The Effect of Multimedia Technologies on Employment Patterns in Small and Medium Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises in UK

This paper reports on the findings of a study conducted by the University of Surrey for DIME, a project funded by the European Social fund (ESF). The purpose of the study was to investigate the owners' or managers' perceptions of Small and Medium Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises (SMTHEs) in UK regarding the impact of multimedia in the following aspects of employment: employment levels; nature and content of work as well as amount of workload; work satisfaction; skill requirements; and work status and remuneration. Overall 233 responses were received, broken down as follows: tourist information centres (n=151), 3* hotels (n=40), and B&B's (n=42). Research findings revealed that multimedia technologies are increasingly being adopted and used by tourism and hospitality businesses. The adoption is "system-wide" affecting the operations and competitiveness of all players. However, it appears that multimedia use has caused limited changes in the structure of organizations as well as in the employment levels and activitie