Tourism recovery key to overcoming COVID labour crisis in region — ILO
LIMA, Peru — The International Labour Organization (ILO) announced Wednesday the need to design policies aimed at the recovery of tourism in Latin American and Caribbean countries, which will promote one of the most dynamic economic sectors essential for the generation of foreign exchange, income and jobs.
Tourism was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new regional technical note from the ILO. It said that while the number of total employed persons contracted on average by 24.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, the loss of jobs in the hotel and restaurant sector in Latin America and the Caribbean totalled 44.7 per cent.
“The recovery of tourism depends directly on the advancement of vaccinations and the adoption of adequate safety and health measures at work. The reactivation of this sector may have an important multiplier effect on the economy and employment, which may be crucial to overcome the crisis generated by the pandemic,” ILO Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Vinícius Pinheiro said.
Pinheiro added that, “It is essential that the recovery policies for the sector contribute to improving the quality of jobs and stimulate the formalisation of the labour market. Supporting micro and small businesses is also crucial for the benefits of tourism to favour local development.”
Titled “Towards a sustainable recovery of employment in the tourism sector in Latin America and the Caribbean”, the technical note is part of the Labour Overview series of the ILO regional office. It highlights that before the pandemic, in 2019, the tourism economy, which includes both tourism and all the sectors that depend on it, accounted for 26 per cent of total gross domestic product (GDP) in the Caribbean and 10 per cent in Latin America.
It also says that the reduction in employment did not affect all workers in a homogeneous way as the loss was greater for women, young workers, migrant workers and for those who were in informal positions.
In 2019, women were overrepresented in the hotel and restaurant subsectors, with 58 per cent of employment, while in total occupations they accounted for 42.5 per cent, the ILO noted. Another overrepresented group in the sector is young workers, up to 24 years of age, who make up 20.9 per cent of employment in the sector and 13.5 per cent of total employment, it continued.
The organisation explained that before the pandemic, informal jobs in tourism outweighed informality in all other areas of employment with 63.3 per cent of workers in hotels and restaurants in the region working in informal conditions, while that percentage was 51.8 per cent of total employment.
“Tourism is characterised by a higher percentage of workers who worked short hours in 2019: underemployment affected 25.9 per cent of total workers and 31.2 per cent of those employed in hotels and restaurants. In addition, according to the technical note, it is a relatively low-paid sector: the income of tourism workers represented on average 75 per cent of the income of all persons employed,” the ILO said.
The ILO analysis highlighted the need to design policies to promote recovery with productive employment, the creation of decent work and sustainable companies in the tourism sector, especially to face challenges associated with the high presence of informality, underemployment and low income.
Additionally, the sector’s support policies must have a focus on protecting the environment and maximising the benefits for the host communities and minimising the negative impacts that tourism activities may involve, the analysis continued.
It said that given the significant presence of women in the sector, the legal frameworks for the development of the activity should have a gender perspective and include mechanisms for the prevention of discrimination and the promotion of gender equality.
Other recommendations included the need for digitisation and expansion of capacities; productive transformation and creation of green jobs; and social dialogue and strengthening of coordination and voice of the tourism sector.