127 million tourists are arriving. But 50,000 workers are missing for peak periods

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After the very heavy losses caused by the pandemic with a contraction in turnover which according to an estimate by the Bank of Italy in 2020 alone was around -40%, tourism is back on track. Indeed to fly. In the wake of a bubbly 2022, an increase in tourist flows from Italy and abroad is also expected for the current year. According to data from Demoskopica anticipated by Ansa, 127 million arrivals are estimated with an increase of 11.2% on last year.

Tourism boom

The sprint from the sector is increasingly confronted with the difficulty of finding personnel: for Easter and the spring months of the Bridges – periods of peak demand – it is possible to estimate over 50,000 workers ‘missing’ in tourism companies. The alarm was sounded by Assoturismo Confesercenti, on the basis of calculations on the labor market conducted by Cst. In 2022, overnight stays in Italian accommodation facilities reached 400 million and the trend appears to be favorable also for 2023 both in terms of internal tourism and from abroad. According to Demoskopica data anticipated by Ansa, 127 million arrivals are estimated (the record was reached in 2019 with 131 million followed by 2018 with 128): compared to last year, the increase is 11.2%. The driving effect on tourist spending is heavy: in absolute terms it would be close to the threshold of 89 billion euros with an estimated growth of 22.8% compared to 2022.

But the seasonals are missing

The paradox worked. On the one hand, an increase in the volume of production and the jobs created is expected, on the other, companies in the sector continue to experience a shortage of employees. The difficulty in finding personnel has now structural dimensions, which has already manifested itself regularly since the pre-pandemic years, but which is becoming increasingly serious with the restart of the sector.

Difficulties for businesses

For the February-April quarter, i.e. the period of reopening of seasonal businesses and the recovery of tourist flows in Italy, a need for around 210,000 workers in tourism businesses is expected. But the workers cannot be found: overall, on average, companies report difficulties in finding professional figures in 34% of cases, not only due to inadequate preparation but, increasingly, due to lack of candidates. A percentage that even rises to 52% in catering, while it drops to 26.7% in other tourism businesses.

The ghost figures

The profiles needed are for 2.6% of highly specialized professions, 81.5% of qualified professions, 1.3% of specialized workers and 14.6% of unqualified professions. But these last profiles are the most sought after: in particular porters, simple waiters, dishwashers and cleaners. According to data from Assoturismo, wages for a simple waiter start at 1,560 euros gross per month, for the head cook or head bartender it exceeds 1,740 euros per month, and the same for a first porter.