Tourism activities have been gaining momentum since last year and since the beginning of the year employment has been increasing more and more. Thus, Spanish Social Security affiliates who are linked to this type of sector stood at 2.73 million in March 2024, which is 6.1% more than a year ago. This is equivalent to 157,035 new workers.
Tourism employment now represents 13.1% of the total number of affiliates and increased again by 3% in March compared to February of this year, according to data published today by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism of the Government of Spain. In the total number of affiliates linked to the sector, salaried workers rose 7.1% year-on-year in the third month of the year and represented 81.8% of the total.
Regarding the branches of activity, salaried employment rose by 9.2% in travel agencies and tour operators and by 7.5% in hospitality. Regarding the hiring that was carried out during March, as has been usual in recent months, in all activity records, more contracts were signed in hospitality, with 106,597 members (35,593 in accommodation services and 71,004 in food and beverage services). drinks).
Hospitality and travel agencies
Thus, travel agencies hired a total of 5,415 employees, so much so that the rest of the tourism activities saw a joint promotion of 45,023 workers. Employment increased in March in the hospitality industry and travel agencies and tour operators in all autonomous communities, except in Ceuta and Melilla. In relative terms, the Balearic Islands stood out, the same as the previous month, with a year-on-year increase of 10.5%.
In absolute figures, the greatest increases occurred in Andalusia, with 22,763 more affiliates; Catalonia, with 18,494; Valencian Community, with 12,740; Madrid, with 11,481, and the Canary Islands, with 11,206. Likewise, self-employment, which represents 18.2% of affiliated workers, grew by 1.8%. In hospitality activities, the number of self-employed workers increased by 0.8% and in travel agencies it increased by 7.4%, according to these figures.
Here the rise stands out.
The minister of the area, Jordi Hereu, has valued this increase in tourism workers and has assured that it is an example of the way in which the sector is reinventing itself, with “new objectives”, thanks to an “increasingly modern” industry. “. and cutting-edge”, in line with the “high standards that customers demand”.
Finally, the minister highlighted that international air passenger arrival data has continued to break monthly records, as has happened with membership.
