Ageism In Mallorca's Tourism

"There are clear business benefits to employing a work force that is age diverse and reflects our customer profile. We have found that older workers have a great rapport with the customers, as well as a conscientious attitude and real enthusiasm for the job. We firmly believe that our active policy of recruiting older workers has directly contributed to the ongoing success of our business, and in our position as market leaders in this field, we would urge other employers to do the same.” These were the words of the human resources director of B&Q, which several years ago became a founder member of Employers Forum for Age, a network of employers that sought to remove age barriers to employment. B&Q became famous for employing older people.

The Balearic Government and the Mallorcan hoteliers' federation have signed an agreement under which hotels will guarantee taking on between 500 and 600 staff over the age of 45 this season. This number equates to approximately 10% of new jobs that the hotels anticipate creating this summer.

In announcing this agreement, acknowledgement has been made of the "experience and knowledge" of employees in this age group, of the fact that this age group has in recent years been neglected, and of a need for hotels to demonstrate "social sensitivity" in recognising the contribution and positive work values that older employees bring.

Welcome though this agreement is, it is unlikely that many if any of these workers will be anything other than seasonal temporary staff; the same can probably be said for all the 4,000 to 5,000 "new jobs" that the hotel sector plans on creating this summer. But the nature of the employment contract is not what concerns me here; it is the issue of age.

Look closely at what B&Q stated several years ago and at what the hoteliers are saying and you will find a similarity without it being overtly stated. B&Q referred to age diversity and the company's business profile. The hoteliers do not.

Diversity as a means of gaining business competitive advantage was something the Americans - who else - dreamt up more than two decades ago. The thinking was simple and obvious. If the customer profile is predominantly determined by age, gender and ethnicity factors, then it makes sense for the business to reflect these in its employment practices.

Mallorca's tourism industry as a whole is as diverse as its raw material - the tourist - is also diverse. Yet the suspicion is, confirmed by this agreement, that it is an industry which has preferred youth. In certain instances this makes perfect sense: hotel entertainment teams are a good example. But in other instances it does not, and as the industry - hotel chains in particular - pursues a strategy of niching and branding along age lines, the need for diversity should become ever more apparent. The adults-only hotel, as an example, clearly has a different customer profile to the one aimed at a twentys-something party crowd.

But how well might a charge of ageism be levelled at the industry? There are sectors that make a virtue of, generally speaking, employing older, more mature personnel: villa agencies, for instance. Jet2 has a preference for older reps, thus bucking a trend that set in some years ago for tour operators to shed older staff or to, how can one put it, not encourage them to stay. Jet2, and the same can be said for many villa agencies, place a premium not just on the responsibility and reliability that an older worker can bring to the job but also on knowledge: that of Mallorca.

This is not to denigrate all younger reps by any means, but it tends to be the case that they lack the intimate knowledge that an older worker, typically resident on the island, has. There again, for any age group, there is much to be said for the presence of youthful and bubbly individuals whose vitality is in keeping with the very essence of holidays as fun times.

The point is or should be that there are roles for all age groups. Knowledge as a guiding principle for employment is laudable as is one that recognises the qualities and strengths that those from different age groups possess.

But there is a further reason why knowledge, that which often comes with age, should be being given greater attention. This is because of the avowed intentions of hotels and tour operators to act in accordance with principles of responsible tourism (assuming they are serious, which is questionable). One of these principles is to make tourists more in tune with local culture and with the local people. Knowledge of these should therefore be paramount.

The ageism charge is not totally valid, but in certain parts of the industry it is. The hoteliers are waking up to this fact. Tourists are diverse and employment should also be diverse.