Pergamon

PII: S0261-5177(96)00116-1
Tourism Management, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 149-158, 1997
1997 Elsevier Science Ltd
All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain
0261-5177/97 $17.00 + 0.00
Atti tudes to careers in touri sm:
an Angl o Greek compari son
David Airey
School of Managerial Studies, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 5XH
Athanassios Frontistis
Effective Management International, Vassiliadou 13, GR-111 41 Athens, Greece
Drawing on findings which form part of a wider study this article presents comparative
information on attitudes of young people in Greece and the UK about tourism as a sector for
their careers. It sets out the context within which career decisions are formed. It examines
perceptions of tourism and attitudes to tourism jobs. It suggests t hat the UK pupils have a
bet t er established careers support system and t hat they have a less positive attitude toward
tourism than their Greek counterparts apparently due to a more realistic view of the nature
of the jobs in question. It also points to a variety of perceptions about what constitutes a
tourism job, notably t hat many components of accommodati on and catering are not seen as
being part of tourism. It also demonstrates a difference between attitudes toward individual
tourism jobs and attitudes toward employment in the tourism sector as a whole. 1997
Elsevier Science Lt d
Keywords: t ouri sm jobs, at t i t udes to careers in tourism, careers support, identification of t ouri sm jobs
The relationship bet ween tourism and the workforce
can be examined from a number of different points
of view. Some of these have been well explored over
a relatively long period. For example, the employ-
ment creation effects of tourism, and education and
training for tourism have been document ed since
the mid-1960s. ',2 Similarly, although starting from a
rat her later date, t here is now a substantial litera-
ture about the nature and characteristics of tourism
empl oyment and careers. Mathieson and WalP
provide an early summary. One area which has
received much less attention is the perceptions and
attitudes of young peopl e to careers in tourism.
Ross 4 makes the point forcefully that ' Relatively
little research has thus far been conduct ed on the
perceptions and intentions of those individuals who
are likely to ent er the tourism/hospitality workforce' .
In some ways, given the i mport ance of the
workforce to the successful devel opment of tourism,
and given anecdotal evidence that attitudes to
tourism careers span such a wide range from
glamorous and exciting to poorly paid and mundane,
this lack of attention is surprising. But apart from
pioneering work by Ross 4-7 t here are few ot her
studies of this i mport ant relationship.
The early work by Ross ~ suggests that secondary
school students in Australia had a high level of
interest in management positions in the tourism and
hospitality industry and that they were prepared to
undert ake vocational preparat i on to achieve such
positions. He also found ~ that school leavers inter-
ested in hospitality and tourism positions generally
placed a higher than average value on achievement
in their planned professional life. In ot her words
tourism is potentially attracting the higher achievers.
In his later study of post-school intentions regarding
tourism and hospitality industry empl oyment in an
Australian tourism resort Ross 4 found that ' most
respondent s were highly interested in empl oyment
and perhaps a career in the tourism/hospitality
industry. Relatively few evinced no tourism and
hospitality empl oyment interest' . He went on to
suggest the possibility that ' the tourism/hospitality
industry is now regarded as holding considerable
promise for future empl oyment and careers
prospects in many western countries such as
149
Attitudes to careers in tourism: D Airey and A Frontistis
Australia' . Although, as he acknowledges, the level
of interest is influenced by the fact that familiarity
and involvement with the industry, which may be
high for many residents in such a tourism resort,
may lead to more favourable evaluations than would
be found elsewhere. This point is also made by
Murphy2
Positive attitudes toward tourism empl oyment
have also been found by Choy"' in Hawaii who,
noting that food and beverage is the major source of
employment, comment ed that the large majority of
tourism industry workers were satisfied with their
jobs and that a substantial proport i on would
encourage their ' bright' child to study tourism
industry management. He points out that this
reflects a positive attitude toward careers in the
tourism industry and that a significant proport i on of
respondents working in non tourism industry jobs
also held positive attitudes toward careers in the
tourism industry. In the UK Purcell and Quinn '~
indicated in their study of hotel and catering gradu-
ates that positive experience and perceptions of the
hospitality industry were main reasons for being
attracted to study hospitality management .
