Tourism worldwide has experienced significant growth in the last decade. More and more travelers are leaving their place of origin in search of new and recreational experiences to break away from their ordinary environment. Tourists demand various quality services, leading to the expansion of the tourism sector and the need for capable and competent human talent. Consequently, more people directly or indirectly depend on tourism for their livelihoods. Thus, HUMAN VALUE is increasingly becoming relevant in the tourism sector, contributing to sustainable development. Promoting the dignity of employment in tourism becomes a significant challenge to address.
During the pandemic, thousands of workers lost their jobs, while some companies, with significant financial efforts, retained their employees. However, many employees faced salary and benefit cuts. Therefore, the pandemic prompts us to reflect on whether people are indeed the primary value in tourism companies and how we can dignify them.
Human Dignity and Employment
The concept of human dignity traces back to ancient Greek times. But what is dignity? Though an ancient topic, it is challenging to grasp conceptually because it denotes an undefinable and simple quality, as mentioned by Spaemann. However, etymologically, from the Latin “dignus,” translated as “worthy” or “deserving,” and the Greek “axios,” meaning “deserving,” “valuable,” “precious.” Thus, dignity is what makes us “be” people, individuals deserving respect for our own essence and nature.
In recent decades, human dignity has gained interest from various societal actors, indicating the importance of its role in companies, governments, associations, academia, and its significant impact on human beings. Some global efforts include the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, where decent work is part of economic growth. Pope Francis addresses the inalienable human dignity in the pastoral constitution “Gaudium et Spes,” stating that rights are not only individual but also social for peoples and nations.
Speaking of dignity also entails discussing human rights, which for many centuries were fragile but have gained increasing importance each decade to provide individuals with their most valuable asset: their being. This blossoming serves to counteract the abuses suffered by hundreds of employees, who have been victims of entrepreneurs’ physical or psychological harassment, unjust working hours, absurd salaries or lack of benefits, unsafe or unhealthy environments, or even actions against their culture or beliefs. Such injustices also occur in the tourism sector, delving deeper into the issue of dignifying employment in tourism.
Dignifying Employment in Tourism: A Bold Proposal?
In tourism, the dignity of the individual plays a significant role, where service through human value is the main resource of organizations to provide the quality experiences demanded by travelers. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) since 1997 has established the committee responsible for the global ethical code for tourism, which in several of its articles refers to the innovation in promoting the dignity of employment in tourism. Recently, in 2017, the International Labour Organization (ILO) published guidelines on decent work and socially responsible tourism.
One of the first contributions in this area is made by Winchenbach in his research on “Rethinking Decent Work: The Value of Dignity in Tourism Employment,” presenting a psychosocial dimension of dignity in tourism employment and discussing the importance of dignity in tourism employment to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Efforts to dignify individuals in tourism employment have also been made by some employers, such as the Xcaret Group in the Mexican Caribbean, which has been one of the pioneers for 25 years in promoting sustainable development and dignifying employment. They have their own sustainability model, prioritizing people in their organizational culture, similar to the Dolphin Discovery group, among other leading companies in the region. However, these are isolated goodwill efforts by employers. In this context, what are other tourism companies doing to dignify employment? Or what can society contribute to further dignifying tourism employment?
The question guiding our reflection is: What post-pandemic innovations in tourism employment can significantly contribute to promoting the dignity of its collaborators?
The topic should be analyzed from the four dimensions of dignity: physical, social, psychological, and economic, proposed by research works by Dr. Blanca Camargo, who is one of the pioneers in studying these topics, further elaborated in her article “Restoring the dignity of Indigenous people in postcolonial destinations: Perspectives on tourism employment.”
Innovation in Tourism Employment: Physical Dimension
1. Provide flexible working hours. Nowadays, one of the biggest challenges in the tourism sector is excessive working hours. Therefore, it is recommended to implement working hours that protect workers’ health and safety, limiting the number of working hours and providing adequate rest and recovery periods, such as weekly rest and granting more vacation days per year in addition to what is stipulated by labor laws. One recommended practice is to provide two days of rest per week, distributing the weekly working hours over five days.
2. Implement brigades to ensure that workplace and environmental conditions in tourism sector companies favor workers’ health and quality of working life. Conduct monthly tours to propose improvements, prioritizing people’s physical integrity. The benefits include preventing COVID-19, occupational accidents, and occupational diseases, which will help reduce absenteeism and ensure compliance with legal requirements.
3. Carry out a 100% Health program, which first generates a diagnosis to understand people’s health and then designs interventions to improve working conditions that facilitate healthy habits in nutrition, physical activity, prevention of addictions such as tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. Additionally, promote psychosocial factors that improve the health of the psychosocial work environment.
