A chara, - I refer to the Editorial "Jobs in Tourism" (July 16th). Tourism is a stimulating, interesting and dynamic industry. A high proportion of the jobs are not just in the hotel and restaurant sector but in other areas as well, such as sales, marketing, tour operating, guiding, coach driving and heritage, to name but a few.
You say that the Irish tourism industry is failing to sustain its principal resource - the people who make it work, and that one in four will leave the tourism industry. You did not mention why.
Could it be the low salaries and bad working conditions? Could it be the long, unsociable hours and weekend work often with no overtime pay? Or could it be that a very high proportion of the industry is female and that working these long unsociable hours puts more strain on an already atrocious childcare situation?
Why would young, motivated, educated individuals want to make a career in an industry with little financial reward, in a country where the cost of living is rising daily? Tourism is also an industry notorious for its lack of investment in employee training, poor prospects for promotion, and an over reliance on contract employment.
All sections of the tourism industry need to get together, set up proper training programmes, agree on better working conditions and ensure that a fairer slice of the large profits tourism generates falls to the people who make it work - the employees. Perhaps, then, one in four would not leave. - Is mise,
Aisling Nic Craith,
Pairc Charraig on tSionnaigh, Baile Atha Cliath 18.