A study conducted from International labour force – Geneva in cooperation with cooperation of the International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), International Labour Organization ©, suggest few very important points over the International career of Hotel professionals.

It addresses complex themes relating to migrant work and migrant workers in the international hotel industry, recognizing that the experience of migrant workers (international and internal), their employers and the wider community varies greatly in different countries and cultures.

Migrant workers are to be found in the hotel industries of countries throughout the world, both within developed and less developed economies and the industry, to a greater or lesser extent is dependent upon this source of skills and labour. There is little doubt that the hotel industry provides important opportunities for migrant workers seeking short-term or permanent employment away from their home communities. At the same time, the employment and status conditions of migrant workers in the hotel industry are a matter of concern to stakeholders and this report assesses the evidence from studies across the development spectrum.

Learning:

1. Migrants are a vital source of skills and labour for the hotel industry in countries, developed and less developed, across the world.
2. The hotel industry, in turn, provides an important source for work for internal and international migrants seeking temporary or permanent employment opportunities away from their home communities.
3. The experience of migrant workers and their employers in the hotel industry varies greatly according to country, culture and context.
4. Migrant labour, at varied levels, will continue to play a significant and often major role in the workforce of the hotel industry in most countries.
5. Internal migration will be of equal and, in some countries, greater significance than international migration in meeting the skills needs of the hotel industry.
6. The remittance income from migrant workers in the hotel industry makes a significant contribution to the national financial inflow of many countries.
7. There is a clear ‘north-south’ divide in the roles and responsibilities of migrant employees in the hotel industry, with those from poorer countries working at the lower skills end of the workforce spectrum and those from developed countries taking senior managerial and technical positions.
8. There is a strong consensus in the hotel industry that migrant workers are vital to the operational viability of the sector and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
9. Migrant workers are seen to benefit the industry in terms of the skills and commitment they bring to the organizational culture of hotel businesses.
10. Migrant workers are recognized to bring a skills profile into the industry which is frequently unavailable in the local labour market.
11. Hotel businesses benefit from the culturally diverse skills which migrant workers bring to their employment.
12. Larger hotel companies operate effective cultural diversity policies which support and protect migrant workers in their employ.
13. Smaller hotel companies operate on a much more personalized basis in the care and support they offer to migrant workers.
14. Migrant workers in some developed countries are significantly over-qualified for the working roles that they play in the hotel industry.
15. Migrant workers are disproportionately likely to remain in low skills and lower paid positions in the hotel industry.
16. Promotion and career development opportunities for migrant workers are frequently limited and inaccessible.
17. The acquisition of language skills by migrant workers in the hotel industry is seen as crucial to their progression beyond low skills and menial work.
18. Migrant workers face particular vulnerabilities in terms of health and safety in hotel work and are more likely to be involved in workplace accidents.
19. Many migrant workers do not see the hotel industry in terms of a long-term career commitment and seek to exit to other sectors of the host economy or to return home as a medium- to long-term goal.
20. Migrant workers in the hotel industry only infrequently benefit from supportive trade union representation.
21. National governments are ambivalent about the contribution of migrant workers to the hotel industry; supportive and strategic approaches to immigration which are designed to support the needs of the hotel industry are rare.
22. There is limited awareness of potential conflicts between the employment of migrant workers and the delivery of “authentic” visitor experiences in hotels.
23. Despite attempts at international and regional (EU) harmonization of education and training qualifications for the hotel sector, there is a continuing failure to recognize and understand these by private sector employers.