SOFT SKILLS AS KEY COMPETENCIES OF TOURIST ENTERPRISE STAFF AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The article discusses the skills most important for graduates of the HEI in the field of tourism and the hospitality industry, to ensure their competitiveness in the labor market. The pace of development of almost all spheres of activity, as well as the acceleration of integration on the European continent and in the world, determine the relevance of the development of such educational programs, to ensure minimum workplace adaptation time. To achieve this goal, educational institutions that train for the hospitality industry need information about the criticalpoints in the stakeholder assessment of the programmatic results of the educational program. The study identified a critical need for the «soft skills», the most important of which are leadership, the ability to quickly solve problems, communication, teamwork, flexibility and personal interaction in a multicultural, dynamic and multilingual environment. The majority of students believe that soft skills are skills acquired in the workplace to navigate in their environment and good work. This view coincides with the assessment of respondents from another group. Managers also believe that soft skills contribute to better performance of official duties.The purpose of the survey was also to understand the awareness of students and managers of the hospitality industry about the importance of individual soft skills for work in enterprises that serve tourists and provide hospitality services. The questionnaires were asked to select the most important from the following set: leadership, teamwork, communication, work ethic, problem sol-ving, flexibility and interpersonal skills. A comparative analysis of the attitudes of students and managers to the importance of soft skills for employment and subsequent career advancement, to mastering certain soft skills during the period of study at the university and the function of certain skills to adapt a young specialist to dynamic working conditions in the field of tourism and hospitality showed that the two groups disagree on a number of issues. This suggests that educational programs and teaching methods need to be adapted to the requirements of the labor market. Keywords: soft skills, tourism, hospitality