preview

The Management Of The Leisure And Hospitality Sector

Good Essays

The management of the leisure and hospitality sector needs to understand the perception of young students towards adopting a career in the industry. This is important because a shortage of skilled workers in the sector can lead to great difficulties. According to Marchante, Ortega, and Pagan, (2003), skills shortage can adversely affect the productivity of the firm due to not meeting the quality requirements and delays in the introduction of new services for the customers. Moreover, poor retention rates can lead to additional problems including increased cost because of training and recruiting the employees (Kusluvan and Kusluvan, 2000).
According to the scholars, the current students have different expectations about the work environment …show more content…

Most of the existing literature on the perception of students about a career in the leisure and hospitality industry states that the students have mostly negative perception about a career in the leisure and hospitality industry (Teng, 2008). The interest of students in the industry has decreased over time (Fraser, 2003).
The attitude towards the leisure and hospitality sector of the Generation Y is influenced by different factors such as incentive systems, salary, career opportunities, and the opportunity to travel (Getz, 1994). However, according to Gustafason (2002, p12) the industry operates at only about 4 percent profit margins and so cannot offer high wages to the employees.
The studies have revealed other factors besides pay that result in lack the motivation and determination of pursuing a career in the hospitality sector. According to Ross (1997), students indicated that they the demand of direct customer interaction, and acting courteously and friendly with the customers at all times is a major stressor for them. In addition, Fraser (2003) found that most of the students did not like the prospect of being pleasant with everyone all the time. About 68 percent of the students in the study of Kusluvan and

Get Access