These positive attitudes contrast with ot her work
which identifies important concerns about employ-
ment in tourism. In his study of human resource
factors in tourism policy formulation, Baum ~2 identi-
fied a number of concerns by Chief Officers of
NTO' s of which the poor image of the tourism
industry as an empl oyer ranked of prime concern.
As Baum indicates this is a perception that is voiced
frequently but fails to recognize the diversity of
empl oyment within the industry. It is probable that
this response to a great extent reflects the situation
in the accommodat i on and food-related sectors,
especially with respect to small business. Koko and
Guerri er ~3 comment on jobs in the hospitality
industry being criticized for being 'physicallly repeti-
tive, poorly paid, controlled by task-oriented
managers and providing limited opportunities for
participation and development' . This unease about
tourism empl oyment is reflected elsewhere including
some careers literature which comment s on long
hours and poor pay. '4
In his study in the Spey Valley in Scotland, Get z '~
found that the hotel and catering sector was a
relatively unattractive option. Also comparing 1978
and 1992 he found that the desire to pursue a career
in hotel and catering empl oyment had dropped by
over one half. The percent age who agreed that ' jobs
in hotel and tourist establishments are attractive and
good for young peopl e' fell from 43 to 29% between
1978 and 1992. This is in a region where, in 1992,
42% of respondent s had a parent working in the
tourism industry and a high proport i on of respon-
dents had had direct experience working in the
industry.
Against this background, and with support from
the Commission of the European Communities
(CEC) a comparative study of Greece and the UK
was carried out in the first half of 1995 into the
views of young people about careers in tourism.
Ultimately the main goal of the study was to identify
and test ways of familiarizing young people in
Greece with working in tourism. The study drew
upon the experience of Greece and the UK and in
the process provided comparative information not
only about the attitudes of the young people but
also about the context within which these attitudes
are formed. The purpose of this paper is to set out
some of the key findings from the study as they
relate to the ways in which young people, in the two
countries, view tourism as a potential sector for
their careers.
Met hod
The first part of the study was a broad comparison,
mainly from secondary sources, but supplemented
by interviews with leading employers, of the scale
and scope of the tourism industry, of the systems of
education and training, including that concerned
with tourism, of careers guidance, and of likely
developments in the tourism industry and associated
careers.
This was followed by separate focus groups, of
about ten each, of pupils, parents and teachers,
conduct ed at three secondary schools in each
country, from Athens in Greece and from
Nottingham in the UK. Apart from providing infor-
mation about views of tourism, about careers and
about careers guidance, information from these
groups was also used to develop the questionnaire
for the later stages of the study. The focus groups in
each country were led by experienced careers
advisers. Each group followed a common format,
with appropri at e variations for the pupils, teachers
and parents, and they included a range of questions
and exercises, with prompts provided as required.
Figure 1 provides a summary of the content of the
focus group discussions with the pupils.
The subsequent questionnaire, which used infor-
mation from the focus groups, also followed a
common format in each country, although some of
the questions, particularly those relating to careers,
were different to reflect the different situations in
the two countries. The questionnaire was admini-
stered to 176 pupils in four schools in the
Nottingham area in May and early June 1995 and
152 pupils in t hree schools in the Gr eat er Athens
area in mid-April and early May 1995. No pupils
participating in the focus groups were included in
those responding to the questionnaire. In the UK
the 176 pupils represent ed about 15% of the total
cohort of the four schools. In Greece the 152 pupils
represent ed about 60% of the cohort. In both cases,
selection of the samples was in the hands of the
150
t eacher s and was cons t r ai ned by pupi l avai l abi l i t y
dur i ng t i met abl ed hours.
