Women Participation in Rural Tourism: A Case of Ella, Sri Lanka

Tourism industry is one of sectors that have potential to develop and grow in the next few years in Sri Lanka. According to Tourism Development Strategy of Sri Lanka, tourism industry is expected to be the largest foreign exchange earner by 2024. The principal focus of this study was to explore major factors that affect women’s participation and non-participation in the hospitality industry in Ella DS division Sri Lanka. The study used a deductive approach, and primary data were collected through a self-administered structured questionnaire. Samples were 60 women, consisting of thirty women involved in the hospitality industry and thirty women of the non-hospitality industry, randomly selected. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The results found that the differences in language skills and problem-solving had the most significant effect on women’s participation in hospitality industry. Besides, childcare responsibility and lack of experience were affected women’s involvement in this industry. The results also showed that most of the non-hospitality workers have language barriers (33.3%), lack of knowledge about tourism industry (23.3%), and lack of opportunities to engage in tourism work (13.3%). Based on the results, 53.3% of 30 non-hospitality workers had an idea to be involved in tourism and hospitality industry in the future, while the remaining 46.6% had no idea to be involved.

Virgin Olive Oil and Its Use in Gastronomic Offer of Dalmatia and Istria

Olive growing is a significant, developing branch of the Croatian economy in total agricultural production. Virgin olive oil is one of the most nutritious fats in the Croatian gastronomic offer, especially in Istria and Dalmatia. For this reason, the chefs’ knowledge regarding virgin olive oil is required. The quality of olive oil is determined by live varieties, cultivation climate, and method of production. This paper aims to examine the presence of virgin olive oil in the food preparation of Croatian restaurants and the possibility of its application in Croatian restaurants. This study has shown that restaurants in Istria and Dalmatia use mostly virgin olive oil, produced exclusively in Croatia. Croatian hospitality workers have only domestic oil in their offer, mostly from their production. Many chefs from this study believed the consumption of olive oil should be higher. The results may encourage the olive oil producers, and hospitality workers, to monitor the competitiveness of the product in markets.

Coping Mechanisms of Hospitality Industry Workers in a Tourism Destina-tion during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic brought massive devastations to the different levels of society. The World Travel and Tourism Council had recently warned that Covid-19 pandemic could lead to a cut of 50 million jobs worldwide in the travel and tourism industry. A study conducted by Oxford reveals that Asia will be vilest to be affected by the pandemic and it would take time to recover its economy (Dogra, 2020). This means a wider and greater impacts to the different industries including the tourism sector. The study aims to explore the coping mechanisms of hospitality industry workers in Boracay Island during the Covid-19 pandemic particularly on their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic and to determine the coping mechanisms of hospitality workers in Boracay Island being affected by the pandemic. The case study method through a qualitative analysis using Robert Yin's approach in the data analysis procedure to explore the data from the experiences of the key informants from the hospitality industry was used. Themes came out from the construct of the key informants like (1) hospitality industry workers experienced mental health, social, and economic issues, (2) The pandemic opens new opportunities and ways to cope with its effects. The output of this research is the proposed Danay, Danay, Escarilla, and Maming Model for Coping Mechanisms of Hospitality Industry workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

A network analysis of cross-occupational skill transferability for the hospitality industry

Purpose This paper aims to examine transferable skills and viable career transition pathways for hospitality and tourism workers. Future career prospects are discussed, along with the importance of reskilling for low-wage hospitality workers. Design/methodology/approach A network analysis is conducted to model skill relationships between the hospitality industry and other industries such as health-care and information technology. Multiple data are used in the analysis, including data from the US Department of Labor Occupational Information Network (O*NET), wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and job computerization data (Frey and Osborne, 2017). Findings Although hospitality workers have lower than average skills scores when compared to workers from other career clusters included in the analysis, they possess essential soft skills that are valuable in other industries. Therefore, improving hospitality workers’ existing soft skills may help them enhance their cross-sector mobility, which may allow them to obtain jobs with a lower likelihood of computerization. Practical implications The findings shed light on workforce development theories and practice in the hospitality industry by quantitatively analyzing cross-sector skill correlations. Sharpening transferable soft skills will be essential to enhancing hospitality workers’ career development opportunities. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that specifically examines the skill taxonomy for the hospitality industry and identifies its connection with other in-demand career clusters.

