Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

LITERATURE REVIEW 
In recent years, a rapid growth of the hospitality industry has been observed in a number of countries.
According to recent published statistics by the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 2006), the industry is now one 
of the biggest employers in many Western countries and a great number of communities depend upon it to provide 
“quality” work opportunities for their school leavers. This section of the paper aims to present research activities 
which investigated the attitudes and perceptions of individuals towards hospitality careers. 
A number of studies portray hospitality professions as unattractive (Getz, 1994; Koko and Guerrier, 1994; 
Cooper and Shepherd, 1997). In their 1994 scholarly work, Koko and Guerrier affirm that hospitality professions 
are “physically repetitive, poorly paid, controlled by task oriented managers and providing limited opportunities for 
participation and development” (as cited in Airey and Frontistis 1997:150). Cooper and Shepherd (1997) viewed 
tourism as offering low-status careers and Sindiga (1994) concluded that jobs in tourism are often seen as menial 
and low level. These findings coincide with Getz (1994) which also showed that students perceived tourism jobs as 
undesirable in Spey Valley, Scotland. In fact, the most important finding from the study was the negative and 
worsening image of the hospitality industry within the area. In fact, this was despite the respondents’ high levels of 

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