The school s in t he Not t i ngham ar ea i ncl uded one
in an i ndust r i al t own t o t he nor t h of Not t i ngham
wher e t her e is hi gh unempl oyment . The ot her s ar e
l ocat ed in t he city of Not t i ngham in mor e
pr os per ous ar eas wher e t her e is a hi gher pr opor t i on
of r esi dent s in pr of essi onal occupat i ons. The t hr ee
school s in Gr e e c e wer e in t he Gr e a t e r At hens
r egi on. Thes e wer e l ocat ed in di f f er ent par t s of t he
regi on; t he cat chment ar eas of t wo ar e r el at i vel y
Attitudes to careers in tourism: D Airey and A Frontistis
pr os per ous whi l e t he t hi r d dr aws f r om a less
pr os per ous di st ri ct . Al l t hr ee school s ar e publ i c
l yceums, whi ch account for ar ound 85% of all pupi l s
at this level. Pupi l s ar e r equi r ed to ent er t he l yceum
in t he ar ea in whi ch t hey live, t her e is no el ement of
sel ect i vi t y.
One of t he school s in t he UK was a si xt h-form
col l ege whi ch onl y has pupi l s in t he age r ange
16- 18. The ot her s t ake all age pupi l s and across t he
ful l -abi l i t y range. Wi t h t he except i on of t he sixth-
f or m col l ege, t he ot her pupi l s wer e all in t he age
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
I0.
QUESTION ACTIVITY/OUTCOME
Tell me about your ideal job
Have any of you decided what you are
going to do when you leave school?
Which of given named jobs do you
think are in tourism?
What do you think of 3 named jobs
in tourism?
Open discussion
Result on flip chart
Record Yes/No
Careers mentioned
39jobs given on lists,
Participants underline tourism jobs
leading to discussion
Guided discussion to elicit response
on status, level of skills, level of pay,
job security and others
How would you describe the people who
do these jobs?
Which career areas are you interested/
not interested in?
Which word best describes the people
who work in these areas?
Open discussion
14 career areas
(eg. Teaching, Army, Law, Tourism)
provided on list, participants record
answers on paper
Participants choose from well-paid, male
fun-loving, female, outgoing, boring,
How do you feel about a job in tourism?
What information have you received
about careers? What extra information
would you like?
How would you like to get extra
information?
strong, serious, clever, ordinary, badly
paid, want job for life.
Participants put choice on scale
from 0 (negative) to 100 (positive)
Discuss and record answer on
flip chart
Discuss and record answers on
flip chart
Figure 1 Summary of guide to focus groups (pupils)
151
Attitudes to careers in tourism: D Airey and A Frontistis
range of 14-16 years. Those from the sixth-form
college were in the age range of 16-18 years. In the
UK group, one of the secondary schools and the
sixth-form college included tourism as a subject of
study. Such a subject does not exist at school level in
Greece. Although it is difficult to make precise
compari sons, the soci o-economi c profile of the
pupils compl et i ng the questionnaires in the two
countries, as measured by parent al occupations, was
similar and the sex bal ance was also similar. The
questionnaires were i mpl ement ed in class time with
a member of the study t eam on hand to answer
questions and provide assistance as required.
In answering the questionnaire the pupils were
asked to provi de demographic variables such as sex,
occupat i on of parent s as well as personal interests;
i nformat i on about career plans, job preferences and
careers advice; and about views and attitudes to
employment in tourism. These views and attitudes
were examined in four separat e sets of questions.
(1) General attitudes to tourism empl oyment were
tested by the accept ance or rejection of four
st at ement s giving descriptions of empl oyment in
tourism. These st at ement s are given in Figure 2.
(2) These attitudes were furt her tested by the evalu-
ation of st at ement s concerning the nat ure of
jobs in tourism. A summary version of these
st at ement s is given in Table 6.
(3) As to what is recognized as a t ouri sm job, this
was tested by respondent s being asked to
classify different jobs according to whet her they
t hought the job bel onged to the t ouri sm sector.
A list of jobs is given in Table 7.
(4) Finally the respondent s were asked to indicate
in which of the identified tourism jobs they
would be interested as a career.
