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“We do know that over sixty percent of the workers are young—under twenty-five years
of age—and they are women,” he said in a telephone interview from Geneva. “That is
good—it means tourism opens the door for a career. The bad news is that the working
conditions are not brilliant.”
The wages are lower than in other sectors, he said, and the working conditions are
“weak” at best. “Too many employers in the sector take advantage of these young women,
many of whom are immigrants,” he said. “Productivity and competitiveness depends most
on technical training of the service employees as well as what we call soft skills—passion,
friendliness, a relaxed comportment which will very much affect the atmosphere in a
hotel.”
The ILO only operates in countries where the government approves of its mission to
improve relations between management and employees. They have no role in helping em-
ployees on cruise ships. India, he said, was a bright spot, as is South Africa, which has an
entire program called Fair Trade in Tourism to insure that the lives of local employees are
improved. “If you believe tourism is essential to alleviate poverty in the developing world,
then you have to address the treatment of service employees,” said Mr. Weinz. “Half of the
developing world is using tourism to raise incomes—that is a tremendous mission, and its
dimensions are incredible.”
• • •
I was in Las Vegas to attend a conference on medical tourism, the newest big thing in the
industry. I first heard about the notion of taking an overseas vacation in order to receive in-
expensive medical treatment from my friend Dorothy McGhee. A real estate investor and
solid member of the middle class, Dorothy is anything but poor. However, with American
medical insurance and medical costs rising faster than the cost of living, she decided she
could no longer pay for dental insurance.
“When you are self-employed like I am, dental insurance is a big expense and it isn't
part of Medicare,” she told me. And at sixty-five years of age Dorothy is very careful about
medical expenses.
In 2010, during a routine dental checkup, she was told she would need two new caps
on her teeth at a cost of $5,500. That was not in her budget. Instead, she took a five-day
vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for less than half that cost. “I emailed my friends, re-
ceived several good recommendations and chose the dentist,” she said.
Miguel Arden, the dentist, had done postgraduate studies in New York and would
charge her $1,600 for the two caps. Her airfare was $500, and rental of a beachfront cabana
in the fishing village of Sayulita was $60 a night with breakfast. She arrived Thursday,
saw the dentist Friday, had her caps put on the following Monday and was home Tuesday
night.
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