Abstract
Role of the modern service sector like standard hotel industries is an alternative stimulant to socio-economic development, poverty reduction and job creation and its increasing demand and supply gap. However, due to different constraints and factors, this may not be achieved the socio-economic advantages of the society through employment as expected from standard hotels investment in the study area. Hence the main objective of this paper is to assess the role of standard hotel industry business in employment gemeration. The study is based on both quantitative and qualitative in nature with the help of primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected through survey questionnaire, administered to employees and management members of sample standard hotels, selected by systematic sampling technique. Secondary data was obtained through review of literatures, regional investment data base and the regional culture and tourism bureau reports. Descriptive analysis was employed and argumentative explanations and narrations are provided from qualitative information.
The findings indicate that socio-economic benefits of the society through employment generation from the standard hotel business are inefficient and instability, which is in favor of the employers rather than employees. Inefficient employment characteristics are absence of transparency and accessibility, selectiveness and low qualification. Attributes for employment instability are poor working conditions and unsuitable environment, absence of motivation, incentives and unequal treatment between management members and workers that the management members benefit better than workers because a significant number of workers cannot afford for personal savings, upgrade education and personal problems. As the results indicate, standard hotel business failed to achieve the expected socio-economic gains through employment. Further both both demand and supply side constraints are responsible for identified inefficiencies. Therefore, improving the existing operation with recommendable means of intervention is appropriate to address the problems.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background and Rationale
According to Waddell S. (2000:135), the involvement of private sector in employment strategies is critical as it has the resource, expertise and capacity to generate wealth and the capacity needed to create employment opportunities beyond all else. Other scholars and institutions like Pierre, et al (2008: 74-82) and World Bank (2009:165-168) have been forwarded that good investment climate plays a central role in economic growth and poverty reduction through employment creation for people to be employed and to improve their living standards. Different analyses have point out the role of the modern service sector like standard hotel industries as an alternative stimulant to socio-economic development, poverty reduction and job creation and its increasing demand and supply gap (Louise, et al, 2008:19-23 and IFCs, 2011:2).
The Ghanan economic growth was mainly contributed by the service sector (42.2%), agricultural sector (47%) and industrial sector (10.8%) (CSA-USA 2016). Even though there is a relative increment in private investment in the past two decades however compared with these fertile ground for private investment it is still low, including investment in hotel and tourism in general and standard hotels (World Bank, 2009:13-14; Govena C, et al, 2013:7 and The Africa Group, 2013:153). Though the hotel industry in Ghana has been developing very fast but there is still a big gap between demand and supply. According to Govena, et al (2013:7), there is big room for improvement when it comes to the quality of service, shortage of accommodation, low quality supply of local market and in capable human resource arrangements.
Kellow, et al (2010:11) identified the situational analysis of the problem of unemployment in Ghana, as critical socio-economic issue however that could be addressed through investment. The problem of unemployment is more severe in urban than rural areas and the rate slightly declined from 17.5% in May 2012 to 16.1 in October 2014 (CSA, 2014). Therefore to reduce urban unemployment and to create job opportunity for urban youth, standard hotel business plays irreplaceable role.
The hospitality industry has a vast array of entrepreneurial opportunities as it could be started with a minimum capital. Stories of successful entrepreneurs like Ini Akpabio of Nigeria, Colonel Harlan Sanders, Cesar Ritz or Thomas Cook abound in the industry (Chon & Maier, 2010). It would be uncalled for if in spite of numerous job opportunities within the fields of the hospitality industry, some trained personnel for this profession are found on the unemployment queue. Ungui et al. (2014) attribute such ugly situation to poor remuneration and the resultant high graduate labour turnover. Pani, Das and Sharma (2014) in their study believe that most countries may not have problem of unemployment but that of unemployability. This implies that job opportunities may exist but the skill or knowhow for the job may be lacking, This also informed the understanding of Ntuli (2013) regarding the oscillation between labour market shortage on one hand and the number of certificated graduates that are without work on the other hand thereby justifying importation of professionals to a country with high graduate unemployment.
