Another key issue is the hotel industry’s preference for (front-line and customer
contact) employees with aesthetic and self-presentation skills as opposed to employees
with hard or technical skill sets. Physical attractiveness seen by many employment
agencies as a key selection tool of hotel recruiters has been confirmed by the studies
reviewed earlier identifying dress sense, voice and accent, and physical looks as
crucial elements in the selection of employees for hospitality organisations (see Nickson
et al., 2005).