In the final part of the study, the groups of the
Gr eek pupils were exposed to one of three different
techniques of providing careers advice. These were
devel oped on the basis of the focus group discus-
sions and also recognized what is feasible in the
context of the education system in Greece. The first
group simply received a Touri sm Career Gui de
which had been prepared for the study. This was
handed out to the pupils who were asked to read it
during class time and at home. The second group
received the Touri sm Career Gui de one week
before a 1 hour lesson dealing with careers informa-
tion. During the lesson the t eacher explained the
contents of the guide and answered questions. The
final group received a 1 hour present at i on by a
tourism specialist with visual aids and the Touri sm
Career Gui de was handed out at the end of the
session. Aft er these activities the pupils were again
asked about their views and attitudes to empl oyment
in tourism using the same four questions to which
they had already responded.
Context
In order to underst and and interpret the results
of the study a number of similarities and differences
in the contextual background to tourism careers in
Gr eece and the UK were identified. The most
i mport ant of these were:
Tourism provides good career opportunities leading to well paid and exciting positions.
Working in tourism offers the chance to meet interesting people in a glamorous
environment. The work is very varied and gives the prospect of international travel.
Tourism is a growing industry which provides plenty of opportunities at many levels. The
work in tourism can be varied and interesting. There are good career opportunities for
those who work hard and like meeting other people.
Tourism offers opportunities at many levels and provides career prospects for those who
are prepared to accept hard work sometimes for low pay and with unsociable hours.
Career prospects in tourism are limited. Much of the work includes serving other people
and a lot of boring routine. It is usually badly paid. Many jobs have a low status and some are
only available on a seasonal basis.
Figure 2 Descriptions of employment in tourism
152
Attitudes to careers in tourism: D Airey and A Frontistis
Table 1 Career decision
UK Greece
(%) (%)
I know exactly what sort of career I want when I leave school.
I have not yet made up my mind. There are several things I might like to do for a career.
I have no idea what I want to do yet. There is plenty of time to decide.
Total sample
29 24
62 65
9 11
176 152
Tourism and employment
In both countries, accommodat i on, catering and
rel at ed services is the biggest sector of tourism
empl oyment , accounting for about 50% of the
total;
Touri sm accounts for about 5% of empl oyment in
the UK while in Gr eece the equivalent figure
reaches up to 15% during the seasonal peak
period;
In bot h countries t here has been a steady growth
in empl oyment in tourism;
Part -t i me work in tourism is much less common in
Gr eece than in the UK;
Seasonality of t ouri sm empl oyment is more
pr onounced in Gr eece than in the UK;
Education and training
Compul sory schooling in Gr eece is up to age 15,
in the UK it is up to age 16;
While in bot h countries, after compul sory
schooling, the pupils may follow a number of
clearly defined routes, the UK system offers
relatively mor e flexibility in allowing transfer from
rout e to route. Decisions t aken by 15 and 16 year
old Gr eek children are far mor e irreversible;
The ' world of work' plays a far mor e i mport ant
role in the compul sory educat i on system of the
UK than it does in Greece;
The UK has a well devel oped educat i on and
training system for t ouri sm with a br oad range of
courses and qualifications at all levels from
pre-vocat i onal courses in schools to graduat e and
post graduat e studies in universities. In Gr eece the
system is much less fully devel oped and tourism
studies do not exist at university level.
Careers education and guidance
The careers educat i on and guidance system is
much mor e fully devel oped in the UK than it is in
Greece;
The careers service in the UK has much closer
links with industry t han the equivalent in Greece;
A peri od of work experi ence during compul sory
school is common in the UK. It is almost
unknown in Greece.
Re s ul t s
Tables 1- 4 set out some of the background findings
from the study. Tables 5- 8 give i nformat i on about
attitudes to t ouri sm empl oyment in the two
countries. And finally Table 9 sets out the ' before
and aft er' views of the Gr eek pupils who experi-
enced the different kinds of careers advice.
