REALISTIC salaries must be offered if the hospitality industry is to coax young Bermudians into tourism. And youngsters need to be educated on opportunities within tourism from an early age, if the sector is to continue to prosper.The claims were made by Eugenie Simmons, director of the Centre for Professional and Career Education (PACE) at the Bermuda College, who believes many of the island’s youth are lured into more “glitzy” arenas by high salaries and huge benefits without realising the many different careers tourism offers.

And she called on hoteliers and others in the industry to determine whether salaries realistically met the expectations of Bermudians living in Bermuda.

“I think we wait far too late with certain industries to expose our young people to them,” she said.

Speaking after the recent industry job fair put on by the Bermuda Hotel Association, she lamented the fact that many residents aren’t realising, until later in life, all that tourism offers.

“From where I sit, the hospitality industry is a wonderful opportunity,” she said. “It offers a myriad of jobs and provides a good foray into different careers.

“It offers skill sets which you can then transfer into other career sectors. It’s no different from other sectors apart from international business, which has a large appeal because of its paycheques and benefits packages.”

Dr. Simmons (piced)<$><\p>said it was important that young people took a holistic approach when considering their career options — that potential income shouldn’t be the only factor determining their choice.

“International business appears attractive on the surface but when you factor in lifestyle issues you might find out that other industries without the glitzy salaries actually provide a better quality of living,” she explained.

“I think something that we have to start to better address are careers that satisfy more than salaries and benefits. I think we all know the demands of people in the international business sector are quite stringent. It’s true that hospitality has some of the lower salary and benefit packages but part of that is because — and Larry Burchall said it quite well in his (Bermuda Sun) article — you have to look at where the guest worker feeds from and its scale in the economy.”

What the island needed to consider was whether hospitality pay “represents an adequate salary package for living in Bermuda”.

“I recognise the financial margin in the hospitality industry is not that high for investors but if we gave them realistic expectations, they could build better business plans and Bermudians can look at it as a viable job classification.

“We need more than just job fairs and recruitment. We need proper incentives to work and we need to expose people to a more holistic approach in making their career decisions. We have to be more creative in the way we approach career planning.”

Dr. Simmons admitted she was encouraged in her work with PACE, to see residents transitioning into different careers later in life.

“What we see — and not just in the hospitality industry — we see trends where people are in the workforce for a while and then get to the point where they no longer want the same type of demands, they want a different quality of life.

“So you see a mid-life career change to hospitality, education and things of that nature. So we need to not only focus on people entering the industry but we have to recognise the wealth of experience among seasoned workers who can transit into different industries.”

She added it was important we understand that as a small island, our potential is limited when compared with somewhere like the United States.

“It’s one of the things you have to look at. Hospitality is one of the few industry sectors that employs large numbers.

“We earn a lot of revenue from international business but when you look at the sheer numbers and the skill sets required and realistically consider what a population of our size can produce, hospitality is one of the few that can employ large numbers across various skill sets — and that’s one of the reasons we cannot afford to let that sector fail.

“Also remember that the hospitality industry is one industry that remains constant. Other industries can come and go but we’re a tourist destination. Although it’s not the same as in years gone by, it’s still a staple economic plank,” Dr. Simmons added, pointing to the hundreds of millions of dollars the sector still contributed to the island’s gross domestic product.

“It’s nothing to sneeze at. So I do think we have to look at not only the hospitality industry, but others that focus on young people, and start to be more holistic.”