A woman standing is taking the order of a woman sitting down in a restaurant

In 2021, 11.3 million people in the EU were employed in economic activities related to tourism (but not necessarily relying only on tourism). Among them, 6.8 million worked in the food and beverage industry, 2.1 million in the accommodation sector, 1.8 million in transport and 0.4 million for travel agencies and tour operators.

The 3 industries that rely almost entirely on tourism (accommodation, travel agencies/tour operators and air transport) employed 2.8 million people in the EU. 

Tourism labour force dominated by women

The tourism industries were a major employer of women. In 2023, among those employed in selected tourism industries, 57.6% were women, 21.2 percentage points (pp) more than in the total non-financial business economy (36.4%).

The share of part-time employment in the tourism industries (21.3%) was 6.1 pp higher than in the total non-financial business economy (15.2%).

Employment in selected tourism industries in the EU, %, 2023. Infographic. See link to full dataset below.

Source datasets:  lfsa_epgan2, lfsa_egan22d, lfsa_egaed, lfsa_egan, lfsa_egdn2, tour_lfs1r2, tour_lfs2r2, tour_lfs3r2, tour_lfs4r2, tour_lfs5r2, tour_lfs6r2

The tourism industries attracted a slightly higher share of the younger labour force, with 11.0% of workers aged 15 to 24 compared with 9.0% for the non-financial business economy.

In 2023, the share of people with a lower educational attainment level in tourism was 20.2%, close to that in the total economy (18.9%). 

Foreign citizens accounted for 15.9% of the labour force in the tourism industries (7% from other EU countries and 9% from non-EU countries), 5.3 pp more than in the total non-financial business economy (10.6%).  

The likelihood of holding a temporary contract was 8.8 pp higher in tourism than in the total non-financial business economy (20.8% vs. 12.0% of people employed).

Similarly, the share of new employees holding their current job for less than one year was also higher in tourism than in the non-financial business economy as a whole (23.1% vs.14.8%).

For more information

Methodological notes

  • This article utilises the most recent data from two sources: structural business statistics (SBS) and labour force survey (LFS). The SBS data for the reference year 2021, used to estimate the number of persons employed by tourism industries is compiled from information on units engaged in economic activity. The LFS data for the reference year 2023, used to present the characteristics of the labour force in tourism, was gathered through a survey of private households.
  • Tourism industries are economic activities related to tourism (but possibly providing services to tourists as well as non-tourists, mainly their economic importance is in many cases not exclusively linked to tourism). Tourism industries comprise land, water and air passenger transport (NACE Rev.2 classes 4910, 4932, 4939, 5010, 5030, 5110), food and accommodation services (NACE Rev.2 classes 5510,5520, 5530, 5610, 5630), renting and leasing of motor vehicles and recreational or sports goods (NACE Rev.2 classes 7710, 7721), travel agency and tour operator reservation services (NACE Rev.2 division 79)
  • Selected tourism industries are in the focus of this article. They rely almost entirely on tourism, and refer to NACE sections: H51, I55 and N79.
  • Non-financial business economy refers to the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE) sections: B-N_S95_X_K (Total business economy; repair of computers, personal and household goods; except financial and insurance activities). 

If you have any queries, please visit our contact us page.