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Publication date: 23 September 2022

Shem Wambugu Maingi and Hildah Mumbi Wachira

Kenyan Small and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs) have been highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the tourism workforce had to face lockdowns and travel…

Abstract

Purpose

Kenyan Small and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs) have been highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the tourism workforce had to face lockdowns and travel restrictions. In order to maintain business and operational continuity, the tourism workforce had to leverage on internet technologies and digitalisation as a means of enabling business continuity and providing value addition in their supply chains. This study sought to investigate on the extent to which digital skills aid in the tourism recovery process as well as improve the employees' well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic among SMTEs in Nairobi City County.

Methodology

The study took a qualitative approach based on constructivist grounded methodological approaches that emphasised specifically on the discovery of emerging trends and patterns in behaviour as well as development of new theory. The aim was to understand the tourism workforce recovery process using digital skills. The process involved data gathering from interview participants, qualitative emic and etic coding, analytical memo writing, theoretical sampling and reconstructing theory.

Findings

The findings of the study showed that due to losses attributed to the lockdowns and travel restrictions, prospective digital business models have been formulated for tourism stakeholders during the lockdown period. The changing technological landscape globally showed that digital skills will continue to be in great demand to meet the needs of the marketplace. Further, the use of social digital tools to build a mental health response to COVID-19 was instrumental to the recovery process. Technological resilience is a key factor that will play a role in reviving the sector.

Research Implications

A structured vision, roadmap and tourism strategy for mainstreaming digital skills and developing technological resilience within the tourism and hospitality sector is important towards coping and adaptive strategies for the SMTEs in the Kenyan context.

Originality/Value

This study examines how digital skills are vital for tourism recovery especially for the SMTEs within the developing countries context.

Details

Tourism Through Troubled Times
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-311-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 June 2022

Roya Rahimi, Yilmaz Akgunduz and Anil Bilgihan

The current study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health and career perspectives of the future workforce of the tourism and hospitality industry in…

Abstract

Purpose

The current study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health and career perspectives of the future workforce of the tourism and hospitality industry in the UK. The paper is based on theories of emotion and focuses on the interplay role of three factors of fear of COVID-19, depression, and future career anxiety.

Design/methodology/approach

The current research uses a mixed-method approach in two studies to answer the research questions. First, an online questionnaire was distributed among 197 current tourism and hospitality students in the UK. In the second phase through a qualitative approach and 17 semi-structured interviews, a more in-depth approach was taken to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the future career perspectives of the respondents.

Findings

Findings reveal a high level of mental health disorders among respondents. The majority of respondents suffer from some sort of mental health conditions/disorders that affect their moods, thinking, and behaviors. The results further show that the fear of COVID-19 causes depression which results in career anxiety.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that the future tourism workforce in the UK is likely to suffer from some sort of mental health disorder that can influence their performances in the workplace. Companies are advised to make adjustments that help to protect the well-being and psychological health of their staff.

Originality/value

Previous studies used a snapshot in time only with a focus on the immediate and short-term effects of the pandemic. In the current study, by taking a long-term impact approach, the authors attempted to understand the psychological impact of the COVID-19 on the future workforce of the tourism industry in the UK and offered practical implications for stakeholders.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2014

Paul Barron, Anna Leask and Alan Fyall

The purpose of this study is to present strategies that hospitality and tourism organisations might adopt as a means of encouraging employee engagement, thus enabling the more…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to present strategies that hospitality and tourism organisations might adopt as a means of encouraging employee engagement, thus enabling the more effective management of an increasingly multi-generational workforce. This paper evaluates current strategies being adopted that might encourage employee engagement by a selection of hospitality and tourism organisations and develop recommendations for organisations wishing to more effectively engage the multi-generational workforce.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a mixed methods approach and presents findings based on a series of semi-structured interviews with management and self-completion questionnaires aimed at employees.

