According to figures released yesterday by the EU statistics office Eurostat, to commemorate the World Tourism Day, Spain is the EU27 Member State whose tourist industry generates the greatest number of jobs, both in absolute numbers (1,424 million) and as regards total employment (a little over 7%).
Spain is followed by Germany, whose tourist industry employs 1,371 million people (3.7% of the total), the United Kingdom, with 1,221 million (4.2%), and Italy, with 1,163 million (5%).
In 2006, nearly nine million people were employed in the tourist industry in the EU27, which is equivalent to 4.2% of overall employment figures.
Women in the tourist industry
To commemorate the World Tourism Day, the UN World Tourism Organisation has declared this year’s Day an occasion to celebrate women’s achievements in the tourism sector and stimulate action in support of gender equality and empowerment of women.
It is interesting to note that in the EU27 the tourist industry employs more women (56%) than any other sector, the average female employment rate in Member States being 44%. This pattern is repeated in 22 of the Member States, including Spain, where women make up 54% of the tourist industry workforce, compared with a female employment rate of 41% in the overall economy.
The countries were female employment is by far the highest are the Baltic States: Latvian women occupy 95% of the jobs in the tourist industry and account for 50% of overall employment. At the other end of the scale is Malta, where women comprise only 28% of the tourist industry workforce (compared with 32% of overall employment).
Average earnings
Eurostat has also provided statistics on wage differences by gender in the majority of the EU27, which show that average earnings for women are lower than for men both in the tourist industry and in the overall economy, although slightly lower in the former.
The countries with the smallest differences in average earning between men and women are Belgium (93% of the average earnings for men in the tourist industry and 86% in the overall economy) and Denmark (87% and 81%), and those with the biggest differences are Hungry (62% and 71%), Cyprus (73% and 67%) and the United Kingdom (75% and 72%).
