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Vocational interest in the tourism/hospitality industry has now become an important research field as a consequence of the rising economic prominence of this industry within many countries.

The role of tourism/hospitality industry management in ensuring service quality is now generally regarded as being of considerable importance. Notwithstanding this, relatively little is known about the preconceptions and expectations regarding the management role that potential tourism/hospitality industry employees bring to the workplace. This study has examined the expected problem‐solving styles of hospitality industry management when faced with a complaint about visitor‐staff conflict. The sample was drawn from school leavers in a major district community, many of whom would soon seek employment and careers in the tourism/hospitality industry. Two major problem‐solving styles were identified, one involving Investigation of the complaint, and one involving Avoidance and possibly rudeness. Major Service Quality Ideals were also identified as predictors of each management problem‐solving style. Finally, the implications of these findings for tourism/hospitality industry management and for employees are explored.

Examines the relationships among a set of management values, a set of tourism and hospitality industry job adaption/advancement strategies, measures of the work ethic and a range of socio‐demographic measures within a sample of Australian high school students from a major tourism host community. Most students would elect to gain further qualifications and skills in order to obtain a better position within the tourism and hospitality industry. Most students regarded as important the need for management to require employees to: achieve highly; maintain amicable relationships with fellow workers; demonstrate autonomy in their job performance; and abide by sufficient regulations and rules for the smooth running of the enterprise. Explores the implications of the study for the tourism and hospitality industry.

This study has examined prospective employees' perceptions regarding a tour guide position, together with a range of entrepreneurialism and work context preference variables. It has been found that this type of position is relatively highly regarded among many respondents, as was self employment and small firm employment as work context preferences. It was also found that effective communication was the most prominent entrepreneurial perspective and was consistently revealed to predict an employment interest in this type of work. The implications of these results as well as suggestions for further exploration of this area are also examined.

Social interaction is a vital facet of life for all age‐groups; for older individuals, the exercise of interpersonal exchange, and the expectation of an accompanying sense of well‐being, can assume an even greater importance when other aspects of life no longer provide opportunities for positive reward. Sociability experiences are likely to influence major indicators of both emotion and cognition, such as life and context satisfaction. The demonstration of personal competence, as may be found in the exercise of problem‐solving strategies, is also an important facility for seniors. This study of both domestic and international senior tourists has examined preferences for travel planning as the expression of a measure of personal control that are associated with sociability needs in regard to family and friends, cultural contacts, entertainment and nightlife, and to retail experiences. Also examined was the extent to which various sociability needs and planning control preferences influence measures of destination satisfaction, intention to return and also a willingness to recommend the destination. This study has found that seniors with higher sociability needs for cultural contact and associated with family and friends would more likely perceive the necessity to prepare for their trip, and also would express higher levels of satisfaction; destination satisfaction was also found to be associated with both the expressed intention to return to the destination, and also a willingness to recommend the destination to others; travel planning was not found to be associated with destination evaluative measures. Implications of these findings for destination managers and for researchers in the senior travel domain are considered.

The ethical principles that potential tourism/hospitality employees bring to this industry have, only in the last decade or so, begun to receive research scrutiny. Fundamental ethical beliefs, it is suggested, are likely to have wideranging implications in regard to issues such as management style and workstress problem‐solving, particularly in the face of perceived indifference or injustice among prospective employers and supervisors. Ethical beliefs accompanying prospective employees are likely to be attended by expectations regarding the validity and efficacy of particular workstress problem‐solving strategies perceived to be displayed by tourism industry management. This study has examined four basic ethical principles that are at the core of optimal employee functioning: efficiency, reliability, Initiative and hardwork; the paper has also examined a range of perceived tourism industry management workstress response strategies among a sample of potential tourism industry employees, particularly as those perceptions may be mediated by basic workplace ethical beliefs. Major perceived workstress problem‐solving responses by tourism industry management were found to involve the enhancement of workplace trust, workplace communication, and global management change within the workplace. More highly rated ethical ideals involved showing initiative and responsibility, whereas lower rated ideals were efficiency and hardwork. It was also revealed that ideal ethical ratings for initiative, responsibility and efficiency were higher than perceived ethical expectations among tourism industry management; potential tourism industry employees rated hardwork lower than they believed tourism industry management would so do. The response of trust emerged as the most valued of the workstress alleviation responses, and was found to be associated with most of the ethical principles. The global management change response was also found to be associated with similar ethical principles, though to a lesser degree; the communication workstress response was also found to be a prominent management workstress response expectation, though was not revealed to be predictive of the four workplace ethical principles. Implications of these findings for human resource management operations within the tourism/hospitality industry, and for further research directions, are presented.

Investigates problem‐solving response styles among a sample of school leavers, many of whom will soon seek employment in the hospitality/tourism industry. Also explores a range of human resource management variables which may predict major response styles. Notes the emergence of two fundamental response styles, one involving avoidance of the problem and one involving the acquisition of more information in the solution of the problem. A variety of hospitality/tourism industry occupational and work context preferences has been found to predict both response styles, as has a range of service quality ideals such as being calm in a crisis, neat appearance and being blunt. Finally, examines the implications of these findings for management within the hospitality/tourism industry and for individual employees.

Examines mood state stress responses among a sample of Australian hospitality industry employees, together with relevant personality and attitudinal measures. Finds that high work satisfaction was associated with the major prominent mood states of cheerfulness and enthusiasm, whereas low work satisfaction was associated with miserableness as an ongoing mood state.

Relatively little is known about basic educational goals and preferences among prospective hospitality/tourism industry employees. Relationships between hospitality/tourism career preferences and educational expectations have generally not been explored among this important group of people. Hospitality/ tourism job application letters prepared by 319 Australian secondary school students have been examined, together with a range of educational and teaching values so as to explore the learning and skilling aspirations of a sample of prospective hospitality industry employees. Problem‐solving emerged as the most favoured skill to be derived from the educational process. Those prospective hospitality/tourism industry employees more likely to advance their candidature by mentioning qualifications as well as personal and vocational attributes were also more mindful of the benefits of problem‐solving both within their present studies and also later in their professional life. The implications of these findings for hospitality/tourism as well as for prospective employees are examined.