Resilience through Innovation & Sustainability
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the European Travel Commission (https://etc-corporate.org) warn that the Travel & Tourism sector’s recovery could be put at serious risk if almost 1.2 million jobs remain unfilled across the EU.
The challenging summer labour shortfall has been revealed by WTTC in its latest analysis of the sector and calls for urgent action to address this critical issue.
In 2020, when the pandemic was at its peak, the Travel & Tourism sector across the EU suffered the loss of almost 1.7 million jobs.
In 2021, when governments began to ease travel restrictions and travellers’ confidence improved, the sector’s direct contribution to the EU’s economy recovered by 30.4% and recovered 571,000 jobs.
This year, WTTC projects that the sector’s recovery will continue to accelerate and almost reach pre-pandemic levels with an expected 32.9% increase in its direct contribution to the EU economy.
Europe showed one of the strongest recoveries in 2021, ahead of the global average. However, current shortages of labour can delay this trend and put additional pressure on an already embattled sector.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO
A serious number of vacancies are likely to remain unfilled during the busy summer period, with travel agencies forecasted to be the worst hit with a 30% shortfall of workers (nearly one in three vacancies unfilled).
Meanwhile, air transport and accommodation segments are likely to suffer one in five unfilled vacancies, representing 21% and 22% staff shortage respectively.
Europe, as the leading and most competitive tourism destination in the world, is committed to becoming the most sustainable one. But the goal of the twin transition (green and digital) will only be achieved if we succeed in attracting and retaining talent for this sector.
Luis Araujo, ETC President
The two bodies believe that by implementing efficient measures, Travel & Tourism businesses will be able to attract and retain more workers.
This in turn would enable the sector to meet the ever-growing consumer demand and further speed up its recovery, which is the backbone to generating economic wellbeing across the bloc.