The increasing cases of unemployment in most countries are alarming. Most governments are trying to create various ways of providing jobs for their residents.
One sector that has potential to offer jobs to many people is the tourism industry. This paper is going to review several literature sources in order to describe the relationship and link between tourism and employment in the present world.
Tourism industry is among the leading and most vibrant industries in the current global economy. Projections in the tourism industry indicate that the industry will cover 9 percent of total GDP and offer over 235 million occupations representing 8 percent of the worldwide employment in a few years from now (ILO News par.3).
Evaluated against other segments of the worldwide economy, the tourism sector is among the fastest growing sectors comprising over a third of the overall global services trade (ILO News par.3).
Most governments rely on the tourism sector for job creation. The South African government recognizes the significance of this sector since at least one job becomes created for each 16 tourists who visit the nation (Brand South Africa par.5).
Zuma, the president of South Africa, is optimistic that the increase in number of tourists is a chief way of dealing with unemployment in the country.
In 2010, the number of tourists visiting South Africa increased by a million, and presently the country is seeking to increase the number of global conferences and sports occasions in an effort to increase tourist arrivals (Brand South Africa par. 5).
Tourists’ consumption expenditures offer direct or indirect employment openings in the tourism industry. Every tourist spending empowers the tourism segment directly as well as other segments which provide input to the tourism industry indirectly to produce employment capacity (ILO News par.2).
Also, tourism has an effect on total employment of a nation through the common impacts of employment on the economy (Onder and Ayse 365).
Service is a fundamental aspect in the tourism segment. Tourism segmnet requires workers to deal with both production and offering services (Onder and Ayse 366). The sector comprises a vast deal of employment areas because of its labor intensive fabrication (ILO News par.6).
The industry has high labor intensity, and this makes the sector a noteworthy source of employment. While there are technological advancements in this industry, such technologies reduce the need for employees modestly because of restricted use of computerization and mechanization in the tourism sector.
Hence, tourism growth has led to generation of numerous job openings both in emerging and developed nations.
Employment in the tourist sector became affected by the global economic crisis. The ILO News revealed that the global economic crisis affected global tourism. (par.3). At the same time, ILO News projected that rampant growth was likely to occur in coming years, thus creating an increased number of jobs (par.3).
As from the second half of 2008, the tourism industry started experiencing a decline, which grew immensely in 2009. Rapid decline in duration of stay and expenditure, tourist travels as well as augmented limitations on business travel expenses caused a momentous reduction of economic activity in the global tourist industry.
However, global employment in the industry rose by 1% between 2008 and 2009 with noteworthy regional disparities with regard to the effect of the crisis on levels of employment (ILO News par.4).
While tourism sector has potential to create many jobs, employees in this sector require diverse skills. The ILO News positions tourism as a supreme job creator that needs different levels of skills (par.5). Such skills can be enhanced through vocational training and education.
The ILO News reveals that most workers in the tourism sector have inadequate professional qualifications, and thus there is a need for further training on key issues such as health (par.5).
This can be steered by the growing impact of technology, environmental concerns as well as demanding customers. Besides, efficiency and competitiveness in the sector rely on professionalism, skills and dedication of the employees.
Different nations advocate for skill development programs in order to enhance the process of job creation in the tourism factor. For instance, Shri Subodh Kant Sahai of India has ordered additional efforts on skill development program in his tourism ministry in order to enhance the process of job creation in the tourism sector (Travel trade journal.com par.1).
People trained under this program were gained over into different prominent chains of hotels where they are currently doing extremely well (Travel trade journal.com par.2). An example of a skill development program in India is the Hunar Se Rozgar scheme.
The proprietor of this program plans to extend the program to incorporate new trade courses such as retail marketing, driving, and reception. The idea behind the provision of these courses is that they can promote job creation features in accordance with the industry demand.
Besides, there exists a direct connection between tourism sector and other industries including lodging, transport, management, travel agents, entertainment, health and finance (Travel trade journal.com par.2).
Tourism can generate three employment forms in states and regional markets including indirect employment, direct employment and induced employment (Mathieson and Geoffrey 77).
Indirect employment comprises employment in other industries that never provide directly to touristic clients, although, they obtain revenue from payments done in touristic dealings with other industries that supply input for tourism segment.
Examples of employees who can be included in the category of indirect employment include persons employed in building an extra unit to expand capacity of a housing facility, or workers employed in a production facility, which creates the material to be erected for transaction in this facility.
Direct employment is the employment that becomes offered in tourism facilities like food, housing, food, travel agents and shipping, which subsist in the tourism industry and provide with needs of tourists directly (Mathieson and Geoffrey 77).
Further, induced employment denotes the supplementary employment that occurs due to reutilization of the proceeds obtained through indirect and direct employment ways. People, whose earnings and life standards rise due to their tourism actions generate new employment openings by spending their earnings in other segments of the economy.
Establishing the exact impact of tourism on employment is a complex task. Homafar et al. give some reasons as to why it is difficult to establish the impact of tourism on employment (35). First, most people who work in the tourist sector can barely be differentiated from those that work in identical or comparable positions unrelated to tourism.
