Synopsis Second Draft

Dealing with Sexual Advances from Guests

1. Introduction

1.1 Workplace Context

Since the sexual harassment allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein surfaced at the end of 2017, more high-profile cases of sexual harassment and assault at work has come to light. However, much less attention has been paid to the rampant harassment taking place in the front line of the hotel industry.   

In the business of hospitality, as much as each guest interaction serves as a chance to wow the guest, it must be recognized that it is also an opening for guests to make unwanted sexual advances on hotel staff. In fact, it is not only staff in departments that experience high customer-contact such as the front office or F&B outlets that have to deal with unwanted advances, but also housekeeping. A survey conducted by showed that 58 percent of hotel workers who work as housekeepers and servers had been sexually harassed by a guest (Unite Here, 2017).

1.2 Thematic Focus

With Singapore becoming more culturally diverse, there is a wider range of international guests staying in local hotels, and with it comes different expectations. The main audience of this project will cover hotel workers from various hotel departments that have daily guest encounters, specifically front office, F&B, and housekeeping.

Firstly, hotel workers will be educated  to identify sexual advancements from guests. This includes not just inappropriate requests, but also inappropriate language and reading sexual innuendos. A lot of people are unable to recognise sexual advances in the first place, especially younger new entrants to the industry, therefore they do not know the appropriate response, and that is where conflict happens.

Upon recognizing sexual advances, the next step is teaching workers to deal with them. The complexity comes in when there is a need to both protect the workers, whilst at the same time avoid undue embarrassment for guests, so that they will be able to maintain a certain level of integrity.

2. Literature Review

Declining a guest’s request is an inevitable in hospitality business. Moreover, many hotel staff are trained to never say “no” to guests, but rather accommodate to their requests to achieve service excellence. As such, staff are always caught in the middle, especially when some situations require one to do so. These include any legal or hotel policy related issues. While such requests may be deemed as irrational and impossible tasks, guests see them as completely legitimate and warranted (eHotelier, 2017). This is because in well-established and upscale hotels, guests have a natural tendency to have higher expectations.
Each individual has a subjective opinion of what construes sexual harassment, which makes definition difficult (Gilbert, Guerrier, & Guy, 1998). According to the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), sexual harassment is defined as the “threatening, abusive or insulting words, behaviours or communications of a sexual nature” (Association of Women for Action and Research, 2017). Examples of which may include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and any other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature (Gilbert, Guerrier, & Guy, 1998)
Despite social interaction being a large element in the hospitality industry, almost half of managers surveyed (46.9%) believed that sexual harassment is rarely an issue in the workplace. Hence, it is no surprise that only 36.7% of managers in the hospitality are fairly confident of their staff handling sexual harassment (Gilbert, Guerrier, & Guy, 1998).
Sexual harassment can lead to many impacts that will eventually affect the hotel. With psychological impact on the victim, high levels of such issues could lead to a high staff turnover. At present, service organisations are already facing declining supply of workers. With the addition of sexual harassments, workers would feel more inclined to leaving the hotel for another organisation. Eventually, this would lead to decreased productivity and increased absenteeism (Gilbert, Guerrier, & Guy, 1998).

3. Research Objectives, Methods & Importance

3.1 Research Objective

The objective of this research is to educate personnel in the hospitality industry on the potential situations that they may encounter relating to sexual advances. This study will be targeted towards the training manager of Singapore hotels. With such encounters prevalent in the industry, the study will focus on two main pointers: how to recognise/identify sexual advances, and the appropriate response to such situations should they occur.

3.2 Research Importance

The nature of the hospitality industry requires interaction with people of different cultures. This is no different in the Singapore hospitality industry, where staff will encounter guests from around the world. The case of a saudi diplomat sexually assaulting a staff in a hotel is an example of such a situation that occurred locally (Chelvan, 2017). Despite the multicultural environment Singaporeans are brought up in, many may still be unfamiliar on how to handle the inappropriate context of the situation. Hence, when faced with such situations, it is important that the hotel staff is protected, but at the same time maintain professionalism in his/her job.

