Too close to servility? Why is hospitality in New Zealand still a ‘Cinderella’ industry?

Abstract

Something strange is going on in New Zealand’s hospitality industry. While the sector is booming (with tourism bringing in 34.7 billion dollars in 2016 and driving record growth in hospitality jobs and hotel building), New Zealanders seem to remain unconvinced about the legitimacy of hospitality as industry and as a career choice. At a time when there are thousands of new jobs being created in hospitality, why does it remain a ‘dummy subject’ in schools? Why do so many parents ‘get the hint’ and hope their kids do anything other than hospitality work? In the 1950s the New Zealand tourism sector was known as the ‘Cinderella of industries’, underfunded, of ‘doubtful value’ and home to poor quality jobs. This paper argues that the New Zealand hospitality is the modern Cinderella industry and is burdened by three historical legacies, which are affecting our ability to maximize the current opportunities in hospitality, and threaten a sustainable future for the sector: distrust, disdain and the legacy of neo-liberal reform.

Hospitality employment 2033: A backcasting perspective (invited paper for ‘luminaries’ special issue of International Journal of Hospitality Management)

“…Backcasting in this way puts the challenge into perspective. By breaking what appears to be an insurmountable problem into more discrete actions, it indicates the extent of the cultural change required if hospitality is to move away from its image as a Cinderella employer (Williamson, 2017), one where standards that are largely taken for granted in other industries in an unfathomable manner just do not appear to apply. Robinson (2003) highlights the importance of an articulated and clearly identifiable 'problem' as the rationale and driver of backcasting.…”

Education and skills in tourism: Implications for youth employment in South Africa

“…The impression that T&H courses are 'easy' options is not unique to South Africa, Williamson (2017) also indicates that hospitality often is considered a 'dummy' subject at school. Nonetheless, this has significant implications for education in South Africa.…”

“…Concerns about the 'servility' of tourism work, accordingly, come to the fore in debates on workforce issues in the sector (Baum et al, 2016;Mooney, 2016;Williamson, 2017;Zampoukous & Ioannides, 2011). Historically, work in services has not been regarded as 'labour', that is not contributing to the physical production of industrial goods, and thus considered 'unproductive' by classical and political economists alike (see Standing, 2010).…”

Applying endosymbiosis theory: Tourism and its young workers

“…However, there is evidence that young people are actually rejecting tourism and hospitality employment. For example, evidence from New Zealand (Williamson, 2017) suggests that despite huge demand for line-level roles, youth do not perceive the value of employment in the sector. In addition, evidence from Scandinavia (Bakkevig Dagsland et al, 2015) points to youth rejecting training pathways to employment in the industry.…”