanism to ensure more systematic engagement of employers and workers in identifying skills needs and shaping qualifications, training programmes and work-based learning.
Overall, the assessment finds that Kosovo has important foundations to build on. Stronger coordination, greater involvement of social partners and targeted investment in relevant, high-quality training could help create a more responsive skills system and enable the hospitality sector to realise its potential for decent work and for Kosovo's youth.
