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Performing: Hotel room attendants’ employment experiences

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  • Kensbock, Sandra
  • Jennings, Gayle
  • Bailey, Janis
  • Patiar, Anoop

Abstract

Performing is a socio-psychological process of defining self as a room attendant and finding dignity in the course of completing daily tasks while interacting with other social actors—guests and hotel employees—on hotel stages. The grounded theory of performing emerged from qualitative research, informed by socialist-feminist critical theory and qualitative social constructivist grounded theory. Forty-six room attendants working in one of five participating 5-star hotels located in South East Queensland, Australia, were interviewed. Performing has ramifications for tourism service provision, specifically, hotel praxis and the need for greater acknowledgement of room attendants as a community of value, possessing practical knowledge that could be used to improve daily operations, enhancing guest interactions and tourism service experiences.

Suggested Citation

  • Kensbock, Sandra & Jennings, Gayle & Bailey, Janis & Patiar, Anoop, 2016. "Performing: Hotel room attendants’ employment experiences," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 112-127.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:56:y:2016:i:c:p:112-127
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2015.11.010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rachel Sherman, 2011. "Beyond interaction," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 25(1), pages 19-33, March.
    2. Boon, Bronwyn, 2007. "Working within the front-of-house/back-of-house boundary: Room attendants in the hotel guest room space," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 160-174, June.
    3. Sandra Kensbock & Janis Bailey & Gayle Jennings & Anoop Patiar, 2015. "Sexual Harassment of Women Working as Room Attendants within 5-Star Hotels," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 36-50, January.
    4. Chris Warhurst & DENNIS NICKSON & ANNE WITZ & ANNE MARIE CULLEN, 2000. "Aesthetic Labour in Interactive Service Work: Some Case Study Evidence from the ‘New’ Glasgow," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 1-18, July.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ladkin, Adele & Mooney, Shelagh & Solnet, David & Baum, Tom & Robinson, Richard & Yan, Hongmin, 2023. "A review of research into tourism work and employment: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research curated collection on tourism work and employment," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. Robinson, Richard N.S. & Baum, Tom & Golubovskaya, Maria & Solnet, David J. & Callan, Victor, 2019. "Applying endosymbiosis theory: Tourism and its young workers," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Xenia Chela-Alvarez & Oana Bulilete & M. Esther García-Buades & Victoria A. Ferrer-Perez & Joan Llobera-Canaves, 2020. "Perceived Factors of Stress and Its Outcomes among Hotel Housekeepers in the Balearic Islands: A Qualitative Approach from a Gender Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Rydzik, Agnieszka & Pritchard, Annette & Morgan, Nigel & Sedgley, Diane, 2017. "Humanising migrant women’s work," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 13-23.
    6. Lugosi, Peter & Ndiuini, Ann, 2022. "Migrant mobility and value creation in hospitality labour," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    7. Daskin, Mustafa, 2019. "Self-efficacy model for better job outcomes: An approach to promote female employment in turkish hotel context," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 7(2), pages 188-207.

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