Background findings
There are some similarities as well as some marked
differences bet ween the UK and Gr eek groups of
pupils in their views about careers. In each case, as
shown in Table 1, about 25% said that they had a
clear idea of the sort of career they wished to
pursue and about 10% indicated that they had no
idea about their future career. Within these figures
t here were some differences bet ween the sexes with
rat her mor e UK girls than boys having a clear idea
of their career (33% as against 23%) and bet ween
soci o-economi c groups. This may be because those
who perceive fewer choices have a cl earer idea of
their future. In the UK the lower socio-economic
groups expressed great er certainty with 45% saying
that they knew exactly the sort of career they
wanted. On the ot her hand in Gr eece it was the
upper soci o-economi c groups who appeared to be
mor e certain at 36%. While these figures give some
guide to career intentions they need to be t reat ed
with caution. This is particularly so for the Gr eek
figures. Asked later about the j ob they want ed to do,
only 14% of the Gr eek pupils, who said they knew
exactly what career they wanted, named just one job.
The ot hers showed a preference for a range of
different jobs. The same figure for the UK pupils
was 41%. This tends to suggest that the Gr eek
pupils may be at an earlier stage in their thinking,
and possibly less knowl edgeabl e than their UK
count er parts.
Faced with a list of jobs grouped into broad
categories, the pupils were asked to indicate those
they would like to do and of these which would be
their preferred choice. Scope was provided for t hem
to add to the list. The results of this are given in
Table 2. The Gr eek pupils gave an average of 4.4
different choices with the British at 3.9. The overall
picture reveals a stronger preference by the Greeks
for professional, business and management careers
and a stronger preference by the British for self-
empl oyment , i ndependent and ot her career areas.
Also a far higher proport i on of the British pupils
was not able to give a preferred choice. The fact
that 11% of Gr eek pupils said they had no idea
about their career choice, as shown in Table 1, while
153
Attitudes to careers in tourism: D Airey and A Frontistis
Table 2 Career preference
Career group
UK Greece
Preferred All Preferred All
Choice Choices Choi ce Choices
(%) (%) (%) (%)
Professional (doctor, lawyer etc.)
Busi ness & management
Public sector (including teaching)
Empl oyee, craft smen, unskilled workers
Self employed, i ndependent and ot her
Do not know
Number of respondent s
Average number of choices
Number of non-responses
Total sampl e
10 15 30 22
11 22 19 21
23 14 25 18
18 21 14 25
21 27 12 13
18 1
162 630 152 673
3.9 4.4
14 0
176 152
only 1% were unable to give a preferred choice
when given a list of jobs, provides furt her support to
the relatively fluid state of the decisions in that
country.
The source of careers advice as shown in Table 3,
reveals a marked difference bet ween Gr eece and the
UK. The careers guidance specialists (careers
officers, librarians and teachers) and work experi-
ence figure mor e promi nent l y among the responses
by the young peopl e in the UK. In Greece, possibly
because of a lack of ot her non-parent al guidance,
nearly half the pupils said that their career decision
so far was simply made on their own. Perhaps not
surprisingly, therefore, as shown in Table 4, the UK
Table 3 Career guidance and advice
UK Greece
(%) (%)
Parent s 28 30
Careers officer/librarian/teacher 19 11
Friends 12 9
Wor k experience 20 0
Own decision 6 49
Ot her 5 0
Do not know 11 1
Number of respondent s 157 149
Number of non-responses 19 3
Tot al sampl e 176 152
Table 4 Satisfaction with careers advice
UK Greece
(%) (%)
Fully satisfactory 13 7
Satisfactory 52 39
Very unsatisfactory 35 53
Number of respondent s 174 152
Number of non-responses 2 0
Total sampl e 176 152
pupils were far more satisfied with the careers
advice they had received.
Perhaps the most i mport ant issues from these
background findings are that with a bet t er
devel oped system for careers support and with a
relatively more flexible educational process the UK
pupils have a broader and possibly more realistic
view of career opportunities. The Gr eek pupils
operat i ng in a highly structured education system,
which itself has its sights set on university entrance,
have high career aspirations which are likely in any
case to be unrealistic and which for many will be
unachievable. The UK pupils at a similar stage are
more fully and broadl y advised, they are aware of a
wider range of options and their schools are less
' university focused' . As a result the career prefer-
ences, given in Table 2, including the high propor-
tion who ' do not know' may be more realistic.
