It is often claimed that tourism is the world largest industry in terms of size of its workforce. Tens of millions of people work in tourism, & even more aspire to gain employment in what is often seen as a glamourous industry.
Tourism is a diverse and complex element of the economy. It is not a single industry but encompassees a number of different sectors or industries. Which is difficult to generalize about employment in tourism.
Human resource challengers in the tourism industry today
High staff turnoverMany tourism organizations appear to find it difficult to attract & retain top class staff, particularly in the hotel sector, because of the following issues:
*The perception of low pay.
*The reputation of some parts of the tourism industry, notably hospitality, for discrimination on the grounds of sex & race.
*The long working hours involved in many jobs.
*The lack of clear career path.
*The often poor working conditions.
The turnover can be at a high cost, which can leads to poor customer services & greater costs for the industry through recruitment & training expenses.
Some of the most effective ways of reducing the turnover rates appear to br training, job enrichment & mentoring. However, it would be wrong to generaliz that high turnover is a problem throughout the tourism industry. It tends to be much less of an issue for the following:
*The airline sector where pay & working conditions are generally quite good.
*Government tourism organization which tend to offer better career paths & equitable salaries.
*Those small-medium-sized enterprises & family owned business.
*Locations with few other jobs opportunities, where alternatives jobs may involved.
Jobs or Carerrs ?
Many people seem to find it difficult to view a job in tourism as a career. & they are often seem as a short-term jobs. With few long-term prospects. As a result in :
*The facts that many jobs are seasonal, part-time, causal & do not pay enough to be some's sole source of income.
*A lack of training that would allow good staff to develop their skills over time, so they could be fitted into supervisory and management positions.
*Relatively few promotion opportunities for the 'best' frontline staffs.
This is an unfortunate because the future success of the industry may well develop on its ability to attract people who will stay within the industry for their whole careers.
Souce: International cases in tourism management Susan Horner & John Swarbrooke