ABSTRACT
Worldwide employment in tourism, including the HI, stands at 192.2 million, and by 2010 is expected to have grown to 256.1 million jobs, accounting for one in 11 jobs in the formal economy (World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), 2000). The importance of tourism employment varies among countries, with some showing rapid employment growth, e.g. in Spain tourism employment increased by 24 per cent in the 1990s (Incomes Data Services (IDS), 1998c; Appendix 1 for WERS). In some developing countries international tourism is high status and provides secure employment, while in others it may be low status and exploitative (Baum et al., 1997). Exceptionally employment may be between 10 and 30 per cent in small island economies such as Cyprus, Malta and Anguilla. In Europe tourism employment is of greater importance to southern countries such as Spain (8.3 per cent) and Italy (5.9 per cent). In other ‘westernized’ economies the figure is nearer 5 per cent (Australia, US, UK), while in ‘emerging’ tourism economies such as Bulgaria and Slovakia it represents 2 per cent of employment. Tourism is essentially a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) industry. In Europe 94 per cent of the 2.7 million SMEs are micro-enterprises employing fewer than ten people (ILO, 2001: 48).
