OREANDA-NEWS. In the European Union (EU), tourism industries (economic activities related to tourism, but not necessarily relying on tourism only) employed just over 12 million persons, equivalent to 9% of total employment in the EU nonfinancial business economy in 2013. Among them, the three industries that rely almost entirely on tourism (accommodation, travel agencies / tour operators and air transport) employed 3.3 million persons. The analysis in this News Release focuses on these "core" tourism activities.

Compared with the non-financial business economy, in 2014 core tourism activities in the EU provided more parttime contracts (24% of employment in core tourism activities vs. 17% in the non-financial business economy) and less stable jobs (21% of temporary jobs vs. 14%). They also employed a more female (58% of persons employed in core tourism activities were women vs. 36%) and younger workforce (13% of persons employed were aged 15 to 24 vs. 9%).

More than 1 in 5 tourism jobs in the EU is on a part-time and/or temporary basis

In the EU in 2014, 24% of persons employed in core tourism activities worked part-time. Across Member States, part-time jobs accounted for more than half of employment in core tourism activities in the Netherlands (56%, compared with 42% in the non-financial business economy), and for at least a third in Denmark (39% vs. 22%), Sweden (38% vs. 20%), Germany (34% vs. 23%), Ireland (33% vs. 23%) and the United Kingdom (33% vs. 24%). At EU level, the share of part-time employment in the core tourism activities (24%) was also significantly higher than in the total non-financial business economy (17%). This was the case in a large majority of Member States for which data are available. Similarly, the proportion of temporary jobs is significantly higher in core tourism activities (21%) than in the nonfinancial business economy (14%). This situation is found in every EU Member State for which data are available. In Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Austria, the share of temporary workers is even around three to four times higher in core tourism activities.

Tourism activities employ more women and young workers

Tourism is a major employer of women in the EU. While women represented in 2014 just over a third (36%) of persons employed in the non-financial business economy, core tourism activities employed predominantly female workers (58%). Women accounted for at least two-thirds of employment in core tourism activities in Latvia (72%, compared with 42% in the non-financial business economy), Lithuania (68% vs.43%), Poland (67% vs. 36%), Slovakia (67% vs.36%) and Estonia (66% vs. 40%). It should also be noted that women made up the largest share of employment in core tourism activities in all EU Member States, except Luxembourg (where women represented 32% of employment), Malta (41%) and Belgium (49%). With 13% of persons employed aged 15 to 24, core tourism activities in the EU employed proportionally more young workers than the non-financial business economy (where people aged 15-24 represented 9% of employment). This pattern can be observed in nearly all Member States for which data are available. The share of young people in core tourism employment was notably high in Denmark (24%), Malta and the Netherlands (21%) and the United Kingdom (20%) where at least 1 tourism worker out of 5 was aged 15 to 24.