The Hotel Survey

The Hotel Survey was carried out in April/May 2003 among a selection of the major international hotel groups which have operations in a number of different countries in the Asia Pacific region. The selected groups tend to operate relatively large hotels at the mid- to up-market levels and therefore, by individual establishment, employ large numbers in comparison with many other businesses within the sector. While not purporting to be an accurate representation of the experiences of all hotel operators, the survey results provide a reflection of some of the views or concerns of the largest global hotel companies operating in the region. The respondents were given an assurance of anonymity in order that their views could be expressed more freely. Responses were obtained from five hotel groups, which together account for over 200 hotels and 70,000 hotel rooms in the region. In addition to the responses received from the head office human resources managers, the human resources manager at individual hotels also responded to the survey in many cases. The questionnaires requested information on the following questions:

does your company find it difficult to recruit suitably-qualified staff? if so, which skill shortages are most common and in which countries do they occur? do you find it necessary in any country to import labour from other countries? if so, are there any particular countries in which national work permit/immigration procedures make this difficult or impossible? how do you train your staff: entirely in house? in government training establishments (please state which)? in private (commercial) training establishments (please state which)? is it as easy to employ female labour as male labour? if not, in which countries is female recruitment especially difficult? do all countries in which you operated in Asia and the Pacific have a supportive regulatory environment for employment or are there some (please state which) where the employment environment causes particular difficulties? do you envisage that labour issues will become more difficult in future in the region as your business expands and recruitment needs grow? are there any other key issues relating to recruitment or employment?