TOURISM PETER ROBINSON MICHAEL LÜCK STEPHEN L. J. SMITH

Tourism as Employer 3

Learning Objectives To understand the scope of the tourism sector as an employer To evaluate the skills required to work within the tourism sector To understand the roles, responsibilities and structures that exist within tourism employment

A major employer in many nations Still evolving as a career choice Reputation for low pay, lack of career advancement Programmes in some nations to change status of tourism and hospitality careers Very few large employers –Dominated by SMEs or even individual business owners Working in Tourism

Increasing professionalism Continuing challenges –Low pay with long hours in some cases –Many jobs are seasonal only (both a weakness and a strength) –Overwhelming percentage of firms are SME but employment is dominated by a small number of large enterprises –Some occupations becoming ‘deskilled’ Trends in Tourism Jobs

Location of job Chance to travel Co-workers Making people happy Working in conservation, arts, community Chance to develop broad skill set Rewards of Tourism Employment

Structure often represented by organizational chart Larger organizations: more job specialization; less so in smaller organizations Structure likely to change over time – more staff, new challenges for organization Management of Tourism Organizations

Balance in achieving goals, accomplishing immediate tasks, rewarding good employees Models –‘Scientific’ management or ‘Taylorism’ –Bureaucratic management –Administrative management –Operations management Management of Tourism Organizations

Special challenges –Volunteer management Essential in many organizations Motivations and rewards are different than for paid employees Must recognize obligation to organization and clients/guests Can bring valuable perspectives to task Management of Tourism Organizations

Special challenges –Managing retention High turnover common in tourism Give future employees a realistic job preview Make line managers accountable for staff turnover in their teams Maximize opportunities for promotion Ensure employees have a ‘voice’ Provide flexible working hours and as much job security as possible Management of Tourism Organizations

Personal effectiveness/good decisions Communication Teamwork Critical thinking Reflection General Skills Required for Tourism Employees