Abstract
PurposeTourism employment is very diverse ranging from precarious, exploitative study to high-quality workplaces. However, poor employment images dominate the tourism industry, which makes attracting employees difficult. This study aims to examine the processes that lead to such image construction.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative methodology, the study develops a multilevel framing cycle comprising a media analysis of newspapers and magazines (macro-level), a conversation analysis of peer communication/negotiations (meso-level) and a content analysis of single employee/manager interviews (micro-level); and a comparative analysis of the macro-, meso- and micro-level findings.FindingsThe multilevel frame cycle identifies image-construction processes that pass through working conditions, payment, seasonality and human resource problems. These processes are shaped by the two cross-level dynamics of radicalization and attenuation. The latter consists of rationalized and repressed framings of tourism employment images (TEI) and the former consists of ideological and emotional framings.Practical implicationsTourism stakeholders should support and participate in a pragmatic and open dialog to overcome the radicalization and attenuation of tourism employment. The key players require a new deal to end the “information warfare” on tourism employment, inaugurating a new era of collaborative and constructive employment relations.Originality/valueThis study develops a holistic and dynamic understanding of TEI by exploring how media products, peer groups and employees/managers jointly construct these images. It demonstrates how attenuation and radicalization shape poor employment images in tourism. It argues that these dynamics “lock in” the status-quo, create mutual recrimination between employers and employees and counteract common strategies that could otherwise improve employment structures and the image of tourism.
Highlights
Research on employment images is important for the tourism and hospitality industries, which often struggle with labor shortages (Fes, 2018) and problems attracting a qualified workforce (Baum, 2019b; Daniel et al, 2017)
Both themes are characterized by the cross-level dynamic of “radicalization.” We argue that radicalization becomes evident through emotionalism and/or ideologism (Figure 5)
5.1 Conclusions This study found that radicalization in the construction of tourism employment images (TEI) leads to polarized positions, intense rivalry between employers and employees and the reduction of tourism employment questions to problematic issues or the refusal to acknowledge structural employment problems
Summary
Research on employment images is important for the tourism and hospitality industries, which often struggle with labor shortages (Fes, 2018) and problems attracting a qualified workforce (Baum, 2019b; Daniel et al, 2017). Poor employment work images are a major cause of those difficulties, as tourism employment is often associated with unacceptable and demanding conditions (Baum, 2018) and precarious employment structures (Robinson et al, 2019). Companies and entire regions have been striving to change poor employer and work images and highlight the positive aspects of tourism employment. These efforts range from employer branding (Gehrels, 2019) to sustainable human resource (HR) strategies (Baum, 2018). Despite these efforts, negative images of tourism employment persist
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