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Seasonal hotel jobs: an occupation and a way of life
Author(s) -
LeeRoss Darren
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
international journal of tourism research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.155
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1522-1970
pISSN - 1099-2340
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1522-1970(199907/08)1:4<239::aid-jtr169>3.0.co;2-9
Subject(s) - hedonism , tourism , work (physics) , focus group , sociology , hospitality industry , sample (material) , marketing , psychology , business , geography , social psychology , engineering , mechanical engineering , archaeology , chemistry , chromatography
Research for the present study was undertaken in the summer of 1995. This paper seeks to identify whether Salaman's notion of ‘occupational communities’ exists in a sample of six British seasonal seaside hotels, a relatively unexplored sector of the hotel industry. Briefly, occupational communities have as their major focus the job itself and they are also characterised by a fusing of work and leisure activities. Interviews with 30 hotel workers indicate that seasonal, and particularly live‐in workers, tend to form distinct ‘occupational communities’. These communities, however, are different to ‘traditional’ occupational communities in a number of respects. Most importantly, instead of the job itself being the focus for community formation, job importance is replaced by work situations characterised by hedonism and close social bonding. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.