WTTC: Greece Among Countries that Need More Talent in Tourism Sector

Some 65,000 jobs are at risk in Greece’s travel and tourism sector over the next decade due to talent shortage, according to research conducted for the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) by Oxford Economics.
Such a development would contribute six million euros less in GDP to the country over the next 10 years, if government and private companies fail to implement policies which promote proactive and careful talent management.

Other countries projected to have the most acute deficit travel and tourism talent trends (demand growth more than 1 percentage point faster than supply growth) include Thailand, Poland, Taiwan, Russia, Peru, Costa Rica, Argentina, Sweden, Singapore, Italy and Turkey.

The research, which recorded travel and tourism talent shortage, looked at 46 countries, which together account for over 80 percent of the world’s travel and tourism employment and GDP, and assessed how well placed these countries are to create the right “enabling” environment to develop this talent over the next 10 years. It shows that there is a serious shortage of the right people, in the right place, with the right skills, to meet the growth of travel and tourism over the next 10 years.

The research concludes that the industry could employ 14 million fewer people and contribute $610 billion (530 billion euros) less in GDP to the world economy over the next 10 years, when compared to accepted growth forecasts, if Governments and private sector companies do not act now to address the talent shortage in the industry.

According to the research, travel and tourism currently sustains 266 million jobs, once the indirect and induced impacts are taken into consideration, a figure projected to rise to 347 million by 2024. Similarly, the industry contributed nearly $7 trillion (some 6 trillion euros) to the global economy in 2014; which is forecast to rise to $11 trillion (9.5 trillion euros) by 2024. The research, for the first time, quantifies the sheer scale of the human resource challenge in travel and tourism and the potential impact of the skill shortage on the 2024 projections, which are the equivalent of lowering the level of global total Travel & tourism employment by 4 percent compared to the baseline projected level in 2024.

“Failure to plan properly for talent requirements leads to lower growth, reduced investment, less innovation and declining competitiveness – for both countries and companies…. It is alarming to consider that over 14 million jobs and $610 billion could be lost to the world economy over the next years, if Government and private companies fail to implement policies which promote proactive and careful talent management,” David Scowsill, WTTC President & CEO, said in an announcement.

“We need the right policies, programs and partnerships in place, to ensure that the workforce of the future knows about the opportunities in our sector, and has the appropriate skills and knowledge to support future growth.”

View the WTTC’s full infographic here: http://bit.ly/1KI5821