More than 13 million people employed in tourism in EU

PanARMENIAN.Net - In 2017 over 13 million people in the European Union (EU) were employed in economic activities related to tourism. Nearly 8 million of these people worked in the food and beverage industry, while 2 million were employed in transport. The tourism industries are a major employer of women. The proportion of part-time employment in the tourism industries (24 %) is significantly higher than in the total non-financial business economy (17 %) and is comparable to the figure for the services sector as a whole (22 %). Nearly one in six people employed in tourism are foreign citizens, The Financial reports.

The tourism industries account for 21 % 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. Among the Member States, Greece recorded the highest share (23.9 % or nearly one in four people employed) followed by Cyprus and Malta with respectively one in five and nearly one in six people employed working in the tourism sector.

In absolute terms, Germany had the highest employment in the tourism industries (2.5 million people), followed by the United Kingdom (2.3 million), Italy (1.5 million), Spain (1.4 million) and France (1.1 million). These five Member States account for 66 % of employment in the tourism industries across the EU.