Touting
tourism jobsJamieson wants to show
parents and counselors
there is rewarding work
in the travel industry
Walter Jamieson, new head of the Travel Industry Management school at University of Hawaii, recalls the time when his college-age son wanted to go into the hospitality trade.
Jamieson, 58, said his initial reaction was "was that what you really want to do?"
Therein lies the problem.
Jamieson, who has worked with the World Tourism Organization and researched tourism policy throughout Asia, found himself assuming that if his son went to college, his son would become a doctor, lawyer or teacher.
Then Jamieson realized that he, of all people, was selling tourism short. Housekeeping and bartender jobs, critical and demanding positions in the billion-dollar service industry, are just the tip of a visitor machine that requires human resources, marketing, information technology and financial wizards.
Tourism also cries out for people who can deal with other people's problems.
"There are a whole lot of people that the public don't tend to see who are involved in the management," Jamieson said.
A college counselor saying: "'Here are some career choices. How about tourism?' That just doesn't happen," he said.
Parents have come to Jamieson, wondering whether tourism is the place for their kids. At the same time, the tourism industry is concerned that the best and brightest don't consider tourism when they begin to pick their careers, and will be lost, probably to the mainland.
Jamieson plans to create an informational package to send to high school job counselors and interested parents, with career benefits and success stories. The goal is to make kids aware of hospitality as another potential career choice, and to let people strive for the best jobs available, Jamieson said. The industry says the positions will be there, over time, he added.
The UH travel management school had 323 undergraduate students and 22 graduate students this spring. About two-thirds of undergraduates came from the islands.
An alumni survey in 2002 found that most TIM students who stick around for a master's degree make more than $70,000. Those who got a bachelor's earn between $20,000 to $40,000.
A likely candidate for a success story is Ren Hirose, a 1985 UH travel school graduate who has risen to regional quality control director for the operator of Hawaii's Sheraton and Westin hotels, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. Hirose was inducted last week into the TIM Alumni Hall of Honor, joining notables such as headhunter Kathryn Inkinen and hotel executive Ernest Nishizaki.
But educating Hawaii's young students about the tourism world is a huge, never-ending job, as local writer Lynn Cook has found out, because it means teaching the teachers, particularly those from the mainland. "They're not getting as prepared as they need to be," said Cook, executive director of the Visitor Industry Education Council.
Cook has provided workshops on Hawaii tourism, directed at teachers, for 15 years.
The council has created five videotapes on tourism careers, and Cook continually hears from former students who saw the tapes when they were kids, and later worked their way through the industry.
The council has recently printed some more materials to distribute to all teachers, though it needs a couple thousand dollars to make that happen. "If you don't do some teacher training, they're just going to sit in the library," Cook said.
The council's message is that every job has some connection to the visitor industry, from a doctor on call in Waikiki to a mechanic working for a rental car company, Cook said.
The word is apparently growing. In 1999, a state survey found that 63 percent of Hawaii residents believe the visitor industry has a wide variety of jobs. Last year, 76 percent of residents agreed.
There's only so much that talk can accomplish, however. Of those living in households with tourism workers, 56 percent said tourism jobs offer little opportunity to advance their career. On the other hand, 60 percent said the jobs pay well. A little more than one-quarter of Hawaii households have at least one tourism worker.
Last week, Jamieson gave his first public talk about the cultural, social and historical aspects of tourism, something that he feels strongly about. The speech was well-timed. Saturday was World Tourism Day, and its theme was "poverty alleviation, job creation and social harmony."
As for Jamieson's son, he entered hospitality, and is studying at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary, Canada. "He really wants to be a restaurant bar manager," said Jamieson, who previously worked at the University of Calgary.
