Emotionaalinen työ jouluisten matkailuelämysten luomisessa – uusien työntekijöiden näkökulma
Keywords:
emotional labor, experience economy, Christmas tourism, tourism work, theme parksAbstract
Emotional labor in creating Christmas experiences – the perspective of new tourism workers
Despite an emerging stream of literature addressing emotional labor in tourism and hospitality, little attention has been given to the role of emotions in experience-based enterprises. This study concentrates on the occupational experiences of new tourism and hospitality workers who are required to play a fictional role and wear fantasy character costumes. The study involves 11 young trainees working in a Christmas theme park in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland. Their emotional challenges and the practices of the park in relation to emotional labor are explored through qualitative methods. The findings offer interesting insights into the emotional aspects that should be considered in the training and working environment of tourism workers playing Christmas roles such as Santa Claus and elves. While the study was conducted in a Finnish Christmas theme park and its results cannot be generalized, it sheds some light on the emotional nature of costumed workers performing in the experience industry.
