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The hotel and tourism sector: New technology spawns a revolution in travel jobs
Will the hotels and travel agencies of the future be high-tech wonders, impersonal palaces of whirring computers, ergo-beds with remote controls, pre-cooked meals and guest-room telephones with interactive flat-screen televisions?
Or will the technological revolution buffeting the travel world liberate hotel and tourism workers from tedious tasks like peeling potatoes or counting beans so they can provide more personal service and customer care?
The computer and new technologies are revolutionizing the hotel, catering and tourism sector(*), one of the most significant employment sectors in the world today, which includes services provided by many others such as agricultural, transport, cultural and health services. It provides employment for one out of ten workers around the world, or some 212 million people. In 1995, the sector produced 10.9 per cent of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and contributed US$1.6 trillion in wages and salaries, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).(**)
How is technology impacting on this massive sector? For example, a traveller who once relied on a travel agent can now make airline reservations directly with the airlines through the Internet. In terms of management procedures, new technology is affecting every element of travel, from speeding up reservation systems and check-in, to preparing and cooking food. The waiter taking orders also becomes an inventory specialist: orders for food and drink, while going to the bar or kitchen, also go to the computer, telling managers what's moving and helping take stock of what's on hand and what needs to be prepared.
Vacuum-packed food provides another time- and labour-saver. Kitchen staff will no longer have to spend time peeling and washing vegetables, skinning fish and handling meat. A recipe which previously would have required 11 different fresh items, now may call for just two. The hard-earned skills of a chef may now be less in demand than those of the kitchen manager, concerned more with "hot and cold flows", and "on-the-plate regeneration" than correcting the seasoning in the gazpacho.
By the year 2010, tourism, measured in terms of international arrivals, is expected to double to more than 1,000 million (one billion), while the number of jobs in the sector will also grow to over 385 million benefiting developing countries as much as industrialized areas. Tourism ranks first among world export groups, ahead of petroleum, motor vehicles and electronic equipment. In terms of international tourism receipts, Europe tops the list, followed by the Americas, East Asia and the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
Forecasts of international tourism suggest the fastest growth in East Asia and the Pacific, followed by South Asia, facing these countries with some major challenges.
Growth in the industry is being driven by higher dispensable family incomes, lower prices, greater international mobility, the removal of travel restrictions, greater interest in culture and the environment, and better technology for booking and billing, as well as more information before travelling.
In the United States, those with the highest incomes which can be used for tourism, fall into the 35-45 and over 60 age brackets. The 35-45 age group will account for 21 per cent of the population by the year 2000. The over 60 group is growing at a fast pace everywhere.
In addition to tourists, those working in the sector - and the way they work - will also be strongly affected by new technologies. Overall, the effect will be the computerization of a number of repetitive and low-skill jobs and the enhancement of managerial work. Staff formerly bogged down in labour-intensive work will be freed-up to provide more personal service and care of customers.
In the hotel industry, the role of management is becoming more client-oriented while the profile of the new manager will be of a person with knowledge of computer systems, ability to make rapid judgements based on new types of information, and a high level of person-to-person skills. Certain skills and occupations are being devalued, but other more challenging jobs are being created. In the "hotel of the future", employees will have to be more knowledgeable about technology and how it can provide better service to guests.
However, new technologies are likely to bring more interesting and rewarding work to management and front office but more mundane, although mixed, duties for other employees, particularly in large enterprises. The hotel industry is still marked by a high proportion of female and migrant workers, a relatively young and low-skill workforce, relatively low wages, high turnover and precarious working conditions.
In catering, while some arduous tasks are being removed, the new food technologies are contributing to a de-skilling of jobs and therefore a reduction in pay. Agribusiness has assumed much of the previous work of kitchen employees, such as deboning and treating meat, and this may compensate to some extent for any losses in jobs.
In travel agencies, the picture is unclear. According to one school of thought, easy and sophisticated communication is increasing job opportunities among agencies. Traditional skills in ticketing, routing, scheduling and package selling are being replaced by those in sales and marketing, specific knowledge f computerized reservations systems, and the ability to make full use of computers. There are more and more small agencies serving as points-of-sale, helping tour operators to penetrate a growing market.
From the second point-of-view, new technologies appear as a serious threat to the very survival of travel agencies as ticketless travel increases as well as direct access to information, booking and electronic payments. The technological revolution in this industry is considered to be not yet at its peak and the effect on employment difficult to predict.
The future is said to belong to those who can provide immediate, accurate, varied, complete and reliable information as opposed to delivering tickets and brochures.
The introduction of new technology is of course of concern to employers and trade unions. Employers see an improvement in working conditions and a flattening of traditional hierarchical structures in which workers are given more say. However, one of the main areas of contention between employers and trade unions is who is to be responsible for the choice of appropriate technology and management systems. Trade unions also fear job instability, irregular working hours, involuntary part-time work, unattractive working environments and lower pay.
But workers welcome new machines and procedures when they are consulted and are actively involved in their introduction and application.
In general, technological progress, seen as data processing and new food preparation techniques, has created a potential for higher labour productivity and therefore higher salaries for highly skilled staff. Other staff, however, are facing decreased demand for their particular skills. The ILO report says that what is now needed is a flexibility to work in different departments, at different hierarchical levels and at varying hours.
There is widespread consensus that formal training in the sector falls short of its new requirements for skilled workers. Hotel and tourism schools are having problems keeping up with technological changes which require investment in equipment and the retraining of trainers. Many countries have no special structures for training hotel and tourism staff.
Endnotes:
(*) New technologies and working conditions in the hotel, catering and tourism sector, ILO Sectoral Activities Programme. ISBN 92-2-110430-3, Swiss francs 17.50.
(**) Estimates of the WTTC include all travel-related consumption, both for business travel and personal holidays, such as transportation costs, restaurants meals, hotel accommodation and so on.