Seasonality in Tourism Employment : Case: Grecotel Kos Imperial Thalasso

Abstract

Seasonality is recognized as one of the most distinctive and determinant features of international tourism, affecting all aspects of supply-side behavior in tourism including the labor market. Hospitality industry is considered to be unprestigious and temporary employment. Nevertheless, the image of career in the industry may change due to emerging tourism business and new markets. While seasonality and its challenges are inalienable parts of international tourism, tourism employment with appropriate human resource management, can turn into a and beneficial career. The objective of this thesis is to understand the seasonality effect on labor, hiring and staffing, techniques and procedures to handle seasonal challenges in HRM, as well as find solutions to make seasonal employment in tourism and hospitality more sustainable. The special interest of this work is concentrated on staffing techniques of the company experiencing seasonality. The differentiation in staffing appears to be one of the major tools for a company coping with variations in seasonal demand. On the other hand, the company may use additional techniques to retain the personnel together with their knowledge and skills. This study examines problems and key features of seasonal employment in tourism industry, particularly in resort destinations. The methodology of this work includes qualitative case study including semi-structured interviewing, participant observation and desk study engaged into triangulation technique.