Resort representatives (reps) working at the airport have a significant role to play in the tourist journey and are yet often undervalued.
As the first point of contact for arriving visitors, airport reps must make sure to be ready to receive guests according to the flight schedule. When the guests leave back to their home country, it is airport reps who send them off as well.
A vast majority of airport reps reside in the capital city of Male’. Unlike hospitality employees who reside at the resorts themselves, airport reps must take care of food and accommodation on their own.
Changes made to tourism regulations last year mandate that service charge must be given to resort employees. However, many have voiced frustration over the unfair treatment of airport reps in the provision of said service charge.
The main issue of concern is regarding reps who handle multiple resorts. According to some sources, reps who handle two or more resorts only end up receiving service charge from one of them. In this way, reps have reportedly faced losses of up to USD 1000.
“If multiple resorts are hiring one person to represent them, each resort must pay service charge in full,” said one resort rep. “Otherwise, they must hire one person per resort. They cannot simply pay their emloyees according to their own preference; it is tantamount to abuse.”
Indeed, just like any other hospitality empoyee, service charge must be provided to resort reps equitably. They should be fairly compensated for the amount of work that they do, whether it’s for one single resort or multiple properties.
