Employment relations in the Indonesian hospitality industry: three case studies

The travel and tourism industry has a very significant place in the global economy in at least two ways. First, the industry is one of the main contributors to the national income of many countries and a main source of foreign currency earnings: 83 per cent of countries in the world rely on it as one of the top five in export revenues (WTO, cited in ILO, 2003: 4). Second, the travel and tourism industry is also an important job provider (Timo and Davidson, 2005; ILO, 2003). As one of the priority sectors of development in Indonesia, the Indonesian government has also allocated its major resources in supporting the travel and tourism industry. Comparatively, Indonesian travel and tourism is ranked 28th by size internationally, 129th by relative contribution to national economies and 13th in long-term growth among 176 countries listed by the WTTC in 2007 (WTTC, 2007). Apart from the distinctiveness of the hospitality sector and despite the very significant contribution it makes to the Indonesian economy and employment, employment relations in the sector has not been researched as extensively as it deserves, particularly at the level of the enterprise