Former hospitality workers have been quizzed on why they turned their backs on the industry that is crying out for them to stay.The Bermuda Hospitality Institute asked the question of about 100 former hotel workers, to get to the bottom of why Bermudians see the industry as nothing more than “a fallback option”.It is hoped that the results of the Hospitality Exit Project nicknamed the Exodus Survey can be used to restore confidence in the struggling industry.BHI’s CEO Karla Lacey believes the only way to encourage people to re-enter the industry is to find out “the real reasons” why they left.She believes “everyone thinks they know” but only the survey can reveal the true picture both positive and negative.Ms Lacey wants the industry to be revived with a Bermudian workforce, especially in these difficult economic times, as some hotels are struggling to fill beds.She said: “We have all heard of the great exodus so we wanted to look at why Bermudians have left the industry.“Many people come and go while others say they will be in hospitality for life. We want to find out the differences between these two types of people.“Everyone thinks they know but we need to look at the real reasons.“Why do these people move on and take another career path?”The former workers have visited BHI in recent months to answer a series of questions. These include how they started working in hospitality, what interested them most about the job, what they achieved, what made them leave and perhaps most importantly, would they be prepared to re-enter the industry.The survey results are yet to be collated but trends already surfacing are workers’ concerns over job security, long hours, low pay, split shifts and having to work public holidays.Those selected for interview have worked in hospitality over the last ten years, but now work in other industries. Some chose to leave hospitality of their own accord, while others lost their jobs because of hotel closures.Ms Lacey said the BHI was working to maintain Bermudians in the industry at all levels as they were the faces visitors wanted to see.She said: “We talk about sustaining a local service, but we can’t do that without local people.“The hospitality industry is often lamented as a fallback job when nothing else is available.“But it’s a very honourable profession with lots of opportunities if people have the right attitude.“The problem is we are competing with every other industry for a very small workforce, we are all competing for the same people.”Ms Lacey insists there are still many Bermudians working in hospitality but they “are not the face of the industry” as they often work behind the scenes.But she believes “society has changed” so we need to address current challenges rather then assuming we can return to hospitality’s heyday.To promote “a healthy and vibrant hospitality industry”, the BHI is focused on encouraging more young people to take an interest in the industry.Ms Lacey said it was unfortunate that many of them “didn’t have a realistic idea of what the hospitality industry was about” as they no longer had family members in hotel or restaurant jobs.The BHI has organised the START (Skills, Tasks and Results Training) programme, which saw 18 high school students working in hospitality over the summer after a ten-week course at Bermuda CollegeIt also recently partnered with the Ministry of Education and reached out to 2,000 schoolchildren through Hospitality Week. This saw children from primary to middle schools taught “the golden rule” of treating others the way you would want to be treated.Another Hospitality Week is already being planned for early next year with tourist veterans such as Toby Dillas, who has been in tourism for 48 years, and The Reefs owner David Dodwell ‘adopting’ schools.Ms Lacey would like to see students working in hospitality during their holidays then “catching the bug” and opting for it as a career.She said: “We recognise we have to start young in promoting the ideals of hospitality and raising young people up through the industry.“We have to get young people in the right mindset, they have to want to work their way up the industry.“If they don’t know about it then they are not going to seek it.”She added: “We want them switched on to the jobs available. Having young Bermudians in the hospitality workforce is going to make a big difference.”All residents, whatever their line of work, have a role to play in supporting tourism, Ms Lacey said.And she said it was “our basic function as a community” to “be service-minded and look out for others”.She said: “Every resident has a part to play, whether they are Bermudian or not, this is an industry that relies on its reputation.“When you see a visitor walking down the street, you have to smile and be helpful.”Ms Lacey, who was born in Bermuda and raised in the US, has “a background in service” herself as her first job as a 15-year-old was at KFC. She then went on to work in women’s clothing before devising a junior chef programme.The BHI was set up on April 1, 2010 as a non-profit membership organisation to “bridge the gap” between the private sector and community.It receives a Government grant but has recently launched a membership plan to fund its educational and promotional programmes.Membership is open to those who work in guest accommodations, restaurants and stores, as well as those in all tourist-related activities.Members have access to a password-only website which lets them seek help and feedback from each other.Ms Lacey said in its first year of operation the BHI had been able to “create some solid relationships” that were “having a real impact”.Bermuda was not unique as tourism markets across the world were “facing their challenges” in the global economic downturn, she said.“The only thing Bermudians have is this Island. We have to work together to make it work.”Further information: www.BHI.bm