8.

Employment in Tourism

I. Work in groups to answer the following questions. Then read the text to see if your
predictions were right.

1. Which is the percentage of people employed in tourism in the EU, out of all people employed?
2. How many people work in the tourism industry in the EU?
3. Which European country employs most of the people in tourism?
4. Which time of the year represents the height of the tourist season?
5. Are part-time or full-time jobs more common in the accommodation field?
6. Is the horeca market dominated by men or women from the perspective of the employment rate?
7. Which is the typical age range in the accommodation and horeca sectors?
8. What do you think of the level of education of people working in accommodation?
9. What do you consider to be the average stay with the same employer in tourism?

A study performed in 2010 after analyzing data collected in 2009 from 32 European countries (27
European Union Member States and five non-EU countries) revealed that in Europe, tourism is an important
driver of economic, social and cultural development. This is because the contribution made by the tourism
industry to the European labour market is really worth taking into account. The analysis in the research
focused mainly on the tourist accommodation sector, not on the entire tourism industry.
The study revealed that in 2007, more than 9 million people were employed in the EU hotels, restaurants
and catering sector, which equals 4.2 % of all people employed. In this sector, the highest number of jobs
was observed in Spain (1.45 million) and Germany (1.43 million).
About one in every four people employed in the horeca sector works in an enterprise providing tourist
accommodation (hotels and similar accommodation, including campsites etc.). At the height of the tourist
season, i.e. in the third quarter of the year, the number of people employed rises by an additional 10 %.
As regards the type of employment, it was found that about four out of every five people are employed
on a full-time basis. Nevertheless, the results range from almost no part-time employment in the tourist
accommodation sector in Bulgaria or Romania, to a rate of 60 % in the Netherlands. Countries with a high
share of part-time employment in short-stay accommodation include the Netherlands and Denmark (44 %),
Norway (38 %), Germany (32 %) and Sweden (30 %). These countries also have around 25 % or more part-
time workers in the labour market, as a whole, compared to the EU average of 18 %.
As far as gender is concerned, the tourist accommodation sector is a major employer of women. On
average, 60 % of the EU labour force in this sector are female workers who make up only 45 % of the
people employed in all EU economic activities. In terms of creating job opportunities for women, the
accommodation sector scores even better than the entire hotels and restaurants sector – where female
employment stands at 56 %. Among the countries for which data are available, more than two out of every
three people employed in the tourist accommodation sector are female in Romania (72 %), Norway (71 %),
Poland (70 %), Finland (70 %) and Germany (69 %). Malta (38 %) and Italy (49 %) are the only countries
where women do not take the majority of the jobs in the tourist accommodation sector. But, together with
Greece, these two countries also have the lowest female participation rate in their whole economy.
Both the hotels and restaurants sector and the tourist accommodation sector offer job opportunities to a
young workforce. Indeed, 48 % of people employed in hotels and restaurants, and 43 % in tourist
accommodation, are younger than 35 years old. Both sectors have a much younger age profile than the rest
of the EU labour market, where only about one in three employees is under 35.
Under-35s make up more than half of the employees in the tourist accommodation sector in Slovakia
(58 %), the Netherlands (56 %), Sweden (56 %) and Norway (56 %).
The data in the previous sections has revealed that tourist accommodation in particular employs two
socio-demographic groups: young people and females. A third group strongly represented in this sector are
people with a lower education level, i.e. people who have completed a lower secondary education at most. It
was shown that 36 % of employees in the tourist accommodation sector have not completed their upper
secondary education, compared with the general EU labour market average of 25 %. Among the countries
which particularly offer jobs especially to less educated people as compared with the entire economy are
Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. In the EU, Portugal has the highest share of
employees who have a low level of education.
These findings are in agreement with the statistics on information and communication technology
use in enterprises. These indicate that the tourist accommodation sector does not require a high level of e-
skills from most staff. Instead, only 36 % of the employees in this sector use computers in their daily work,
compared with almost one in every two employees (49 %) when considering all economic activities.
As regards the job duration and the average stay with the same employer, the sector appears to offer
less stable jobs than the rest of the labour market. The proportion of those having a temporary job rather
than a permanent one is more than twice as high in the tourist accommodation sector than in the whole
economy. In all the countries for which data on job duration is available, the accommodation sector
performs relatively poorly. The largest discrepancies between this sector and the whole economy can be
observed in Greece (59 % permanent jobs versus 89 % in the whole economy), Italy, Sweden and Bulgaria.
The more limited availability of permanent jobs can be linked to the seasonal nature of tourism. Indeed,
these four countries also appear to have the largest variation in number of people employed between the
highest and lowest quarters. The lowest shares of permanent jobs in the tourist accommodation sector can be
found in Poland, which also has the lowest proportion of permanent jobs in the economy as a whole.
Another indicator of employment stability is the average stay with the same employer. Staff turnover
is much higher in the accommodation sector – with an average stay with the same employer of slightly over
six years – than in all economic activities taken together (over 10 years).