Tourism and tourism careers
The pupils in bot h countries were present ed with
four st at ement s about empl oyment in tourism and
asked to indicate with which they most strongly
agreed and disagreed. The four st at ement s and the
overall summary of the responses are given in Table
5. These indicate an ambi val ent attitude by the UK
pupils which contrasts with the very positive view of
the Greeks. Ther e are a number of factors which
might explain this difference. Empl oyment in
Table 5 Attitudes about touri sm empl oyment
UK Greece
(%) (%)
Positive at t i t ude (agree 1 & 2, disagree 3 & 4)
Negative at t i t ude (disagree 1 & 2, agree 3 & 4)
Uncert ai n (ot her combi nat i ons including no answer)
Total sampl e
46 83
21 7
33 11
176 152
Comment on Chi -square test: There is a st rong difference
bet ween UK and Greece (Z ~ =53. 750, c~<0.00). Compari ng the
observed frequenci es with the normally expected distribution we
find UK: Z 2 9.48, ~<0. 008 GR: X 2 110.91, ct<0.000. This implies
that t he results are strongly significant.
154
tourism in Greece at 15% of the total is relatively
more i mport ant than in the UK where it accounts
for about 5%. The UK pupils have much great er
experience in tourism as consumers and hence may
have different perceptions of the glamour of tourism
employment. For example 88% of the UK pupils
had travelled internationally compared with 38% of
the Greeks. Also the relatively unrealistic view of
the Greek pupils about careers might from a part of
the explanation. But whatever the case, a figure of
fewer than 50% of UK pupils having a positive
attitude about empl oyment in tourism provides an
interesting message which deserves furt her
examination.
These views about tourism empl oyment were
explored furt her by asking pupils to indicate the
extent of their agreement to a number of state-
ments. A list of some of the statements with the
results are given in Table 6. Although the differences
between the pupils in the two countries are less
pronounced, these t end to confirm the generally
more favourable attitude of the Greek pupils toward
tourism and tourism careers.
In order to throw light on the pupils' perceptions
of what constituted a tourism job they were asked to
identify, from a list of jobs, which ones they felt
were in the tourism industry. The results, given in
Table 7, provide some interesting messages and
comparisons. The rest aurant sector, including chefs,
waiter/esses and rest aurant owners have a relatively
low level of identification as tourism jobs, as do
leisure managers and hotel housekeepers. Given the
i mport ance of the accommodat i on and catering
sector in total tourism empl oyment , about 50% in
both countries, this perception of young peopl e is an
interesting one. Among the differences between the
two countries is that among the Gr eek pupils airline
pilots and check-in staff have a low level of identi-
fication as tourism jobs while in the UK their identi-
Table 6 Statements about touri sm and touri sm careers
Attitudes to careers in tourism: D Airey and A Frontistis
fication level is very high. It is possible to speculate
that this results from the high proport i on of UK
pupils who have travelled abroad, mostly by air,
which points up the role of the airline sector in
tourism.
Of the jobs which they identified as tourism jobs
the pupils in the two countries were asked to
indicate the extent to which they were interested in
one or more of the jobs. As shown in Table 8 the
overall response by the Greek and UK pupils was
similar. About 60% were interested in at least one
tourism job and only about 10% categorically
rejected tourism jobs. It is interesting to compare
these results with those in Table 5. The effect of
asking about particular jobs, rather than about
tourism empl oyment generally seems to encourage a
more positive attitude by the UK pupils and a less
positive attitude by the Greek pupils. This may be
explained in part by a difference in the identification
of different jobs as belonging in the tourism industry
and a strong interest by the UK pupils in some of
these jobs. This is particularly the case for the
airline industry and for jobs as a hotel manager,
restaurant owner and ski instructor. The UK pupils
were more likely to identify jobs with airlines and as
a ski instructor as being a part of tourism and to
express a strong interest in such jobs. For jobs as a
hotel manager or restaurant owner they were more
strongly interested in such jobs than their Greek
counterparts even though the level of identification
of such jobs as being part of tourism was similar in
both countries. For a range of ot her jobs, such as
hotel receptionist, tourist guide, tourist information
officer, the level of interest by the UK pupils was
much lower than that expressed by the Greek pupils.
