Editorial | Hotel wages up for discussion

With Jamaica set to host a Global Tourism Resilience Conference next month, all eyes are trained on the industry which is driving the recovery of the Jamaican economy, post COVID-19. Figures released by the Planning Institute of Jamaica confirmed that the economy grew by 5.7 per cent during the April to June quarter in 2022, and identified the tourism product as the main impetus.

In the aftermath of the crippling blow dealt to international travel and the leisure industry by the coronavirus, this conference will examine practices and procedures while exploring new options to build capacity and respond to future disruptions, explained Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.

Jamaica has staged a remarkable comeback, with nearly two million visitors calling on the island in the first 10 months of 2022. Boasting a repeat rate of 42 per cent is evidence that the sector has provided a rich, satisfying experience to its visitors to warrant their desire to keep coming back for more. Minister Bartlett has said repeatedly that it is the workers’ commitment to excellence that has made the difference.

That extra “something”, we submit, includes the ready smile and friendly service, which is typically offered by the staff who interact with visitors, whether at a bar, in their rooms, in dining rooms, at a poolside or at an attraction, and their willingness to go the extra mile. These are the same people who work consistently long hours under exacting conditions. These are, disappointingly, the most lowly paid workers anywhere on the island, at an average of US$60 a week.

Mr Bartlett and some of his ministerial colleagues from the region, in a public forum last year, pleaded with the industry to take better care of its workers. For its part, the Jamaican Government is in the process of establishing a pension scheme to provide a safety net for participating industry workers when they retire.

Noting that training was only one aspect of personal and professional development, Mr Bartlett suggested that tourism workers, like all workers, ought to be rewarded for their dedication, and should feel as if they are true beneficiaries of the sector.

Most of the estimated 170,000 industry workers were laid off during the pandemic without any form of security, and they must have found it very difficult to navigate life without wages. Years of underpaying staff and not providing security have had repercussions, and those workers are now turning their backs on the industry, opting for better wages and working conditions, as well as job security, in other fields of endeavour and overseas.

When one compares the paltry wages, which are hardly liveable, and in cases where tips are not allowed, and tries to balance them with the nightly rates of some of these luxury properties, it is extremely hard to justify. Notwithstanding the dire warnings of Robin Russell, the head of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, that increased wages could make the sector less competitive, the reward ratio has to be addressed. In other words, get out the calculators and crunch the numbers and decide whether the results seem uneven and, if they are, decide how to level up. This is owed to the dedicated workers.

Any conference about tourism resilience these days must seek to address the global shortage of trained workers, for, how will the industry deliver service to the growing travel market if there are huge gaps in manpower? The pleas by Mr Bartlett and his colleagues have seemingly fallen on deaf ears, but the ensuing shortage of trained staff might force change that will result in better treatment of workers to achieve sustainable and resilient recovery.