II. Fill in the gaps with the words given:

constantly confident margarita global ropes staff occupation away

behind get paid thriving incalculable festive boring
feed

Tourism is an industry that is ………1………growing. It is one of the things that ……..2……..many

societies while it offers travelers a chance to relax and experience something new. The field of tourism is so
vast that the number and type of travel & tourism jobs is practically……….3………..
Any ………4………..that involves travel or dealing with tourists would be considered travel and
tourism jobs in tourism. From the stewardess on the airplane down to the person serving you your
……….5………on the beach, all of these jobs are created to contribute to tourism and make it the
wonderful, ……….6………industry that it is.
If you want to ……….7……. involved in travel & tourism jobs, you shouldn’t have to look very far.
Or you can actually look as far ……….8………as you like because every tourist destination can use people
who speak English, as it is one of the common languages for tourists to speak. Either near where you live or
far away you can find work in ………9……….tourism.
 As with any job, you are in a better position to have a good job if you have education and experience
……….10……..you. If you have studied about tourism or international subjects you can feel more
………….11……..about working in the field. If you have some kind of experience you might also have
advantage in getting a job.
Many of the jobs people do in ………12…….old companies can also be done in the travel and
tourism jobs field. You can work on a cruise ship. You can travel to exotic destination and enjoy the
…………13………atmosphere that exists on a cruise ship every day, and get ………14……..for it! You
can also work in the travel industry either as a travel agent, or even working as an airplane attendant.
Think about the last trip you took. Consider all the people you talked to. Most of them were probably
working in travel tourism jobs. The ………15……..at your hotel, the organizers of tours, restaurant
workers, everywhere you went, you saw people working in jobs in tourism.
You don’t have to have an amazing education in IT to work in the industry. You can start out as a
waitress and then learn the …………..16…………..and work your way up to where you want to be.
Experience is the thing that will get you to the position you really want. And in travel tourism jobs, it can be
fun to work your way up!

III. Match the jobs with their explanations:

1. travel and information a. is responsible for organizing important events, such as receptions, weddings,
consultant banquets;
2. banqueting manager b. lead and control games played at casinos, calculate winnings and losses, and
pay out winning bets;
3. cellarman c. is a facilitator for arranging and helping customers in opting for the best travel
packages that suit their interests and likings;
4. restaurant greeter d. a chef who specializes in baking goods made from ingredients such as flour,
milk, butter, baking powder or eggs, like cakes, tarts etc.
5. tour guide e. assists guests or residents, as by handling the storage of luggage, taking and
delivering messages, and making reservations for tours;
6. sommelier f. teaches or guides outdoor activities such as rafting, kayaking, diving, fishing,
climbing, tramping and caving;
7. concierge g. ensures that restaurants operate efficiently and profitably, by coordinating a
variety of activities, maintaining high standards of food, service, and health and
safety;
8. outdoor recreation h. works at visitor information centres, providing customers with information
guide about tourist attractions, accommodation and travel. They also make bookings
for customers;
9. pastry cook i. takes overall care of the resort, this including everything from staff
management and guest welfare to chalet maintenance;
10. casino worker j. escorts people on sightseeing, educational or other tours, and describe points of
interest;

11. resort manager k. work a late evening and usually through the night shift on the front desk. They
make room reservations, provide information and services to guests and receive
payment for services as well as specific night duties including entering of
accounting information and hotel security
12. transportation l. is responsible for greeting guests in a warm and friendly manner, controlling
attendant the flow of work in the room by seating guests in station rotation, handling the
reservation book and taking incoming telephone calls;
13. restaurant manager m. orders and maintains the wines sold in the restaurant and usually has
extensive knowledge about wine and food pairings;
14. night audit clerk n. provide boarding assistance to elderly, sick or injured people, open and close
doors for passengers, respond to passengers’ questions, requests, or complaints;
15. travel agent o. a man who is in charge of the cellar in a bar or restaurant and is responsible
for maintaining good storage conditions.

IV. Translate into English:

10.000 de români la 500.000 de cretani. Dacă îşi fac un partid, românii pot câştiga locuri importante în
municipalităţi.
Aici, auzi mai peste tot vorbindu-se româneşte. E firesc. În momentul de faţă, muncesc legal in Creta
peste 10.000 de români, alţi circa 3.000 muncind la negru. Cărora se adaugă turiştii, nu puţini, deşi nu la fel
mulţi ca ruşii sau polonezii. Nu e o cifră prea mare dacă o raportăm la milioanele de români din Italia sau
Spania, dar e semnificativă în raport cu cei 500.000 băştinaşi. Românii care muncesc legal aici fac toate
meseriile posibile, în general cele legate de turism, dar nu exclusiv, pentru că am cunoscut concetăţeni
medici, funcţionari bancari sau patroni de mici firme de IT.
Însă pe cei mai mulţi români i-am întâlnit în agenţii de turism, hoteluri, restaurante, taverne şi terase,
făcîndu-şi cu pricepere şi amabilitate meseriile, indiferent că erau ghizi, chelneri, recepţioneri, bucătari -
apropo, o meserie căutată şi excelent plătită şi în Creta! - traducători sau vânzători. Ei înşişi cred că sînt
ajutaţi în găsirea rapidă a slujbelor şi în buna lor exercitare de adaptabilitate şi de cunoaşterea limbilor
străine. Cei mai mulţi din cele câteva zeci de români cunoscuţi de mine aici, în ultimii ani, vorbeau, pe lângă
limba maternă, greaca şi engleza, unii franceza sau germana, ba chiar şi limbi mai exotice pentru noi,
precum rusa, polona, ceha, sârbo-croata sau olandeza. Am cunoscut ghizi care vorbeau fluent 5 - 6 limbi, pe
care le schimbau instantaneu, la nevoie.
10.000 de români, majoritatea grupaţi în regiunea Iraklion, cea mai dezvoltată turistic. Dacă şi-ar
face o UDMR, mă rog UDRC, ar putea cîştiga posturi importante în municipalităţi precum Iraklion sau
Hersonissos, cea mai mare staţiune din Creta. Norocul cretanilor e că românii nu-s organizaţi nici aici!