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Global Aspects of Careers and Employment
Tourism as an industry is characterised by international and domestic travel and is global
in nature. Therefore it is important to consider career and employment in a global context.
Central issues relevant to careers and employment in the tourism industry at the global
scale are the importance of tourism employment, the movement of labour internationally,
and job losses.
There is little doubt that tourism is a labour-intensive industry. The tourism industry
provides a mechanism for generating employment opportunities for both developing countries
with surplus labour and for industrialised countries with high levels of unemployment
(Cooper et al., 1998). The potential for job creation identifies tourism as a positive agent
for change, resulting in governments using tourism as a development and regeneration
strategy (Andriotis & Vaughan, 2004). Furthermore, in areas where other sectors of
employment have declined, for example, in agriculture or heavy industry, tourism often
becomes the main source of employment. As has previously been identified, the quality of
these jobs is questionable, with a lack of higher level jobs resulting in a lack of career
development. However, one feature of tourism employment is that while some jobs are
directly related to travel and tourism and may suffer from the above characteristics, other
jobs are produced as a result of the indirect effects of tourism. These jobs often do not suffer
from the same characteristics (Cooper et al., 1998). Whatever the merits or problems
of tourism jobs, and the difficulties in gaining accurate statistics on employment notwithstanding,
it is clearly an important source of employment on a global-scale.
Linked to increasing globalisation is the issue labour mobility. Evidence on labour mobility
from other employment sectors into tourism is provided by Szivas et al. (2003). Areas that
are developing for tourism have to draw labour from somewhere, and depending on unemployment
levels and the availability of skills, labour into tourism will either come from other
areas or from other sectors of the labour market. With the move towards more liberalised
employment opportunities particularly within the European Union, and with many global
organisations such as hotels and airlines hiring from a global labour market, there are career
and employment opportunities available in tourism that cross international boundaries. One
of the problems with this movement of labour on an international scale is the recognition of
tourism qualifications. Tourism qualifications that can be recognised internationally is an
issue currently being addressed by the Education Council of the WTO. One certainty is the
importance of language abilities for employees in tourism, and the ability to speak at least
three major languages is often a requirement for employment in global tourism corporations.
A recent threat to the travel and tourism industry on a global scale is the issue of job losses.
Belau (2003) from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has identified that a combination
of economic stagnation, safety concerns in view of recent security events, the effects
of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and hostilities in the Middle East has resulted
in a downturn in the travel and tourism industry that began in March 2003. Without significant
improvements, the ILO predicts that 5 million jobs, representing 6% of the industry’s
total employment will be lost. The effects would not be the same in all regions, but countries
experiencing the direct effects of the above would be the most seriously affected. The ILO
also identify additional factors that could further affect job losses. These are that reductions
in labour made in the short term tend to become permanent, as existing staff cope with the
demand using new working methods and flexibility, and the modernisation of working methods.
In Germany, TUI the world leader in tour operating, recently announced a US$280 million
cost-cutting programme for 2004, with the possible loss of 2000 jobs (Belau, 2003). As
with many other industry sectors, downturns and job losses are always a possibility. |
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Posted: 3-14-2009 08:32
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