4. COVID-19 Care Program aimed at training area leaders and their teams for a safe return to work, prioritizing their health. Success depends on compliance with guidelines based on the following four action axes: social distancing measures, cleaning and sanitation, health monitoring and control for COVID-19, and communication and dissemination based on dignity and non-discrimination.
Innovation in Tourism Employment: Psychological Dimension
1. Promote actions that favor employability in decent working conditions for people with disabilities, strengthening the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce. Offer dignified work in positions and areas where they can feel useful. For example, hiring deaf people in the laundry area, hiring wheelchair users in call centers, and through a Talent Incubator program with disabilities, offering opportunities to people with Down Syndrome to support activities related to crafts such as making piñatas or jewelry to be sold in hotel stores.
2. Life balance program, achieving a balance between work and family life, providing benefits to both men and women in equal circumstances, such as days off with pay to attend their children’s school events, providing support days in case of their child’s illness, allowing flexible schedules, and remote work if they have a disabled child.
3. Through actions with their aligned work teams, leaders foster equity, non-discrimination, dignity, and respect, promoting communication without forgetting an important aspect: listening and empathy with team members. They should lead by example, spreading awareness and preventing workplace violence, inequality, and discrimination. Finally, the company must have a reporting channel for acts of harassment, bullying, or workplace violence.
Innovation in Tourism Employment: Cultural Dimension
1. Promote a labor policy that provides opportunities for indigenous communities, with at least 1% of employees being from these communities. Governance and public policy are necessary to establish a norm by governments.
2. Promote and encourage the language of indigenous people working in tourism. For example, in the case of the Mexican Caribbean, displaying Mayan phrases in certain areas or providing translated documents in their language helps preserve it.
3. Respect the traditions and customs of indigenous employees, allowing them to promote such activities at work. For example, the Mayan cocoa ceremony, which also offers a great experience for tourism, would be enriching for all.
4. Conservation and protection of their environment, lands, nature, and surroundings. Companies should promote respect for these communities and their environment and even organize visits and activities to learn about these communities.
5. Allow members of indigenous communities to promote and practice their beliefs and religion in organizations. For example, in Mayan communities, a Mayan priest could visit the company and perform a ceremony or ritual, similar to how some companies allow the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12th.
Innovation in Tourism Employment: Economic Dimension
1. Promote substantive equality to reduce wage gaps, benefits, and incentives. Implement initiatives beyond monetary salaries, such as emotional salary programs. For example:
a) Flexible schedules. Some employees are motivated to work continuous hours when their tourism-related tasks allow it, especially in administrative or office positions. However, in operational roles requiring direct customer service in tourism, there is limited flexibility.
b) Emotional compensation, such as recognizing employees for achieving their goals, accompanied by an extra vacation day or an early departure day.
2. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” In tourism, many companies have not provided their employees with the corresponding benefits due to the use of payroll companies. Establishing governance is essential, and governments must implement measures to support employees while incentivizing compliant employers with tax benefits.
3. Tourism incentives. Employers have the challenge and opportunity to provide incentives for their staff to enjoy tourism facilities. For example, a hotelier could offer compensation where an employee wins a stay at the hotel or a day pass to enjoy it as a guest.
MAIN BARRIERS TO TOURISM DIGNITY INNOVATION
There may be many barriers to implementing innovation in dignity, but I will focus on sharing three significant barriers that can be identified:
- GOVERNANCE: Lack of government interest can be a major barrier, sometimes due to their incompetence or lack of vision. Governments need to recognize the importance of tourism, which now accounts for almost 10% of GDP, according to the World Tourism Organization, as regulation and policy formulation from the public sector can advance these initiatives.
- EMPLOYERS: Employers may be the primary obstacle to innovating in this area, but they can also be the main allies. Companies set hiring standards and internal policies. The main challenge in innovating dignity in employment lies with tourism employers to implement these innovations and, most importantly, to realize the importance of this issue.
- WILL: A significant enemy of innovation is the lack of action, the lack of willingness to implement change actions that benefit tourism activity employees. Being a demanding activity, sometimes due to lack of time and willingness, change actions are not implemented.
CITATIONS AND REFERENCES
Camargo, B.A. & Vázquez-Maguirre, M. (2021). “Restoring the dignity of Indigenous people in postcolonial destinations: Perspectives on tourism employment”
Catholic Church. (1965). Pope John XXIII Apostolic Constitution “Gaudium et Spes” of the Second Vatican Council
World Tourism Organization (1999). Global Code of Ethics for Tourism https://www.ugto.mx/images/eventos/06-07-16/codigo-etico-mundial-turismo.pdf
International Labour Organization (2017). Guidelines on decent work and socially responsible tourism. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_dialogue/—sector/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_546341.pdf
Robert Spaemann (1988). “On the Concept of Human Dignity”
Winchenbach, A., Hanna, P., & Miller, G. (2019). “Rethinking Decent Work: The Value of Dignity in Tourism Employment.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(7), 1026-1043.
