Perceived Work Stress Factors: A Study on Tour Guides

Abstract

Tour guides, who are important representative of destination, have to accomplish their tasks in a complex and changing environment and have to offer their best to satisfy customers due to the work stressors. Literature emphasizes that work stress cause psychological / physiological destruction, turnover, absenteeism, poor morale, performance and service quality among tourism employee. Reducing these outcomes is possible with right stress management approach and the first step is to identify perceived threats. The purposes of this study are to establish a framework in the field of work stress and tour guides, to identify perceived work stress factors among national and regional licensed, active tourist guides in Turkey. A total of 395 tour guides were surveyed and results indicate that the most important perceived work stress factor among tour guides was legal and organizational strain (low base pay/salary, illegal tour guides, lack of participation in decision making, excessive control) and it is followed by operational, psychological and social, sectoral, occupational, and finally work’s nature strains. In terms of gender and marital status, the female and the single tour guides perceived work stress higher than the male and the married.