3.3 Research Method

Primary research was obtained from employees in the hospitality industry. These employees will provide their firsthand experiences of sexual advances they have encountered while working, and how they dealt with it.

Secondary research was also conducted to identify the different types of sexual advances that may occur, and established ways to appropriately deal with sexual advances in the industry.

4. Potential Solutions


4.1 Educational Workshops - Dealing with Sexual Advances

A potential solution to this problem would be to recognise the existence of sexual advances and how often it can happen in the workplace instead of shunning from the problem (Reader, 2017). With this awareness, educational workshops can be provided on how to deal with such situations.

These workshops can focus on building consciousness for hotel staff who are more oblivious to the existence of such acts and provide ways to deal with the situation. Furthermore, the contents of the workshop should include practical examples on the different type of gestures and physical contacts often made to pre-empt the staff for future incidents.


Certain actions from various cultures of guests possess different meanings and it is important to provide education on such connotations. For example, the phrase “let’s take a break” could mean taking a break in a love hotel for the Japanese culture, while the phrase “let’s go have some lemon juice together” would imply for a night of sensual activities for the Vietnamese culture (Rasimaviciute, 2015)


Another solution would include motivational workshops for employees on saying “no” and building their confidence and esteem levels. This would cover skills on politely declining guests and not offending them despite the inappropriate advances made. This is essential in ensuring that staff are properly equipped with the proper skill sets to tackle such challenges that come their way.  

4.2 Benefits of solution

The implementations of such solutions would result in improved staff satisfaction and serve as a morale booster for any front line staff who have a higher probability in encountering sexual advances due to the nature of their job which involves dealing directly with guests. This would indirectly lead to a lower employee turnover rate, one of key concerns in the hospitality industry, as the organisation displays care and concern for their staff in understanding the troubles encountered and providing ways to counter these problems. Additionally, guest satisfaction would not reduce as employees have been trained with proper handling techniques to decline these advances and still maintain the professionalism required.

5. Conclusion

Sexual advances can come from any individual in the hotel industry, from external international guests to the internal diverse workforce. Due to the nature of the business, declining guests are often inevitable. This makes turning down such advances even more challenging. Ultimately, this could lead to high staff turnover, low morale and productivity which could affect the hotel’s cost and profitability. In Singapore, staff may face the same issue despite being a multicultural society. It is therefore important to educate and prepare the future workforce for such situations.

6. References


Association of Women for Action and Research . (2017). What is sexual

Chelvan, V. P. (2017, July 21). Saudi diplomat who sexually assaulted hotel employee has
appeal dismissed. Retrieved March 14, 2018, from
eHotelier. (2017, October 7). How to say ‘No’ to your guests (without saying ‘No’).
Retrieved from eHotelier: https://ehotelier.com/news/2014/10/07/how-to-say-no-to-your-guests-without-saying-no/

Gilbert, D., Guerrier, Y., & Guy, J. (1998). Sexual Harassment Issues in the
Hospitality Industry. Emeraldinsight.

Rasimaviciute, D. (2015). Instead Of Saying 'Netflix And Chill,' Here's How People
In Asia Drop Hints To The Opposite Sex. Retrieved from A Plus: http://aplus.com/a/hint-netflix-asia?no_monetization=true

Reader, R. (2017). The Real Reasons Women Don’t Report Sexual Harassment.
Retrieved from Fast Company March 13, 2018, from
https://www.fastcompany.com/3068610/the-real-reasons-women-dont-report-sexual-harassment

UNITE HERE. (2017, Oct 6). Home: Press Release . Retrieved from Unite Here : http://www.unitehere1.org/2017/10/ordinance-to-protect-chicago-hotel-workers-from-sexual-harassment-and-assault-passes-the-committee-on-workforce-development-advances-to-full-city-council/

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