The tourism sector exceeds 2.6 million contributors in August

The tourism sector continues to lead job creation in our country, accounting for 4 out of 10 new contributors and representing 13.2% of the total number of contributors in the national economy. In addition, August doubled the growth in employment compared to the same month in 2019, when 129,867 (5.2%) new contributors were registered.

The Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, pointed out that "the good employment figures show the excellent summer season we are experiencing and make tourism one of the sectors that is contributing most to job creation at national level, despite the context of uncertainty".

For the Minister of Tourism, "despite the context of uncertainty, the measures put in place by the Government, especially the shock plans to deal with the consequences of the war, are protecting families and businesses and generating the confidence that the travel and tourism sector needs to maintain its recovery, which for the moment has not been affected and could continue in the coming months, according to our forecasts".

Branches of activity

The change in contributors was positive in all tourism branches. In other tourism activities the increase was 77,650 workers, while in hotels and restaurants the increase was 175,133 (105,072 in food and beverage services and 70,061 in accommodation services). In travel agencies the increase was 5,046 workers.

The number of employees, who represent 81% of the total number of workers in the sector, increased by 13.5% compared to the same month of the previous year, while self-employment increased by 1%.

By region

In August 2022, employment in hotels and restaurants and travel agencies/tour operators as a whole increased in all regions. In absolute figures, the largest increases were in Andalusia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, the Valencian Community and the Community of Madrid.

In relative terms, the year-on-year increases in the Balearic Islands (21.7%) and the Canary Islands (16.5%) stand out.

Non official translation