Tourism Among Greece’s Top Job Creators

Photo ©Maria Theofanopoulou

Greek tourism services providers in accommodation and F&B accounted for 10.6 percent of all employment for the July-September 2018 period up from 7.7 percent in 2009, according to a report released this week by SETE Intelligence (INSETE), the Greek Tourism Confederation’s (SETE) research department.

According to INSETE’s study on employment in tourism from 2009 to 2018, tourism services providers in accommodation and F&B  accounted for 411,1 thousand employees, the highest Q3 figure since 2017 at 398,7 thousand.

Photo ©Maria Theofanopoulou

Employment in these tourism-related areas increased over the 2009- 2018 period at an average annual rate of 1.3 percent – picking up pace from 2014 onward (+5 percent) due to the expansion and increased competitiveness of the Greek tourism product, the study found.

The majority – at 37.4 percent – of those employed in tourism in Q3 2018 were in the 30-44 age bracket, with the sector accounting for a considerable percentage of young people and women.

More specifically, from 2009 to 2018, the number of people employed aged 25 to 29 in July-September 2018 increased from 15.5 percent to 17.2 percent with those in the 45-64 year bracket up to 32 percent from 27.9 percent.

Meanwhile, citing “Artemis” data from 2013-2018 audits, the percentage of undeclared work came to 5.8 percent across all sectors, with 2.3 percent in accommodation and 8.6 percent in F&B services.

According to INSETE analysts, part time work in the same period did not impact full time employment, offering instead a chance for thousands of Greeks to find jobs in the midst of the crisis.

Study figures indicate that part time employment in Greece, both in tourism – accounting for 16.3 percent – and in other sectors with a share of 8.5 percent is nearly half of the EU member state levels at 32.5 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively.

In terms of destinations as top tourism job providers in 2018, the region of Attica was in the lead accounting for 27.1 percent of the work force, followed by Central Macedonia (12.9 percent), Crete (10.7 percent), the South Aegean (9.7 percent), and the Ionian Islands (6.2 percent).

With regard to employment in accommodation, the regions of Crete (21.4 percent) and the South Aegean (20.8 percent) held the highest shares, while Attica (31.7 percent) and Central Macedonia (14.3 percent) accounted for more jobs in F&B services.

In May INSETE study, analysts found that the Greek tourism industry’s direct contribution to the country’s GDP came to 21.6 billion euros or 11.7 percent, attracting 5 billion euros worth of investments and employing overall up to 44 percent of the workforce in 2018.