Each year, tourism peaks during the winter when schools, workplaces and universities around the world announce year-end holidays. Most think this is the best time of the year, as busy schedules are swapped for days spent decorating homes and offices as everyone gets into the festive spirit. Entire cities are decked up in lights and other Christmassy decoration that transforms towns and cities into a prolonged festival.
While a lot changes during this time, and many people take a break from work to unwind, it is ironically busier for certain businesses and many people are essentially employed during this season. This is because as most people crave vacations, night-outs and dinners at restaurants, the demand for staff who work during this time increases significantly.
Businesses in the hotel management and tourism industry are usually at their busiest during this time and require a lot more employees during season time in comparison to other times throughout the year.
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In economic terms, this is known as seasonal employment where certain people work mostly when others are on holiday. There are many job roles that proactively have long work days when most employees are on their break. However, studies show that these job roles are mostly occupied by students and part-timers who do not have the time to work during the rest of the year. For example, during the Christmas season, a lot of hotels, restaurants and showrooms employ people to don the Santa Claus costume in order to attract customers to the store. These job roles open employment opportunities for hundreds of people during the holiday season.
Furthermore, during this time most of the hotels, inns, and boutique resorts are fully booked for some much looked forward to vacation time, thus requiring a lot more hotel staff and employees to manage various aspects of hospitality such as the food, room service and so on. Even tour guides are heavily demanded during this time as a lot of family and friend groups plan sightseeing programs during vacation.
It is ironic that while a lot of people look forward to this time of the year to take some time off for vacations and holidays, there is a large number of people who look forward to this time in order to get employed and earn some extra cash. With the world economy heading towards decline, it is essential for people to ditch their festive plans, and focus on earning some extra income during this season where recruitment levels rise and more people are employed.
It could be argued however, that as most of the activities in the tourism sector are highly demanded during the season, demand may reduce as most people prefer to stay in during the holidays and spend quality time with their families. While this is true, and has the potential to directly hit employment, studies also showcase that tourism is at its peak during the last two weeks of December. This could be because most families save up or allocate time and money for vacations and other such excursions during the holiday period. Regardless of the preferences, numbers do go up dramatically and it can even be said that most businesses in the travel and tourism sector earn enough to sustain them during this time so that they aren’t gravely affected during the off-peak season.
Most employees are also required to report to work during Christmas, as even people who generally spend their holidays indoors, step out to celebrate this holiday. While this could be deemed unfortunate for workers who have to sacrifice Christmas for work, it can also be positively reflected under the light of higher incomes for workers and more job opportunities for people during the holiday season so they are able to stabilise and support their families.
