01-02 / 2024 / Volume 13

In accordance with the concept of sustainable development, the paper deals with the issue of entrepreneurial competencies in tourism subjects in protected areas. The topic of managerial competencies, competency approaches and the set-up of competency models are among the significant tools ensuring the performance of companies and their competitiveness in the market in the current highly variable and unstable world. In tourism, the topic of sustainability is addressed simultaneously with this issue. The concept of sustainable tourism aims to reduce the negative effects of growing tourism. It combines travel with environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, but it also covers socio-cultural and economic aspects. Based on the identification of basic entrepreneurial competencies, the paper proposes a competency model for tourism entrepreneurs active in protected areas and ways of developing the competencies of entrepreneurs in the tourism industry so that they correspond to the requirements of sustainability. The proposed competency model contains eight competencies. For each competency, three basic skills are listed, and the weight/importance of each competency is additionally determined. The most important competencies for managers in tourism enterprises in protected areas are entrepreneurial, ecological, ethical, operational, cooperative and personal competencies. Other desirable competencies are technical and multicultural competencies. Tourism entrepreneurs in their training should focus on the development of basic management skills, but also on specific management skills related to the environmental and social impacts of their businesses.