Mickey Mouse Economy: Are Tourism-Related Jobs Good Jobs?

The Obama administration hopes to encourage hiring in the travel and entertainment industries by increasing international tourism to the United States. But how much potential does an initiative like that hold—and is it likely to create good jobs?

“We want more visitors coming here,” Obama said during his weekly address. “We want them spending money here. It’s good for our economy, and it will help provide the boost more businesses need to grow and hire.”

The plan builds on the Travel Promotion Act, which established a nonprofit organization to promote the United States as a travel destination abroad. Now, the administration is working on a new travel promotion plan built around job creation. The administration also plans to encourage international tourism by letting frequent international travelers scan their passports and skip long immigration lines.

The president promoted the initiative during an appearance at Disney World, near Orlando.

“Ultimately, that’s how we’re going to rebuild an economy where hard work pays off, where responsibility is rewarded, and where anybody can make it if they try,” Obama said during the event. “And a place like Disneyland represents that quintessentially American spirit.”

Does it? There is a certain, troubling irony in Obama's choice of venue—the Walt Disney Company is so notorious for the poor treatment of workers at home and abroad that some employees have termed the park “mauschwitz”—that cuts to the heart of the tourism initiative. Is tourism-related work likely to be skilled, dignified work, or exploitive and short-term?

Many jobs associated with tourism are low-paying, unskilled or seasonal. Working conditions might not be as bad as those on cruise lines, but it's a far cry from the sustainable economy built on thorough job training that Obama laid out during his most recent State of the Union address.

The travel industry, naturally, has rallied behind the tourism initiative. But the gist of the plan—to flypaper foreign dollars into domestic circulation—flies in the face of the proud, autonomous spirit of the White House's other primary job creation plan, which revolves around cultivating domestic investment and “insourcing” foreign jobs back to the United States.

Jon Christian is a staff writer with Campus Progress. Follow him on Twitter @Jon_Christian.

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