ITB Berlin – Tourism Faces New Risk: Finding Staff

Photo source: UNWTO

The world’s travel and tourism sector is facing a new risk after Covid 2019: finding staff, revealed a recent study presented during a press conference at ITB Berlin this week.

The news was announced as part of the newly formed Tourism Employment Expansion Mandate (TEEM) project – an initiative of Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett and the Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council, which he co-chairs.

According to data presented at ITB, the travel and tourism industry is facing its biggest challenge yet: finding employees. Indicatively, World Economic Forum data reveals that Covid-19 led to the loss of more than 62 million workers in the sector.

Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett at ITB Berlin 2023. Photo source: Jamaican Tourism Ministry.

Additionally, according to the first phase of the global survey carried out by Arvensis Search on behalf of TEEM and presented during the Global Tourism Resilience Conference in Kingston, Jamaica last month:

-68 percent of travel and tourism businesses polled said they are currently understaffed

–88 percent of the industry acknowledges a workforce deficiencies

-62 percent said the 25 to 45-year-olds are the most difficult talent to attract for work in travel and tourism. They are now opting to pursue jobs in technology and pharmaceuticals rather than the in travel

-80 percent of those surveyed said they now leave jobs open for longer periods of time compared to the past and 82 percent leave jobs open overall

-the majority of shortages found are in “critical” roles, including food preparation, technology, AI, sales and reservations

-according to TEEM, tourism and travel will require 8.4 million new recruits by 2025 who must be more specialized in areas such as data analysis, digital marketing and advanced customer service.

Photo source: UNWTO

According to TEEM, which is global initiative working towards post-Covid recovery of the industry’s workforce, the next step will focus on understanding the talent sentiment and identifying reasons for migration to other industries. The current survey was conducted across Europe, the Americas, Australasia, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and included professionals from tour agencies and operators, airlines, airports, cruise lines, and hospitality companies.

“Resilience is not a destination…it’s a journey. We all must be on this journey together in collaboration with each other to ensure that economic parameters and the social conditions are improved, while climate and the environment are addressed. Resilience means we prepare for crises rather than react to them,” said Bartlett.

In mid-June last year, tourism businesses in Greece were still short of staff with at least 2,430 job openings listed on the Public Employment Service (DYPA) portal open to all jobseekers.

With the slogan “Open for Change”, the world’s leading travel trade show ITB Berlin opened its doors on Tuesday for the first time after a three-year hiatus caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. ITB Berlin wrapped up on Thursday.