Tourism moves into another historic year as the surge in demand from international travelers and local visitors continues to climb. Prices rise and push the industry to new highs in activity, while employment data follow suit, reaching fresh historical records during the peak summer season.
The tourism sector saw a fresh acceleration in hiring this summer and marked a new record a year later. Companies across all branches of tourism approached 2.905 million people registered with social security in July, up 3.5% from July last year and 11% above the pre-pandemic summer of 2019, illustrating the sector’s robust pace. This performance underscores tourism as a central economic and employment engine for the country, even as the general labor market experiences fluctuations.
Against the rising tourism figures that confirm its role as a key economic driver, July witnessed a slight dip in the total number of social security contributors. Records from Social Security and the Ministry of Industry and Tourism show that tourist employment concentrated around the start of summer at 13.7% of the economy’s total affiliates, nearly one in seven jobs nationwide.
Three consecutive months of historic highs
From May through July, the sector recorded three straight months of employment highs, even surpassing last year’s summer records outside the peak season. In May, the sector employed 2.89 million people, and by July the historic threshold of 2.903 million workers had been crossed ahead of the summer surge. August figures are eagerly awaited, as that month traditionally shows a drop from July’s peak. These numbers come from the Social Security registers and the Ministry overseeing the industry, which include input from leading sector players.
Over the past year, July-to-July, tourism created nearly 97,300 additional jobs across all branches. In hospitality alone, the first month of summer saw 52,383 new affiliates, including 19,288 in lodging services and 33,095 in food and beverage services. Travel agencies added 3,971 jobs, while other tourism activities together posted a rise of 40,928 positions. In July, salaried workers in tourism accounted for 82.5% of sector employment and rose by 4% from the previous July. Self-employment in tourism, making up 17.5% of sector employment, also grew by 1%.
Industry observers highlight the strong performance this year, especially during summer. Exceltur, a coalition of about thirty leading tourism companies including Meliá, NH, Iberia, Globalia, Riu, and Amadeus, points to two main drivers: the need to serve a larger flow of visitors due to higher demand, particularly from abroad, and investments in higher-value products that require more and better staff. They also cite favorable demand expectations for the summer months, which encouraged many pre-season hires. These insights come from Exceltur and related industry data.