Given the important role that human resource management plays in the development of a high-quality workforce for the travel and tourism industry, there are a lack of texts that focus on current issues in practical situations. This text successful endeavours to fill this gap.
The text is up to date in terms of the case studies used, although the year is not evident for all of the cases. This does not present a problem, as many of the cases would not necessarily date rapidly. The text obviously consists of many years of research in the human resource field, therefore some of the case studies are more recent than others. The text does not refer to other relevant work in the area, as other literature is not directly related to the case studies.
The target market of the book is stated to be students training for a career in the travel and tourism industry, and people who wish to upgrade their skills for re-entry in to the workplace. It is distributed globally to national government organisations, academics and management personnel in the industry. It is certainly relevant to all of these markets. The book is useful for students at a variety of educational levels, current industry practitioners, and academics. The book would be useful to teachers in travel and tourism as a provider of case studies to be adapted for teaching purposes. The discussion questions at the end of each chapter are particularly useful in this regard. The current workplace issues that the text focuses on provides a clear understanding of current practices and challenges, which are important issues for all of the identified markets.
In terms of presentation, the book uses a range of graphics to communicate the different cases, including photographs. These are clear and add variety to the text. On the downside, the presentation can be a little confusing, as each new case does not necessarily start on a new page. This makes some of the pages appear cluttered. Overall, the book is interesting, informative, and is a welcome change from the traditional textbooks that dominate the human resource management literature. It is different from and therefore complements the many textbooks in this field.