Tourism Employment: Analysis and Planning.

M. Riley, A. Ladkin, and E. Szivas

(2002) Clevedon: Channel View Publications

$US29.95 (pb) $US74.95 (hardback) ISBN 187315030X

The nature and diversity of the global tourism industry has presented many difficulties for researchers and practioners alike. Tourism Employment:

Analysis and Planning, by Michael Riley, Adele Ladkin and Edith Szivas, borrows from disciplines such as labour economics, work psychology and industrial sociology to present salient discussions about significant issues in tourism employment. The main objective of this book is to support a more serious study of the planning and development of labour within the tourism industry. It does this by offering a series of insightful, albeit very brief, analyses of a variety of labour issues in tourism. The book is divided into three parts. Part One investigates particular concerns relevant to the tourism industry. It discusses such issues as the diversity and accessibility of the industry, productivity, levels of remuneration and the very idiosyncrasies of the labour market within service contexts such as tourism and hospitality.

Part Two is a series of seven chapters that report a number of empirical studies. The chapters outline some of the techniques used to explore the labour market within tourism; significant issues of mobility within the tourism labour market; career paths of hotel managers; motivation and occupational choice; culinary skill accumulation patterns and personal career strategies. While each chapter begins with a useful introduction, and the material presented is interesting, intelligible and useful, the chapters seem to lack an underlying theme that links the different studies. While the introduction suggests that Part Two establishes the principles of investigative manpower, this is not explicit in the way the chapters have been developed.

Part Three examines the implications of the preceding discussion by providing three chapters that deal with issues in human resource development. Chapter 13 for example, explores the nexus between human resource management practices within the context of tourism and outlines some key dichotomies such as global/local and small firm/large firm. Chapter 14 broaches the issue of vocational education within tourism contexts. Two significant issues are addressed: the relationship between vocational education and tourism, and the tensions between tourism education and tourism management. Chapter 15 revisits the notion of planning and development and offers some concluding thoughts in the light of earlier discussions

This book is clearly a useful contribution to the literature on tourism employment. It is particularly useful to practioners in the industry who wish to understand some of the significant issues that are impacting on tourism employment. The book is easy to read because it does not include too much debilitating jargon, however, the authors may consider a stronger theoretical underpinning to the empirical studies chapters for future editions. Furthermore, it can also serve as a convenient introduction to tourism employment issues for researchers who are interested in related areas of inquiry. As the conclusion succinctly puts it, "tourism employment matters and there is a great deal of research still to be done".

Charles Arcodia
The University of Queensland