“Going beyond to deliver hip hospitality”: exploring motivation and job satisfaction of hospitality workers in Dubai

Purpose This paper aims to explore the motivation and job satisfaction of employees in the hospitality industry in Dubai, using Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research encompassed 20 interviews with employees at four different job levels from a 4-star hotel in Dubai, selected through purposive and quota sampling. Findings Findings show that achievement, recognition and responsibility are essential motivators. However, these were sources of dissatisfaction amongst employees from the lower job levels. Leader quality is crucial to hygiene. Moreover, it is a key motivator and a powerful source of job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications This cross-sectional study entailed a small sample size of 20 employees from one hotel in Dubai. Therefore, the only generalisation to theory is permitted and not to a broader population, such as hospitality workers from other hotels in Dubai or any of the other six United Arab Emirates. Practical implications The two specific human resource programmes and practices presented in this paper can exert a positive influence on employees’ motivation and job satisfaction. This, in turn, will bring the hotel in a strong position to compete for motivated and competent human capital to deliver high quality guest services to gain a competitive advantage in the hospitality industry in Dubai. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature first, by identifying the type of motivation of the hotel’s employees as follows: “prosocial motivation”, evoked by satisfaction with motivators and hygienes. Second, by presenting a “Satisfier and Hygiene model for Prosocial Motivation and Job Satisfaction”, illustrating the reciprocal relation between prosocial motivation and job satisfaction.

Emotional intelligence and job performance in the hospitality industry: a meta-analytic review

Purpose Hospitality workers are emotional labor workers because they must display appropriate emotions to their customers to provide outstanding service. Emotional intelligence (EI) helps employees regulate their emotions and display appropriate emotions, and hence should help hospitality workers provide outstanding service. However, the strength of the relationship between EI and hospitality workers’ job performance substantially varied across studies. Hence, the purpose of the present study is to clarify the mixed findings and to examine if EI can improve hospitality workers’ job performance. Design/methodology/approach A meta-analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between EI and hospitality workers’ job performance as well as the moderators which condition this relationship. Findings The present meta-analysis indicated that EI is positively related to hospitality workers’ job performance (ρ̅̂ = 0.54); the relationship between EI and hospitality workers’ job performance is stronger when the percentage of married subjects is low and in feminine cultures; and this relationship does not differ between male-dominated and female-dominated studies, across educational levels, between collectivistic and individualistic cultures, between low and high power distance cultures and between low and high uncertainty avoidance cultures. Research limitations/implications This study uncovers theoretically important moderators that contribute to cross-cultural research, work–family literature and gender-related literature in hospitality research. Originality/value The present study builds a theoretical foundation and performs a meta-analysis to elucidate the relationship between EI and hospitality workers’ job performance and to identify the moderators which condition this relationship.

Well-being and career change intention: COVID-19’s impact on unemployed and furloughed hospitality workers

Purpose This study aims to examine the psychological distress experienced by unemployed and furloughed hospitality workers during the COVID-19 crisis and further investigate how this distress affects their career change intentions. Design/methodology/approach Derived from a sample of 607 unemployed and furloughed hospitality workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the data for this research are analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings This study reveals that unemployed and furloughed hospitality workers are financially strained, depressed, socially isolated and panic-stricken due to the pandemic’s effects. These effects lead to impaired well-being and an increased intention to leave the hospitality industry. Female and younger employees are impacted to a greater extent, while furloughed workers received fewer impacts compared to their laid-off compatriots. Research limitations/implications This study suggests that lockdown restrictions need to be implemented more deliberately, and the psychological well-being of the hospitality workforce deserves more immediate and continuing attention. It advises that hospitality businesses consider furloughs over layoffs when workforce reduction measures are necessary to combat the financial crisis. Originality/value This study adds to the current literature by examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from the employee perspective. New insights are offered on the psychological toll of workforce reduction strategies during the financial fallout and how these distressing experiences affect career change intention.

Youth, Precarious Work and the Pandemic

While Australia has experienced low COVID-19 case numbers relative to other countries, it has witnessed severe economic consequences in the wake of the pandemic. The hospitality industry, in which young adults are overrepresented, has been among the most affected industries. In this article, we present findings from an interview and a digital methods-based study of young hospitality workers in the Australian cities of Melbourne and Newcastle who lost shifts or employment due to the pandemic. We argue that the participants’ ability to cope with the loss of work was mediated by the degree of family support that they could access, with some experiencing the pandemic as an inconvenience, while others suffered extreme financial hardship. Findings from this study show that the most severe impacts of the pandemic play out along pre-existing lines of inequality and marginality, causing the most severe consequences for those who were already most vulnerable to them.