Spanish Tourism Sector Sees 6.5% Increase in Employment Since 2022

Spain's tourism sector saw a 6.5% employment surge in Q3 2023, with almost 3 million people hired, according to Turespana.

During the period spanning July through September 2023, an additional 180,604 individuals were gainfully employed in tourism-related roles, demonstrating a noteworthy rise in comparison to the equivalent quarter of the preceding year, as outlined by SchengenVisaInfo.com.

Within this quarter, several autonomous communities experienced substantial employment numbers, including Catalonia (513,831), Madrid (424,390), Valencian Community (297,481), and the Canary Islands (267,801).

Notably, the unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent during this quarter, representing a 0.4 percent reduction from the second quarter of this year and a decline from the same quarter in 2022.

Hector Gomez, Spanish Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism, affirmed:

“We continue to transform the material conditions of employment linked to tourism: more employed, more salaried, more permanent contracts and more full-time jobs: in short, more and better jobs to reinforce the social nature of tourism.”

Compared to the second quarter of 2023, the third quarter's expansion has been most notable among employed individuals. In addition, the ranks of salaried workers and those with long-term employment agreements have grown. Nonetheless, the number of individuals with temporary contracts and self-employed workers has diminished in comparison to the same period in the previous year.

Gomez emphasized that the surge in individuals with permanent employment contracts marks a pivotal moment in the annals of the Spanish tourism sector.

Moreover, key segments of the tourism industry have experienced growth during this period, including:

• The hospitality sector, which posted an impressive 7.7 percent growth.
• Food and beverage services, displaying a substantial 7.9 percent upswing.
• Accommodation services, registering a solid increase.
• Passenger transport, witnessing a remarkable 10.9 percent expansion.

Overall, Spain's tourism sector has undergone a significant upswing. Recent data from the National Institute of Statistics of Spain (INE) revealed that tourists in Spain logged an additional two million overnight stays in September 2023 compared to the same month the previous year.

Source: schengenvisainfo.com