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Tourism labour market - Referat
Tourism is an important source of income for many regions and countries. Tourist activity can have a negative impact on the quality of life of the local population in popular tourist areas. However, the influence of tourists can also boost the local economy and labour market.
It accounts for one in eleven jobs in the world. Comparing data on tourism intensity with unemployment rates, we see that the regions with the highest tourism intensity have an unemployment rate below the national average.
Economic activities related to tourism employ over 12 million people in the European Union. Nearly 7 million of these people work in the food and beverage industry, while 2 million are employed in transport. The accommodation sector accounts for 2.4 million jobs; travel agencies for nearly half a million.
The three industries that rely almost entirely on tourism (accommodation, travel agencies, air transport) employ 3.3 million people in the EU. These three industries will from now on be called the "selected tourism industries".
The tourism industries account for 22 % of people employed in the services sector. When looking at the total non-financial business economy, the tourism industries account for 9 % of people employed.
Although the economic crisis led to a fall in total employment, this was not the case for the services sector. Despite wars, political turmoil, natural disasters, medical scares, terrorist attacks, and energy crises in various parts of the world, tourism has grown spectacularly since the 1970s. This shows the tourism industry’s potential as a growth sector.
Many jobs in tourism are recognised to be quite easily accessible as far as skills and qualifications are concerned. Most job opportunities in the sector do not require formal credentials to gain employment. This situation correlates with the fact that workers in the tourism sector have some of the lowest average wages in the economy. With 13 % of workers aged 15 to 24, the tourism industries have a particularly young labour force, as these industries can make it easy to enter the job market.
However, as the competition grows among the different destinations worldwide, the importance of raising quality in services is urging tourism managers to look for a workforce better trained or with particular skills in order to reach or even exceed internationally recognised standards.
The tourism industry is also a major employer of women. The labour force of the tourism industries includes more female workers, nearly 60%, than male workers yet they are far more likely than men to be found in lower-paid, unskilled jobs. They also tend to work exclusively with women: such gender segregation affects pay and access to training. Few women are in management jobs, either in the public or private sector.
The high rate of women in the sector seems also to be related to cultural issues, especially for employment in housekeeping, laundry, food preparation and guest services.
Promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in tourism matters, whether it is among hotel cleaners in London on the minimum wage or women in rural Africa trying to sell baskets to all-inclusives. All women deserve a fair future but are denied this because men control most resources and decision-making processes in tourism. Greater equality is an essential component of a sustainable tourism industry. Yet the sector has paid scant attention to the rights and status of women, especially to those in poorer countries, and to the impact that tourism has on their lives and livelihoods.
Unfortunately jobs are less stable in tourism than in the rest of the economy. Since tourism tends to attract a young labour force, often at the start of their professional life, certain characteristics of employment in this sector are less advantageous than in other sectors of the economy. The likelihood of occupying a temporary job is significantly higher in tourism than in the rest of the economy. In all countries fewer people have a permanent job in tourism than in the economy on average.
High seasonality in tourism activities is only partly reflected in tourism employment. The demand varies strongly during the year. Tourist accommodation has the highest occupancy rate in the summer months. In the second quarter, seasonal needs are mainly covered by part-time employment, while in the third quarter of the year full-time jobs become more important.
In my opinion tourism is an evergrowing sector and directly or indirectly linked with many jobs we don’t expect. Tourism offers a wide range of jobs: for unskilled people, for people with great training, at home or abroad, directly in touch with the customers or hidden behind office doors. To be successful and competetive learning foreign languages and have a great training. Tourism can also offer solutions for more general problems such as youth unemployment, as well as contributing to economic growth and reducing poverty.
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