All-inclusive resort staff have worse working conditions and labour rights and are subjected to more stress and longer hours than those in other hotels, a report claims.
One of the reasons cited by a report by Tourism Concern to be published this month is that all-inclusive properties have such tight margins, with so little paid for each room, that little is left with which to pay those at the bottom of the supply chain – the hotel workers.
Staff at all-inclusive hotels were shown to receive significantly less in tips, a perk on which they are often heavily reliant.
Because guests stay in the compound, working hours were longer and more stressful.
The research is based on all-inclusive hotels in Tenerife, Kenya and Barbados.
Mark Watson, head of Tourism Concern, told the Guardian the all-inclusive industry was “stifling businesses outside the enclave and very few benefits are reaching local communities”.
He said: “We are getting reports of tourists being told that their insurance doesn’t cover them if they leave their hotel grounds and sometimes people will barely know where they are, paying to just sit by a pool in the sunshine.”
Tourism Concern agreed that the resorts bring in jobs, albeit low-paid, short-contract ones that afforded little security.
The report is due to be released on the evening of March 24 at an event at the House of Commons.