‘Our Hospitality and Tourism Commitment’, a new voluntary code of conduct was launched on 13 September, 2021 by leading hospitality and tourism operators in Northern Ireland. The goal is to attract more staff to the hospitality sector. The commitment focuses on providing good quality training, work-life balance and more effective wellbeing support to employees.
Recruiting and retaining people has long been a challenge for the hospitality and tourism industry. These challenges have been further escalated due to the impact of COVID-19 and Brexit on the labour market. The industry is now competing for talent in a smaller pool, so businesses need to be highly effective and flexible in how they attract, engage and interact with their teams.
‘Our Hospitality and Tourism Commitment’ was launched by the Hospitality and Tourism Skills network (HATS) –an employer-led collaboration supported by Invest NI– in an attempt to combat these challenges. It covers critical areas, such as working hours and learning and development as well as a pledge to work collectively to promote the industry as a rewarding career choice.
David Roberts, Director of Strategic Development Tourism NI said: “I commend today’s launch of a voluntary code of conduct for the tourism and hospitality industry which will boost the message that the sector is a positive career choice. Attracting and building a skilled and sustainable workforce is key to ensuring that tourism can recover and return to the levels of success achieved in the years up to 2019.”