The Irish Hospitality Industry: Exploring the Perceptions of Senior Cycle Pupils in Ireland

The hospitality industry in Ireland continues to play an important part in the economic development of the country. The industry is viewed as a vital driver in economic growth contributing approximately 5bn Euros to national income annually and employing around one hundred and forty thousand individuals across the full spectrum of job roles and contract types in the sector. However, a major concern which has been highlighted by a number of authors is the issue of attracting and maintaining healthy levels of qualified and motivated individuals who view the industry as a viable and satisfying career destination. While research about the nature and characteristics of tourism employment and careers has generated a considerable level of insight over the past two decades, gaps in the hospitality literature relating to the perceptions and career intentions of young people persist. A number of studies exist which have examined the factors viewed as influencing the perceptions individuals have towards to tourism and hospitality industry. With the exception of a few notable studies, the majority of this research has reported on the perceptual inclinations of undergraduate students who were pursuing or were about to complete tourism and hospitality related qualifications. Furthermore, results from these studies related to individuals who had formal work experience in the form of cooperative placement and represented and experiential dimension to perceptual understanding of the industry. Therefore the current study seeks to add to the previously limited published research focusing on the perceptions of pre-college students. Specifically, the study takes as its target group a cohort of senior cycle secondary school students in Ireland who would not have the experience of formal work experience. An Industry Perceptions questionnaire was developed to measure the perceptions and attitudes of a cohort of secondary school students in Ireland in an effort to unearth the opinions they may have regarding particular issues relevant to their occupational decision-making process. Of the one thousand surveys collected, a final useable sample of nine hundred and fifty-nine (n=959) were used for further analysis. The results from this study suggest, and in some cases support previous research, that Second Level pupils at Senior Cycle do not have an overly negative perception about the Irish Hospitality Industry. With some exceptions, all items were scored positively on the measurement scale. The data also indicates that there seems to be a tentative link between prior work experience and intentions (or at least considerations) to work in the industry in the future. Means tests indicated that females exhibited more negative perceptions regarding the issues of work stress, work hours and job difficulty. Furthermore, pupils with some experience were slightly more positive in terms of employment opportunities, industry reputation and career development potential compared to student with no work-related exposure. The results of the CHAID decision tree predicted factors which appear to differentially influence future employment considerations in the industry among the cohort. Finally, relevant hospitality-related Education, Training Development are viewed as important to the pupils.