Belias D., Trivellas P., Koustelios A., Serdaris P., Varsanis K. & Grigoriou I. (2016). Human resource management, strategic leadership development and the Greek tourism sector. 3rd International Conference with the theme “Tourism, Culture and Heritage in a Smart Economy”. Athens, May 19 – 21, 2016. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics

Human resources management and strategic leadership development are considered essential in all economic sectors, aiming at the design of recruitment, retention and professional development practices of employees and the effective implementation of the strategic planning process. During recent years, in Greece, there has been a shift within the tourism industry towards high quality services including competitive customer service with fairly high-ranking position globally. Several questions arise as regards whether or not the applied strategies - or lack of certain strategies – respond to high quality service needs of tourism organizations and to the overall development of the tourism sector in Greece. A profound understanding of the need to design high-quality human resource management practices is vital for a comprehensive tourism strategic planning. Initially, in order to answer to all issues raised, the relevant literature has been reviewed. Subsequently, the paper describes the current situation of the Greek tourism sector and elaborates on HRM and strategic management concepts. It also examines service quality as an important prerequisite for attracting customers and as an essential strategic tool boosting tourism business performance. Keywords: tourism, human resource management, strategic leadership, strategic planning, Greece