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New Mexico State University

Hot Stuff, Winter 1996

The following "Hot Stuff" articles appeared in the Winter 1996 issue of New Mexico Resources:

[Betting on Hospitality Careers Photo]Betting on Hospitality Careers

Predicting what interests teenagers is generally a losing bet. Their parents often can't even guess their favorite colors, much less their future career plans.

However, NMSU's hospitality and tourism services program is betting that New Mexico teens will be interested in hospitality jobs. They're backing that bet with the results of a recent survey about adolescent attitudes toward a variety of jobs, conducted in conjunction with the New Mexico Department of Tourism.

Mike MacHatton, hospitality and tourism researcher, and Virginia Owens, college professor with the College of Education, coordinated the research. They surveyed almost 900 students, ages 17 to 19, to find out if they are interested in jobs in New Mexico's hospitality and tourism industry. "Our service-oriented industry is second only to government in the number of people employed in New Mexico," he says. "The forecast is that the number of hospitality and tourism jobs will continue to increase in the state."

This projection, coupled with the misconception that many jobs in the industry involve "flipping burgers," had state tourism officials wondering if New Mexico youth would be willing to fill the need.

Students in Roswell, Bernalillo, Shiprock, and Farmington were asked to rate their interest in and knowledge of 93 specific jobs. Hospitality jobs such as chef, casino worker, hotel manager, and tour guide were embedded in the list. The students also completed a Myers-Briggs personality inventory and a demographic questionnaire detailing their work and school history.

"We found that overall students were typically uninterested in any sort of job," MacHatton says. Of the hospitality jobs listed, students showed the most interest in casino manager, casino worker, chef, cook, and hotel manager.

"Many Indian pueblos are counting on the gaming industry to increase the number of jobs for their children," MacHatton says. "Students showed above-average interest in this type of work."

They were least interested in the hospitality jobs of hotel housekeeper, waiter/waitress, and tour operator. "These are generally viewed as low-paying jobs," MacHatton says. "The obvious way to increase interest in these types of jobs would be to pay more, but managers won't do that unless they can pass that cost on to the customer."

Students' knowledge of job duties in general was quite low, and it was even lower for positions in the hospitality industry.

"An encouraging note was that teens who had previous work experience in the hospitality industry were more interested in future hospitality employment," MacHatton says.

To hedge their bets, the hospitality industry may implement mentor or intern programs aimed at increasing teens' knowledge of and interest in hospitality employment, MacHatton says.


[Bloomquist: Profiling the state's Tourists]Welcoming New Mexico's Visitors

After hours of eyeing highway stripes, most road-weary drivers savor a stop at one of New Mexico's 10 welcome centers. These areas furnish more than just rest facilities and a place to stretch, says Priscilla Bloomquist, hospitality and tourism researcher with NMSU's Agricultural Experiment Station.

Bloomquist directs an ongoing survey of welcome center visitors for New Mexico's tourism department. The responses she compiles are used to produce a visitor profile that helps tourist-oriented businesses attract more customers and gear services to their patrons' needs. To date, she has surveyed more than 7,500 travelers.

"Although 58 percent of visitors cited restrooms as one of their reasons for stopping, our survey shows that the centers satisfy a variety of other needs as well," Bloomquist says. "At the top of the list, 82 percent of respondents said that getting maps and directions was an important reason for their welcome center visit, and 51 percent said that they collected other information, such as hotel or motel brochures."

Bloomquist says the welcome centers provide an excellent opportunity for the state to influence travelers' behavior by providing personalized service and attention, and distributing information about tourist destinations.

"Travelers like to receive current information about festivals, historic sites, accommodations, and restaurants. If we can pique their interest, it often motivates them to stay longer and visit places they had never before heard about."

In the mail-back portion of the survey, 75 percent of respondents said that information from welcome centers influenced their trip in one or more ways. More than half visited areas after learning about them at welcome centers, and 21 percent said they had extended their stay thanks to material received.

Getting visitors to stay longer brings more dollars to the state. Welcome center users spend an average of $71.30 per day each. Those who stopped at welcome centers stayed an average of a half-day longer, resulting in an additional $35.65 per person spent.

"The survey shows that more than half of welcome center patrons had traveled in New Mexico during the last five years, and these repeat visitors are a mainstay of our tourism industry," Bloomquist says. "While the largest group of visitors is on vacation, the second largest group is the pass-through segment. This is the perfect crowd for travel centers to influence to stop and spend some time, or return for a longer stay."

Bloomquist hopes the survey information will help the tourist industry determine the best way to spread out the benefits of tourism. By publicizing lesser known regions, the state can shift visitors away from overcrowded areas.

[Accommodating businesswomen photo]Accommodating Businesswomenp

Female business travelers comprised a minuscule segment of the travel industry just 20 years ago, but now their numbers are increasing three times faster than males. By the year 2000, half of all business travelers will be women.

To help the lodging industry figure out how to meet the needs of these women, Pat Moreo, director of NMSU's hospitality and tourism services program, surveyed 1,000 women nationwide.

"The lodging trade competes intensely for guests," Moreo says. "Hotels that respond to the needs of female business travelers will gain a competitive advantage."

Results of the nationwide survey aren't available yet, but data from a Las Cruces focus group illustrates several of the more important features that female travelers look for in hotels. Moreo says, "They want nice, quiet places to eat; well-lit parking lots; to feel secure everywhere in the hotel; transportation to and from the airport any time of day or night; and to be able to sit and enjoy a drink without getting harassed."

Moreo formed the focus group of 24 professional women and developed a questionnaire based on information gathered from them. The questionnaire was reviewed and revised by focus group participants and used to conduct the national survey. Results from the study will provide even more specific information about the needs of women travelers, he says.

"Although the hospitality industry conducted several of their own studies, their conclusions were conflicting," Moreo says. "Our study will give the industry a structured analysis of specific features, services, and amenities desired by female business travelers."

Moreo says a theme running throughout all the comments was that women want to stay at hotels where employees enjoy what they're doing and greet customers with smiles.