Tourism 11 Report: Career Challenges in the Tourism Industry

This report provides a comprehensive overview of career challenges within the tourism industry. It begins by highlighting the importance of career development and networking in achieving success, both face-to-face and online. The report then details the professional benefits of working in tourism, such as creativity, career growth, interpersonal skill development, and transferable skills. It also outlines entry-level roles like host/hostess, tour guide, and front desk manager, along with their respective duties. The core of the report focuses on the challenges faced by tourism professionals, specifically addressing seasonality, poor pay, and unequal treatment. For each challenge, the report presents evidence and proposes coping strategies, such as seeking alternative employment, joining unions, and communicating concerns to management. The report concludes by reiterating the benefits of a tourism career while emphasizing the need to define personal career success and address the identified challenges. References are included at the end.

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REPORT ON TOURISM INDUSTRY CAREER CHALLENGES
BY (Name)
The Name of the Class (Course)
Professor (Tutor)
The Name of the School (University)
The City and State where it is located
The Date

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Contents
1.0 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
2.0 Networking............................................................................................................................................4
3.0 Professional benefits of working in tourism sector................................................................................5
3.1 Expectations of working in tourism...................................................................................................5
3.2 Entry level roles and their duties.......................................................................................................5
3.2.1 Duties of a Host or hostess.........................................................................................................6
3.2.2 Duties of a tour guide.................................................................................................................6
3.2.3 Duties of a front desk manager...................................................................................................6
4.0 Challenges of working in tourism sector...............................................................................................7
4.1 Seasonality.........................................................................................................................................7
4.1.1 Evidence.....................................................................................................................................7
4.1.2 Plan to cope................................................................................................................................7
4.2 Poor Pay............................................................................................................................................8
4.2.1 Evidence.....................................................................................................................................8
4.2.1 Plan to cope................................................................................................................................8
4.3 Unequal treatment..............................................................................................................................8
4.3.1 Evidence.....................................................................................................................................8
4.3.2 Plan to cope................................................................................................................................9
5.0 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................10

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Report on Tourism Industry Career Challenges
1.0 Introduction
Nowadays, developing a successful career has become one the greatest human desires. Career
men and women all over the world strive to develop a successful career in their lifetime.
Primarily, a career refers to an occupation that is undertaken by an individual for a significant
period of his or her life and which has opportunities for advancement or progress. It is the job or
the series of jobs that an individual engages in during their working life and how one progresses
to better positions in their occupation (McKay, 2017). Therefore, in this respect, a successful
career refers to a situation where professional gets to showcase their talents, live their passion,
fulfill individual values while making a living that can support them and their families (Farren,
2013). It is, however, important to note that the definition of a successful career may vary from
one individual to another. What one person may regard as a successful career may not be what
the next person regards as success (McKay, 2017). Therefore, it is important for every individual
to determine what a successful career means to them. In the tourism industry, professionals get
many opportunities to advance their career and achieving their personal career success goals
(Farren, 2013). In this industry, networking with people from various backgrounds plays an
important role in advancing one’s career opportunities. However, there are various challenges
that they may encounter while working in the tourism sector. Therefore, to develop a successful
career in the industry would involve defining personal career success objectives, networking
with people and identifying the possible challenges that one may face while working within the
sector.

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2.0 Networking
Having a well-established network has become an essential part of human life. By and large, it is
a vital career development skill. Primarily, networking refers to tapping into the connections that
one and having a career conversation with the person with the purpose of exploring careers or
looking for a job. In tourism, networking can help an individual get a job or advance their career.
It is worth noting that networking can either be done face to face or through online platforms.
By and large, a face-to-face networking is important as it helps an individual in developing
personal connections with people and helps to gain maximum benefits in one’s career. In
addition, face to face networks are advantageous because they enhance the level of trust between
the parties involved (Young, 2015). Additionally, it is easier to exchange information and ideas.
Most importantly, this form of networking opens to the possibility of an individual building more
contacts who can help in advancing one’s career (Honeycutt, 2017).
Nonetheless, this does not mean that online networking is less beneficial. Online networking also
has numerous benefits (Madar, 2017). Firstly, online networks can help an individual to meet
new people in their career path that can help them in advancing their careers. Additionally, they
save on time and costs involved in setting up face-to-face meetings (Advantages of Online, n.d.).
What is more, online networks provide an opportunity to meet new people across the world and
develop meaningful career relations that can help one grow.
Building and developing networks during the course of one’s study and after comes in handy
when one is looking for a job opportunity. As such, these networks can act as mentors or even
connect you with people in the tourism industry, and therefore help in securing a meaningful job
in the industry. Thus, students should strive to build meaningful networks in and out of school.

