Differences in perception of the importance of generic competencies among destination regions

This paper focuses on establishing the level of the gap in the perception of the importance of generic competencies among respondents from different regions within a tourism destination in transition. Montenegro and its tourism sector are taken as an example, with its three geographical regions: coastal, central and northern region. The research is based on a survey of respondents (employees in the tourism sector and students on internship) in hotels, travel agencies, tourism organisations, museums, national parks, ports of nautical tourism and business units of airline companies. The study seeks to establish the level of the gap in the perception of the importance of generic competencies of respondents among the aforementioned regions in the destination. In addition to identifying the differences, the study seeks to identify the strength of links between certain aggregate and individual generic competencies, among and within the coastal, central and northern region of Montenegro, a country whose tourism sector is in the transitional process of accession to the European Union. This survey can serve as a good example for future practical and theoretical research in the field of generic competencies and regional affiliation of human resources.