Changes in attitudes
In the final part of the study an attempt was made
to examine shifts in attitudes by the Greek pupils
Bri ef summary of statements
UK
Average
score*
Greece
Average
score* F-test
Positive statements
Int erest i ng job opport uni t i es
Can be st udi ed at university level
Well paid, manageri al opport uni t i es early in career
Chances for travel
Most i mport ant sector of economy
Growi ng sector
Negative statements
Unsoci abl e hours
Boring j obs
For t hose wi t hout hi gher educat i on
Low level poorly paid j obs
Most j obs seasonal
Much unempl oyment
Total sampl e
2.92
2.38
3.54
2.39
3.90
2.66
3.36
4.19
4.21
4.00
3.09
4.11
176
2.33
2.62
2.92
2.24
2.14
2.03
3.34
4.49
3.73
4.77
2.87
4.90
152
23.400
3.090
20.486
1.084
150.920
27.083
0.019
3.205
8.867
33.582
1.775
43.329
0.0000
0.080
0.0000
0.2987
0.0000
0.0000
0.8911
0.074
0.003
0.0000
0.184
0.0000
Note: *Averages calculated on 6 poi nt scale 1 = totally agree, 6 = totally diagree.
155
Attitudes to careers in tourism: D Airey and A Frontistis
following exposure to one of t hree different careers
information sessions. The results are given in Table
9. It is difficult to draw firm conclusions from this
because the majority of the results were not statis-
tically significant. Ther e was a general increase in
the level of identification of most jobs as being a
part of tourism. This was notably true and statis-
tically significant for the airline industry and hotels.
The rejection of food production and service as
forming a part of tourism remai ned clear.
Table 7 Identification of touri sm jobs
UK Greece
(%)* (%)*
Hotel manager 80 84
Hotel receptionist 58 72
Hotel housekeeper 44 47
Restaurant chef 30 21
Waiter/ess 27 31
Restaurant owner 37 28
Airline pilot 81 38
Officer on cruiseliner 85 69
Coach driver 62 50
Airline steward/ess 85 65
Airline check-in staff 71 15
Taxi driver 36 14
Tourist police officer 78 80
Tourist information officer 96 89
Tourist guide 98 92
Travel agent 91 77
Leisure centre manager 40 43
Ski instructor/monitor 64 37
Translator 74 49
Number of respondents 162 151
Number of non-respondents 14 1
Total sample 176 152
Note." *Percentage who agreed that the ' Job is definitely in the
tourism industry'.
Table 9 Identification and interest in touri sm jobs by Greek pupi l s
In the same way the shifts in the level of interest
in tourism jobs were also generally positive although
only the shifts related to the jobs as airline pilot and
hotel housekeepeer were significant at the 5% level.
Given the existing positive attitudes (Table 5) it
would be difficult to expect substantial change. One
interesting result was that the most important shifts
occurred in pupils who either had the careers
presentation by the tourism specialist or were simply
asked to study the booklet on their own. The
presentation by the teacher within the framework of
the normal careers orientation as currently practised
in Greek schools had little effect. The percentage of
pupils interested in at least one job in tourism
increased from 61% (Table 8) to 68% and the total
number of jobs in which they were interested
increased by 29%. In ot her words although many of
the effects of the exposure to careers information
were not statistically significant t here is sufficient
evidence to draw the view that overall there was a
broadeni ng of the understanding of what constitutes
the tourism sector and that the level of interest
increased.
Table 8 Interest in touri sm jobs
UK Greece
(%) (%)
Definitely interested in one or more jobs in tourism
Possibly interested in one or more jobs in tourism
Not interested in any tourism jobs
Total sample
57 61
31 31
11 9
176 152
Apparently there is a clear and significant trend in both countries
in the Chi-squared test versus the equal frequencies (UK:
X2=32.24, e=0. 00; GR: Z -~=41.33, ct=0.00). The difference
between the countries is not significant (g 2 = 0.281, ~t = 0.85).