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3.0 Professional benefits of working in tourism sector
The tourism industry is associated with a wide array of professional benefits. One major benefit
of working in this industry is that it allows an individual to explore their creativity as the industry
involves constantly offering new products, packages and experiences to clients. Therefore, the
creativity of an individual is explored. In addition, the industry provides great opportunities for
career development and growth (Top 10 Reasons, n.d.). Furthermore, the industry allows
workers to work with people from various backgrounds therefore helping them to develop their
interpersonal skills and capabilities (Goad, n.d.). It is also worth noting that working in tourism
provides a professional with the opportunity of touching and changing the lives of people
through interactions and new experiences (The Many Benefits, n.d.). Most importantly, the
tourism industry offers the professional benefit of transferable skills. That is to say, the skills
used in the trade can be used in almost every part of the world.
3.1 Expectations of working in tourism
As an individual that aims at working in the industry, there are various expectations. First, one
expects to work in an environment that supports creativity and fulfills their passion for career
advancement. Additionally, an individual expects to get new experiences every now and then as
the trade involves interacting with people from all over the world. Furthermore, one would
expect to acquire a global skill set while working in the sector.
3.2 Entry level roles and their duties
There are various entry level roles in the tourism industry. They include hosts or hostess, tour
guides, front desk clerk, among others.

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3.2.1 Duties of a Host or hostess
The position of a host or hostess involves various duties and responsibilities. A host(ess) is In
charge of making the first contact with the client and is therefore in charge of making the guest
feel welcomed at the facility. Additionally, it involves managing incoming calls, making
reservations and cancellations. At other times, the position may involve making special event
bookings and selective administrative tasks.
3.2.2 Duties of a tour guide
The position of a tour guide involves escorting tourists to places of interest such as museums,
cruises, galleries, game parks and other well known landmarks. It also involves describing the
tour points, their history and importance to visitors. A tour guide is also expected to respond to
the questions that the tourists might have.
3.2.3 Duties of a front desk manager
A front desk clerk is responsible for handling the front office operations such as reception and
administration duties. Often, it involves answering phones, responding to inquiries, distributing
mail, and greeting guests and directing them within the facility (Henderson, 2018).
Of the three entry level positions, the tour guide position would be more suitable as it offer the
opportunity to learn more about tourist destinations of the world. Additionally, it involves
interacting with people from all over the world, thereby offering an opportunity to network and
share ideas with other people. For this reason, this is the best option for me.

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4.0 Challenges of working in tourism sector
Despite the many benefits associated with working in the tourism industry, there are various
challenges that may arise from it. These challenges include seasonality, poor pay and unequal
treatment.
4.1 Seasonality
4.1.1 Evidence
One major challenge faced by workers in the tourism industry is the seasonality of demand for
tourism products. As such, the seasonality of the industry affects all aspects of the supply side
including the labor market, marketing, business finance, and stakeholder management.
Particularly, the labor market is affected in terms of the nature and quality of employment as
workers are affected by the possibility of losing their jobs when the season is low (Jolliffe and
Farnsworth, 2003). In Australia, for example, the peak season falls between December and
February. Afterwards, the low season begins and runs from May all the way too August (Best
times, n.d.). Thus, the main challenge posed by the seasonality of the sector is the sustainability
of the jobs.
4.1.2 Plan to cope
In order to cope with the seasonal nature of the industry, one would have to look for an
alternative employment that would ensure a stable income during the low season period in the
tourism sector. This could be in the form of freelancing activities online or part-time work in the
hotel industry as the skill set between the two industries overlap.

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4.2 Poor Pay
4.2.1 Evidence
When compared to other industries, the wages and compensation offered to workers in the
tourism sector is significantly low. According to The Guardian (1999), very few tourists are
willing to pay to more than the nominal fee to tour personnel despite the fact that they may
possess exemplary guiding qualifications. Another study conducted in 2012 reveals that most
tourism jobs are low paying, offer little or no employee benefits and are seasonal (Gleason,
2012).
4.2.1 Plan to cope
Just like when dealing with the seasonality challenges of the industry, the problem of low
compensation and no benefits can be overcome by getting a second job to complement the
income earned from the tourism industry. Also workers may join unions and demand for better
pay and working conditions from their employers
4.3 Unequal treatment
4.3.1 Evidence
Just like any other industry, the workers in the tourism industry have reported unfair or unequal
treatment from their employers in the industry. As such, some management officials tend to
favor some employees more than others, something that significantly affects the morale of
workers (Aynalem, Birhanu and Tesefay, 2016).

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4.3.2 Plan to cope
Employees can overcome this challenge by ensuring that they communicate to the top
management their concerns about unfair treatment at the workplace. In turn, this would go a long
way in creating equal opportunities for all workers in the industry.
5.0 Conclusion
All in all, all factors taken into consideration, a career in the tourism offers lucrative benefits.
These advantages include an opportunity to change people’s lives, live one’s passion and
exercise creativity. However, there are various challenges associated with the sector, among
them low pay, unfair treatment and seasonality of jobs. Therefore, before setting one mind’s to
pursue the career one must clearly define what they would regard as a successful career and
determine if a job in the industry would fulfill those expectations.

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Reference List
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May. 2018].
Glleason, K. (2012). Is tourism a low-income industry? Evidence from three coastal regions.
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