For example, official data relates lodging facilities with food facilities such as restaurants. Besides, employment in diverse sectors of the transport industry obtains representation without regarding to the relationship with tourism.
Again, there exist several small firms that offer tourism services, and the proportions of persons who work in self enterprises hardly obtain consideration while computing the total workforce. As a result, employment figures for tourism segment are not likely to demonstrate the real circumstance.
Further, tourists activities increase in some months and the amount of people employed in tourism services vary significantly from time to time. Onder and Ayse explain that the impact of tourism on employment amplifies depending on expansion in tourism and force (367). Tourism generates both employment and revenue.
Tourism can build employment facilities in both tourist sending areas and tourist receiving areas, in dissimilar ratios since different service departments obtain use in sender nations in order to execute some facilities required ahead of travel.
For instance, insurance, cargo and telephone activities must be carried out prior to travel. However, Onder and Ayse acknowledge that a comparison between job creation in tourists receiver states and tourist sending nations demonstrates that receiver countries benefit more in terms of job creations than sending nations (367).
Some issues employees are facing in the tourist sector include low payments, lack of social security and increased cases of personnel transfer. Tourism is a seasonal activity, which makes the industry prone to be influenced by negative advances in politics and economy (Homafar et al. 36). For instance, low economic situation may cause the sector to pay low wages to employees.
There exist many aspects of tourism in regard to employment. First, the seasonal nature of tourism allows underemployment thus making employment in the sector to be a seasonal phenomenon.
Second, the impact of employment in the tourism industry is normally a veiled one because the industry shifts manpower from other segments and nearly all workers in the industry lack insurance.
Third, the fact that skilled workers obtain permanent employment while unskilled employees obtain impermanent employment causes low, work productivity, which weakens economic growth in the tourism industry.
Full employment may be attained during peak seasons, although the decline in employment during low seasons brings many social costs. Efforts to eradicate these costs may include employing interns or related personnel who are usually free during peak seasons.
Fifth, women in the tourism industry comprise a bigger proportion than women in other industries. The last but not least, the sector offers employment chances mainly to people with similar investment quantities because the capital amount that is essential for generating business dimensions for a single person is less than other industries.
In conclusion, studies on tourism and employment demonstrate that tourism has desirable effects on employment. The industry is labor intensive and thus, creates a vast number of employment facilities.
Tourism facilities profit from labor personnel in both manufacturing and distributing tourism products. Tourists’ payments act as a source of wages to employees in the tourism sector. While there are technological advancements in the tourism industry, they reduce the need for employees modestly owing to restricted use of computerization and mechanization in the tourism sector.
Employees in the tourism sector require training and skill development as the industry requires different levels of skills. Finally, decline in the span of stay and expenditure, tourist travels as well as augmented limitations on business travel affect economic activities in the global tourist industry, including employment.
Works Cited
Brand South Africa. 2011 South Africa’s Year of Job Creation: Zuma. 2011. Web.
This article discusses several initiatives proposed by Zuma, the president of South Africa for enhancing job creation. This piece is relevant to this study as it recognizes the value of tourism in job creation.
The president explains that the country seeks to increase the number of global conferences and sports occasions, with the ultimate objective of creating jobs.
Homafar, Fazele, Habib Honari, Akbar Heidary, Taghi Heidary and Afsane Emami. “The Role of Sport Tourism in Employment, Income and Economic Development.” Journal of Hospitality Management and Tourism 2.3 (2011): 34-37. Print.
This article is a survey on perceptions of managers and tourism ideas about the role of sports induced tourism in employment creation. This piece of work is significant for this study as it demonstrates the relationship between tourism and employment.
ILO News. Employment in the Tourism Industry to Grow Significantly. 2010. Web.
This article represents a discussion of a global forum held by delegates from different countries in order to discuss challenges facing the tourism industry.
This article is significant for the study as it describes the growth of tourism and employment in the industry through the global crisis. The article also highlights the need for training and education in developing employment in the sector.
Mathieson, Alister and Geoffrey Wall. Tourism: Economic, Physical and Social Impact. London, Harlow: Pearson Education, 2010. Print.
This book discusses economic, social and physical impacts of tourism. The book is significant for this study as it describes how tourism can generate different forms of employment.
Onder, Kubra and Ayse Durgun 2010, Effects of Tourism Sector on Employment in Turkey: An Econometric Application. Web.
This article discusses the situation of the tourism industry in Turkey, especially after 1980. The article is significant for this study as it uses an empirical approach to demonstrate the relationship between tourism and employment.
Travel trade journal.com. n. d. Ministry of Tourism: Subodh Kant Inaugurates National Workshop on Hunar Se Rozgar. Web.
This article includes the words of Shri Subodh Kant Sahai, who is a tourism minister in India. The article emphasizes on the need for skill development in the tourism sector.
This piece is significant for this research as it demonstrates that equipping young people with new skills facilitates job creation in the tourism industry.