Findings

The relationship between the supervisor and the employee remains a key enhancer regarding engagement and employees are increasingly demanding more contemporary methods of communication. Employers should take note of generational characteristics and adopt flexible policies attractive to all employees.

Practical implications

This paper contributes no t only to the debate regarding generational differences in the workplace but it also identifies that the various generations evident in tourism organisations are desirous of similar working conditions and benefits. Organisations should consider the development of a range of packages that focus on linking employees with their purpose, their colleagues and their resources as a means of encouraging employee engagement.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the debate regarding employee engagement and compares and contrasts initiatives that various tourism and hospitality organisations are adopting as a means of encouraging employee engagement. The study also elicits the views of the organisations employees to understand the extent of the effectiveness of such initiatives and makes recommendations regarding the most effective initiatives from both a management and employee perspective.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 69 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 79 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2003

Pat Wood and Chandana Jayawardena

Features a realistic perspective of the current hospitality and tourism paradigm in Cuba. Previews the newly released hospitality and tourism education strategy to be rolled out…

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Abstract

Features a realistic perspective of the current hospitality and tourism paradigm in Cuba. Previews the newly released hospitality and tourism education strategy to be rolled out in 2003. Provides an evaluation of the tourism and hospitality industry environment, education environment, workforce and change in policy. The authors made three research trips to Cuba in 1997, 2001 and 2002. A series of elite interviews were conducted in Cuba, Jamaica and the UK with senior Cuban policymakers. Current data and views from Cuban partners and practitioners are used to inform the discussion. Cuba continues to be one of the most mystical tourist destinations in the world with a phenomenal growth rate during recent years. The new tourism education strategy is a key for Cuba to once again become the number one destination in the Caribbean.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 November 2020

Juan Tang, Cevat Tosun and Tom Baum

To address Generation Z’s role in the emerging workforce, this paper aims to examine Chinese Generation Z’s subjective well-being (SWB) during their internship in the hospitality…

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Abstract

Purpose

To address Generation Z’s role in the emerging workforce, this paper aims to examine Chinese Generation Z’s subjective well-being (SWB) during their internship in the hospitality and tourism industry through the lens of Chinese cultural values. It explores the extent to which Gen Zs identify with Chinese cultural values and the influences of Chinese cultural values on intern students’ SWB which, in turn, predicts their future job intentions in this industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a normative model to contextualize the multi-dimensional interactions between Chinese cultural values, intern students’ SWB, and their future job intentions in the hospitality and tourism industry. A survey as the main data collection method was used with 400 respondents in Macau, China in testing hypotheses and analyzing the direct and indirect effects of these interactions.

Findings

The paper provides empirical insights into the way that Generation Z’s SWB is influenced by Chinese cultural values. Findings show that Chinese intern students’ average SWB in the workplace was above average. It also suggests that two cultural dimensions can be identified as playing a significant and salient role in shaping their SWB in the workplace as well as their future job intentions, namely, attitudes toward work and job-related face values. However, no significant relationships with the other three dimensions of CCVs were found to influence their SWB or future job intentions, namely, attitudes toward people, moral discipline and status and relationship.

Research limitations/implications

This research results may lack generalizability because the respondents chosen in Macau cannot be fully representative of Chinese Generation Z. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to widen the respondent base. Furthermore, cultural influences are tempered by many macro-contextual factors. Although this study focuses on unpacking Generation Z’s mental status from the level of national culture, other factors such as organizational considerations warrant future academic attention.

Originality/value

This paper addresses a research gap by identifying the influences of cultural values on the SWB of intern students which, in turn, affects their future job intentions in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 32 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 July 2020

Tom Baum, Shelagh K.K. Mooney, Richard N.S. Robinson and David Solnet

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hospitality workforce in situ between mid-April and June 2020.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hospitality workforce in situ between mid-April and June 2020.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a viewpoint paper that brings together a variety of sources and intelligence relating the impacts on hospitality work of the COVID-19 pandemic at three levels: macro (global, policy, government), meso (organisational) and micro (employee). It questions whether the situations faced by hospitality workers as a result of the pandemic are seed-change different from the precarious lives they normally lead or just a (loud) amplification of the “normal”.

