TRENDS IN THE TOURISM LABOUR MARKET International Conference of the Czech EU Presidency Tourism Industry: Employment and Labour Market Challenges Prague, 10 – 11 June 2009 ALAIN DUPEYRAS Head of the OECD Tourism Unit

AVERAGE Annual Growth OF EMPLOYMENT in OECD zone 2000/1995 Employment average annual growth 2007/2000 2007 Employment in AFS (thousands) AFS employmentas a percentage of overall employment % AFS* % Services Industry Economy AFS* % OECD TOTAL 2.6 2.5 1.0 1.9 2.2 1.6 -0.1 31 218.4 6.0

SMEs IN TOURISM : AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN EMPLOYMENT TERM Employment by enterprise size in a sampling of OECD countries 0-9 10-19 20-49 50-249 250 et plus Total Hotels 26.4 14.7 17.3 21.8 19.8 100 Restaurants 50.9 15.0 9.9 6.9 Travel Agencies 33.9 10.4 11.4 15.6 28.7 Industry 20.3 9.7 13.9 21.9 34.2 Business and services 33.6 9.8 11.2 14.3 31.1 Economy 27.2 12.6 17.8 32.5

HUMAN RESOURCES: NEW CHALLENGES FOR TOURISM POLICY Labour shortages Difficulty in forecasting skills needs Low productivity New tasks: Attract workers, improve skills and productivity levels

IMMIGRANTS IN THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR A substantial part of migration is into low-skilled occupations, even in countries with restrictive policies favouring higher skilled migration Source : International Migration Outlook (2008), OECD

IMMIGRANTS IN THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR Limited evidence is available with regard to the distribution of new migrant workers by detailed industry or occupation… … although it is clear that the hospitality sector received a significant share of temporary/seasonal low-skilled workers in several OECD countries This was the case, for instance, in the United Kingdom in the context of the EU enlargement. There is also evidence of the importance of illegal employment of foreigners in this sector. Source : Accession Monitoring Report , Home Office UK (2009)

IMMIGRANTS IN THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR Because of persistent hard-to-fill vacancies and of the importance of language skills, most OECD countries have provisions which allow for international recruitment of workers in the hospitality sector: Seasonal programmes (e.g. Italy, France, Spain) and temporary programmes (e.g. United States H-2B) Within highly skilled migration programmes (e.g. cooks are included in the Skilled occupation list in Australia) Cultural exchanges programme, including Working Holiday Makers Schemes, and special programmes for trainees. Source : International Migration Outlook (2008), OECD

Implications for tourism agencies: a “whole of government” approach Broader, more strategic approach Developing knowledge Leadership Effective collaborative relationships

What needs to be done? DEVELOP STRATEGIC GUIDANCE Increase emphasis on supply side issues and yield per visitor STRENGTHEN GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP Encourage a “whole-of-government” approach ENCOURAGE POLICY AND INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS Work actively with immigration agencies to develop programmes for seasonal jobs or low-skilled workers CONCENTRATE ON INNOVATION Increase product development and incentives for entrepreneurs, e.g. Scottish Enterprise, Innotour (Switzerland) IMPROVE SUPPORT DATA / INTELLIGENCE Develop indicators to measure employment features and to assess efficiency of support programmes

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OR EMAIL PUBLICATIONS www.oecd.org/cfe/tourism tourism.contact@oecd.org PUBLICATIONS The Impact of Culture on Tourism Tourism in OECD Countries 2010: Trends and Policies (forthcoming)