Strategies for motivating the human resource in rural tourism

Abstract

The universe of rural tourism has been one of the major research topics for the academic envi-ronment for more than two decades. The actuality of this work is based on the fact that employees are the main resources of rural tourism and the provision of appropriate motivation strategies is the decisive factor in terms of their performance. The usefulness of this topic is on the one hand the improvement of the strategies that are the basis of employee motivation, as well as finding new strategies that can motivate employees. In tourism, the motivation of human resources as a subject is very broad and has many definitions from different contexts, but it is almost non-existent approaching this theme in the context of rural tourism. In the theoretical framework, key concepts, selected theories and background information for the study of employee motivation strategies in rural tourism were addressed. First, defining what rural tourism really means. Human resources motivation as a topic is very broad and has many defini-tions from different contexts. This research has a deeper perspective into an employee's motiva-tional theories and how managers can maximize motivation strategies for both employee and em-ployer benefit. Summarizing the different definitions of rural tourism presented in chapter 2, we can say that rural tourism is a form of tourism that includes units that use only rural tourist guest-houses and agro-tourism guesthouses for accommodation and meals, benefiting from an unpollut-ed and picturesque environment, tourist attractions natural and cultural-historical values, traditions and customs present in the rural environment. To carry out the research, the quantitative method was chosen as a research method, and as techniques of research, the application of questionnaires to both employees and employers in ru-ral pensions in Romania was used. The realization of the questionnaires was based on the three theories of motivation, respectively that of Abraham Maslow - The theory of the hierarchy of needs, of David McClelland - The theory of motivation, of Friedrich Herzberg - The theory of the bifactor. The research was carried out on a group of 58 employees and 14 employers, aged be-tween 18-60 years, the group being heterogeneous from the perspective of other criteria, such as the social environment and the economic level of the family they come from, the education level etc. The selection was made by simple random sampling, thus resulting in a heterogeneous group, which reveals qualitative differences at the level of motivation strategies. The subjects were se-lected from 14 rural guesthouses in Romania, located in various geographical areas, the environ-ment of origin being the rural one for the whole lot. The results of the applied questionnaires revealed that indeed the creating a quality interpersonal relationship between the employer and the employee increases the motivation in the work of the employees, but also on the benefits of the employer. Based on Maslow, Herzberg and McClelland theories, the data analysis reveals that main motivation strategy is a good interpersonal relation-ship employers-employees which will bring a good contractual relationship with both sides benefits and, on the other hand, another good motivation strategy is related to job promotion. Five motiva-tional tools and mechanisms linked to the motivational theories studied in this report, which can lead to an increase in the work satisfaction of the organization's employees and the added value for it, are bonuses for employees, favorable environment framework, professional training, job promotion, quality interpersonal relationship.