Hospitality Employment Issues in Developing Countries: The Case of Egypt

Abstract

This article uses Egypt as a case study to investigate the differences between hospitality employment in city and remote areas, in relation to five major issues. Secondary data from Egyptian national statistics regarding hospitality employment is supplemented by a questionnaire survey of hospitality employees and in-depth interviews with senior hospitality managers. The results confirm that hospitality employment is not internationally-generic, and not all the issues identified in the developed country literature are applicable in developing country contexts. Differences in perceptions towards the five issues were found between Egyptian hospitality workers in the capital city and in remote areas. Hospitality organizations in developing countries were less likely to invest in their staff and their skills despite staff reporting their interest in long-term career. The most striking finding was that government employment policies were found to have a negative impact on the nature of hospitality employment in developing countries (i.e., Egypt).

KEYWORDS:

• Hospitality employment
• professionalism
• training
• contingent workers
• turnover
• gender equality
• Egypt