When leisure and work are allies: the case of skiers and tourist resort hotels

Purpose – There are signs that leisure is becoming increasingly important in contemporary working lives. This paper seeks to contribute to the career literature by examining how work and leisure can operate as allies. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data from fieldwork engaging with hotel employees located within the tourist resort of Queenstown, New Zealand are used to explore the positive interdependencies between work and leisure for both the leisure‐orientated employee and the hotels. Findings – The results suggest that skiing‐orientated employees are able to engage in skiing due to the money and time resources they receive from their hotel employment. At the same time, hotels have access to a seasonal, non‐standard work‐time and leisure competent labour pool as a result of the employees' orientation and participation in skiing. Originality/value – The results support the existence of a leisure‐orientated career identity that conforms to the contemporary individualistic revision of career. In addition, the results emphasise the significant impact that the employment relationship, industry setting and geographic location have on the leisure‐work relationship.