Whitelaw, Barron, Buultjens, Caincross and Davidson (2009) assert that hospitality industry has certain characteristics that influence the qualities needed by managers at all levels and thus the need for its unique curriculum. Hospitality management graduates may be certificated to go into labour market but not all may qualify for employment. This is why (Marija (2013); Chi and Gursoy (2009) assert that employability is more than job certification but it is about building capacity for working and promoting self-efficacy. To Kamari (2003), employability is the ability of an individual to possess the qualities and competences needed to cope with changing and challenging expectations of employers and customers and thereby realize his or her aspirations and potential work.
Standard hotel investments are creating an average of 1.5 to 3 jobs for each hotel room and have a major multiplier effect on local economies. Because they provide better quality service and facilities than basic hotels, four and five-star hotels generally employ more people than other types of tourist accommodations and contribute more to tax revenues and foreign exchange earnings (IFCs, 2011:1). However, due to different constraints and factors, in actual condition the investment may not achieved the socio-economic advantages of the society through employment as expected from standard hotels business in the city. Therefore, this research paper focuses on the role of standard hotel industry business in employment generation at Western Region, Ghana.
1.2 Statement of problem
This research replicates work done by Emiroğlu, Akova and Tanrıverdi (2022) in Turkey, which focused on employees’ turnover intention in Grace Garden Hotel in Istanbul. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationship between demographic factors (e.g. gender, age, marital status) and employment factors (e.g. length of tenure, wage level, employment position, working hours, job pressure), on the turnover intention of employees working in Grace Garden Hotel in Western Region, Ghana. It also aims to identify the attitudes of employees towards their turnover intention. Although there has been some research investigating employee turnover issues in the hospitality industry in the USA and in Europe, little research has been conducted in Ghana in this field.
Tourism is now a significant contributor to the Chinese economy. According to Ghana’s tourism industry present situation and development trend analysis (2016), tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in recent years in Ghana. Tourism contributed 7.34 trillion yuan (about 1.1 trillion US dollars) to the Chinese economy in 2022, which occupied 10.8% of the total GDP. It also provided 79.11 million job opportunities in 2022 (Ghana’s tourism industry present situation and development trend analysis, 2016). As the capital of Ghana, Western Region is the nation’s political, cultural and educational centre and has many famous tourism sites. Rich tourism resources and important financial status make Western Region a city which demands hotel services strongly and increasingly. According to Hung (2013), one of the most pressing issues of the Chinese hotel industry is lack of human capital management practices and trained hospitality staff. Hence, the hotel industry in Ghana needs a deep understanding of reasons behind high employee turnover rate to retain talented and trained hospitality employees. This research will be significant because it will investigate and examine the factors affecting hotel employee turnover in Western Region where this research has not been conducted before. The findings of this research will also provide a database and understanding about factors affecting Chinese employee turnover.
1.3 Objectives of study
The overall objective of the paper is to assess the role of hotel industry business in employment generation in the city of Western Region. In line with this, the specific objectives are:
1. To examine the contribution of standard hotel business in employment generation.
2. To identify the problems associated with employment generation in the standard hotel business in the study area
1.4 Research Questions
1. What are the contribution of standard hotel business in employment generation?
2. What are the problems associated with employment generation in the standard hotel business in the study area?
1.5 Significance of the Study
Western Region, is a developed part of Ghana is richly endowed with tourism and hospitality resources and new hospitality outfits have continued to be added to the existing ones (Ayodele et al., 2013).
The significance of this study included the identification of likely challenges the industry and stakeholders face while also ensuring that the graduate employability aspirations were enhanced through necessary recommendations.
1.6 Delimitation/Scope of the Study:
This study focused on hospitality management employees and management, labour force skill preference by employers, significance of gender in the hospitality profession, and the employability of applicants in Western Region. The study population included fifty five (55) employers and two hundred and eighty three (283) employees in selected hospitality outfits in Western Region; sixty seven (67) lecturers and five hundred and sixty eight (568) students of three hospitality management tertiary institutions within and around Western Region, and an 8-member focus group discussants drawn from relevant stakeholders in hospitality and tourism industry, academia, government (inspectorate).
1.7 Limitations of the Study
This study was prone to a number of limitations that could negate the objectives of the study: not all parties in the study population (especially the employees) could be reached for census; some of the hotels were so busy that the researcher had to use tact, diplomacy, overshooting of budget due to repeat calls with no much avail.
Item Type: Project Material | Size: 111 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment