Tourism Enterprise. David Leslie

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СКАЧАТЬ 37% indicated that they did not know.

      Recruitment

      The restaurant and inns sectors in particular continue to find difficulty recruiting not only unskilled or semi-skilled personnel but also staff with specific skills; for example good quality managers for inns are hard to find and will often be ‘imported’. This situation is not solely a problem for the hospitality sector as, for example, in November 1999 the Windermere Steamboat Museum faced a shortage of skippers to operate its services after the winter lay-off and was seeking new captains and crew members for training in sufficient time for the forthcoming season.

      A notable contrast is manifest between urban and rural operations when it comes to employment. In the case of the urban enterprises the majority of staff are recruited from within the area (including and perhaps surprisingly the managers). But this may often not be the case, especially with senior positions in tourist resort localities and emerging destinations. As Prosser (1992) argued, opportunities for personal development and senior jobs are invariably limited and cites the case of Club Mediterranean’s resort in Turks and Caicos Islands where locals complained that the jobs open to them were the lowest paid and menial. This is a recurrent argument and one which is by no means restricted to emerging destinations. This further illustrates ‘leakages’ through the import of more experienced staff, and flags up the influence of multinational companies and foreign investors.

      Recruitment can also be difficult due to the level of demand overall as this can exceed local resources. In rural or coastal localities that develop as they become more popular tourist destinations, the generation of employment will inevitably outstrip local supply due to a combination of factors, including:

      • declining number of potential employees in the locality;

      • lack of desire on the part of some persons who are available; and

      • lack of the necessary supporting infrastructure to attend the place of work.

      Further exacerbating the situation in the UK is that these employment opportunities are predominantly in hospitality operations (estimated to account for some 93% of employees in tourism (Leidner, 2004)), which are not renowned for being attractive to young people in the UK. Additional to this is the oft cited denigration of tourism jobs (part-time, seasonal, low paid, female) invariably by commentators not involved in the business and as such are basing their opinions more on their own values in that such employment does not meet their perceptions of some ideal type of employment. This is certainly something of a myopic view; for example, Andriotis and Vaughan’s (2004) study based on Crete reveals it is neither so simple nor necessarily problematic (see Zientara, 2012). Secondly, it is generally recognized as an opportunity for young people. Thirdly, given declining rural populations there are not that many younger persons (18–25 year olds) available. Staff are therefore imported leading to the need for staff accommodation, as in the LDNP and rural Scotland. This importation of staff is also a most likely occurrence in any developing tourist destination in undeveloped rural/coastal areas; witness Cancun in Mexico or the Galapagos Islands (see Chapter 3). Thus some of the acclaimed socio-economic benefits arising through local employment are lost to the community.

      Profile of the Owners/Managers

      The study encompassed a focus on the owners/managers and their background on the basis that the information so gained might illuminate the management of the enterprises as regards EP. Yet, such information can be invaluable in the context of seeking to explain/account for some of the key elements of the study; for example potentially influential factors on why an owner/manager may act in a particular way.

      The policies and thus operational practices of any organization are a direct function of the governance, thus of the owners’ values and attitudes whether a public limited company, partnership or sole trader. As such, if the chairman of the company, chief executive officer or the senior partner decides that the enterprise will in future ensure that all employees, irrespective of location will be treated equally as regards terms and conditions, and further that they will all be equitably paid at a higher rate than the average for the region, then every operation within that company follows suit. Equally so if a company decides that supplies of X will always be sourced locally whenever it is possible so to do. This is just as applicable to SMEs. In so far as national and multi-national companies (MNC) are influenced in their practices by the attitudes of their owners so too individual enterprises by their owners. Therefore the study sought to gain a profile of the owners (managers in comparatively few cases) of those enterprises that participated in the extended interviews of 2001 and 2011; an aspect that has hardly gained attention in the published research.

      The areas covered not only contribute to the overall picture of the enterprises but also, and more usefully, serve to provide helpful criteria to subsequent analysis and interpretation, especially in the context of their awareness of, and attitudes towards, sustainability issues and EM practices (see Chapter 9). Insights into the background of the owners in the 2001 stage are presented in Table 2.5. Not surprisingly, given the motivational factors previously noted, one in four of these owners moved into the LDNP within the last 10 years. More surprisingly perhaps is the finding that close to one in three owners are comparatively recent entrants into the tourism sector. This factor rather affirms the view that there are few barriers to entry into the business of tourism. Also and potentially evidencing that many persons are new to the tourism sector is the limited membership of professional associations (see Table 2.6). The significance of such memberships lies in the attention to environmental matters by such associations. For example, the Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management Association (HCIMA) (now the Institute of Hospitality, IH) produced a technical brief for their members on environmental issues in 1993 within which it was argued that all hospitality businesses should produce an Environmental Policy Statement as well as promoting EM practices, particularly energy conservation. In 2000, they launched a campaign to reduce energy consumption in hotels by a minimum of 15% over 3 years, which they argued would lead to reduced carbon dioxide emissions of some 40% based on consumption in 2000 (Forte, 2000, p. 18).

      Whilst approximately one in four of the 2001 interviewees were members of the IH, this falls to one in ten across the whole sample for 2001 (8% for 2005; 4% in 2011). Conversely, in 2001 few interviewees were members of the Tourism Society compared with 5% overall (3% for 2005; 6% for 2011). Such low membership is understandable in that the owners perhaps do not see themselves as part of the oft cited ‘tourism industry’. This speculation is not so readily argued in the case of managers with career aspirations who might be expected to demonstrate recognition of their commitment through membership of these associations. However, the findings for 2011 certainly indicate that this is not the case (see Table 2.6).

      As the WTTC et al. (2002) argued, there is a need for multisector partnerships and effective involvement of all stakeholders in order to achieve sustainable, and economically successful tourism. This is well illustrated by the Lake District’s Tourism & Conservation Partnership (TCP), which well exemplifies how environmental partnerships can be very successful in their aims (see Long and Arnold, 1995) and the benefits attributable to-collaboration and partnerships in the tourism sector (see Bramwell and Lane, 2000). Membership and participation in professional and community groups are all potential steps in initiating the development of partnerships of one form or another. Involvement in such groups and also membership of green organizations are also potential indicators of environmental behaviours as well as influences on the management practices of the enterprise. Thus membership of such organizations was investigated (see Table СКАЧАТЬ