Work and life balance in the tourism industry

Abstract

People working in the tourism industry often work long and unusual hours. Parents, especially females, consequently may be accused of neglecting their household duties to work longer hours. The question arises, is there a demarcation line between work and social life? Pressure is thus put on workers in the search for the right equilibrium between work and leisure. Trying to achieve this balance is difficult especially for someone working within the tourism industry, given the time and commitment required. This work-life balance becomes even harder to find when couples with children are the case. However finding this balance and learning to allocate sufficient hours to both areas is essential. This dissertation deals with some flexibility issues which can be provided by companies to help employees achieve their desired balance, some issues that are obstructing employees from achieving work-life balance and the role of the Government. Specific reference is made to the differences between males and females in relation to family responsibilities, full-time and part-time work, paid and unpaid work and parents and non parents. The objectives of this research were to analyse gender differences relating to family responsibilities, differences between parent and non-parent workers and between various job responsibilities. Other research objectives include an analysis of the current and desired weekly working hours of males and females working in the tourism industry. This was done through a number of interviewer filled questionnaires. The findings confirmed that the household responsibilities between males and females are still Abstract ii not equally divided. Moreover, it was found that females, parents and people working in jobs requiring a lot of responsibility are finding it harder than others to achieve their desired work-life balance.