Findings

In light of the fluid environment relating to COVID-19, conclusions are tentative and question whether hospitality stakeholders, particularly consumers, governments and the industry itself, will emerge from the pandemic with changed attitudes to hospitality work and hospitality workers.

Practical implications

This raises questions about hospitality work for key stakeholders to address in the future, some of which are systemic in terms of how precarious labour forces, critical to the global economy are to be considered by policy makers, organisations in a re-emerging competitive market for talent and for those who chose (or not) to work in hospitality.

Social implications

This paper contributes to ongoing debates about precarious work and the extent to which such practices are institutionalised and adopts an “amplification model” that may have value in futures-orientated analysis about hospitality and tourism.

Originality/value

This paper is wholly original and a reflection on the COVID-19 crisis. It provides a point of wider reference with regard to responses to crises and their impact on employment in hospitality, highlighting how ongoing change, fluidity and uncertainty serve to magnify and exacerbate the precarious nature of work in the industry.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 32 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Le Huong, Connie Zheng and Yuka Fujimoto

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employee perceived well-being and the four dimensions of organisational justice, namely, procedural, distributive…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employee perceived well-being and the four dimensions of organisational justice, namely, procedural, distributive, interpersonal and informational justice, and how dimensions of organisational justice affect employee well-being in the Australian tourism industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample is selected from employees who work in the tourism industry in Australia, and the survey was conducted online (n=121). Factor analysis is used to identify key items related to perceived organisational justice, followed by multiple regression analysis to assess the magnitude and strength of impacts of different dimensions of organisational justice on employee well-being.

Findings

The results support the established view that organisational justice is associated with employee well-being. Specifically, informational justice has the strongest influence on tourism employee well-being, followed by procedural justice, interpersonal justice and distributive justice.

Research limitations/implications

The authors acknowledge key limitations in the study such as a relatively small sample size and gender imbalance in the sample.

Practical implications

The authors provide strategies for managers to increase levels of organisational justice in the tourism sector such as workgroup interactions, a consultation process, team culture and social support.

Originality/value

This study builds on limited literature in the area of inclusion and organisational justice in tourism organisations. The study provides a new path to effective organisational management within the context of a diverse workforce, adding to the current debate on which dimensions of organisational justice contribute to improving employee well-being.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 37 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 January 2024

Vincenzo Fasone, Giulio Pedrini and Raffaele Scuderi

The paper aims at assessing the role of the different stages of the employment process in gauging workers' willingness to upskill themselves at the end of a seasonal employment…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims at assessing the role of the different stages of the employment process in gauging workers' willingness to upskill themselves at the end of a seasonal employment contract by investing in further training.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses data from a dedicated survey administered to a sample of seasonal employees. Through a regression analysis it explores the different stages of the employment process (job search, selection on the job activities), making a distinction between monetary and nonmonetary components of the investment in training.

Findings

Results show that all stages matter, but they do not have the same importance. Ex-ante motivations and work experience, notably the level of perceived workload and organizational commitment, are the main factors affecting workers' willingness to acquire industry-specific skills through training.

Originality/value

So far, the literature has extensively dealt with the poor levels of training in seasonal employers, but it did not analyse worker’s willingness to invest in training over the different stages of the worker experience. This paper fills this gap by separately testing the relative importance of such stages and identifying the most important phases of the employment process.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 46 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 March 2021

Janet C. Kimeto

This paper aims to identify skills and competencies perceived relevant by tourism graduate employees and tourism employers for providing quality tourism services in Kenya.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify skills and competencies perceived relevant by tourism graduate employees and tourism employers for providing quality tourism services in Kenya.

Details

Tourism Critiques: Practice and Theory, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2633-1225

Keywords

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