Venture Up: Miami Hospitality Teams to Take a Break

Employee teams in the hospitality industry are experts in providing exceptional service catering to the whims of leisure travelers and corporate business executives. But do they take time for themselves? Hospitality teams in Miami and elsewhere need a vacation from the intense routine to build their inner resources and nourish their personal lives. The Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association is gearing up to make vacations happen in Southern Florida, in cooperation with local hotels and the industry’s human resources group.

Wendy Kallergis, CEO of the GMBHA, is one of many industry leaders across the nation taking part in Project Time Off, a U.S. Travel Association initiative to encourage workers to take a break. “Project: Time Off aims to shift culture so that using personal time off is not considered frivolous, but essential to strengthening families and improving personal health, a business investment with proven returns, and an economic necessity,” according to the project’s website.

In 2014, 41 percent of American workers let paid vacation days go to waste, a US Travel Association study shows. An industry that goes 24/7 is a natural setting for a compulsive work ethic to thrive, but it comes at a steep price. Failure to meet a healthy work and life balance ultimate affects employee performance and retention.

According to a recent Miami Herald article by Hannah Sampson.

Kallergis considers her own industry “probably a major offender because of the nonstop nature of hotels and restaurants.” Kallergis joined forces with the South Florida Hospitality Human Resources Association and launched a summer wellness program for industry employees beginning in 2015.