Before careers i nformati on
Identification as a tourist job
(%) Interest
After careers i nformati on
Identification as a touri st job
(%) Interest
Chi -squared test
Identification Interest
Airline pilot 38 9 46 18
Officer on cruiseliner 69 13 74 16
Hotel manager 84 22 89 27
Leisure centre manager 43 9 34 8
Tourist police officer 80 11 82 11
Tourist information officer 89 12 96 16
Restaurant chef 21 l 28 3
Coach driver 50 0 43 1
Airline steward/ess 65 13 80 20
Waiter/ess 31 1 30 2
Tourist guide 92 23 93 25
Ski instructor/monitor 37 8 37 12
Airline check-in staff 15 3 27 5
Hotel receptionist 72 11 82 14
Hotel housekeeper 47 0 45 5
Restaurant owner 28 4 28 7
Travel agent 77 14 84 11
Number 151 151 148 148
Chi-squared test: * = significant at 10% level; ** = significant at 5% level.
156
Concl usi on
Although the main purpose of the study on which
this article is based was to identify and test ways of
familiarizing young people in Greece with working
in tourism, the findings relating to the situation and
attitudes of young people in Greece and the UK are
in many ways more interesting, possibly have a wider
applicability, certainly provide a fertile basis for
speculation and above all suggest the usefulness of
furt her research.
By way of conclusion these findings are grouped
into four inter-related themes each one of which
provides a possible starting point for speculation
and/or for furt her study.
The first is the extent to which the careers support
and the education for tourism is so much bet t er
developed in the UK than in Greece. Against this
background it is suggested that the system works
well in providing young people in the UK with a
relatively broad and realistic view of career options.
In Greece there seems to be a serious problem with
the support which contributes to a situation in
which, by comparison, Greek pupils seem to be at
an earlier, almost ' fantasy' , stage in their thinking
about careers.
Rel at ed to this is the finding that the UK pupils
are more hostile than their Greek counterparts in
their attitudes toward tourism as a career option. It
is interesting to speculate that the ' fantasy' stage of
Greek pupils leads them to have a glamorous and
unrealistic view of tourism careers. But also differ-
ences in their level of experience as tourists and
differences in the empl oyment structures of the two
countries will play an important part in forming
these attitudes. It would be interesting to examine
furt her the extent to which UK pupils' negative view
of tourism jobs is influenced by their personal
experiences as tourists.
There are also important differences between
views about empl oyment in the tourism sector as a
whole and views about individual tourism jobs. The
important message here is that when asked about
particular jobs, the attitudes of the UK pupils
become more positive while those of their Greek
counterparts become less positive than when asked
about tourism empl oyment in general. It can be
argued that it is more realistic to ask about indivi-
dual jobs and that these responses may be more
accurate than those related to tourism as a whole.
This seems to be particularly true in the light of
the final group of findings relating to the different
perceptions as to what constitutes the tourism
sector. There are some interesting omissions and
contrasts in the pupils' perceptions of what consti-
tutes a tourism job. In particular the low level of
identification in both countries of many jobs in the
accommodat i on and catering sector as being part of
tourism, is in many ways surprising and certainly
contains important messages for the provision of
Attitudes to careers in tourism: D Airey and A Frontistis
careers information about tourism. There is clearly
an important task to get the right semantics about
tourism.
Perhaps the most important conclusion of this
study is that t here are so many questions which still
need to be answered about the attitudes of young
people to tourism careers. At a time when tourism is
held out as one of the world' s major industries and
sources of employment' " it would be timely to know
more about what potential recruits think about it, in
order to provide a basis for attracting the best
possible work force.
Acknowledgements
This article draws upon a study supported by tile
Commission of the European Communities (CEC)
and undert aken jointly by Effective Management
International of Athens, Greece and The
Nottingham Trent University UK. The authors
thank the following for their assistance in carrying
out the research and preparing the article: Dr P
Lytras, Professor of Tourism, Technical Institute of
Athens, Dr J Haliklas, Athens University of
Economics, Mr V Mortensen, EMI, Athens, Ms S
Goddard, Consultant, Nottingham Business School
and Ms Jennifer Gee, European Business Centre.
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