The Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, highlighted that in February the upward trend in the number of registered workers that began in June 2021 continued: “Temporary employment is decreasing all the time and we know that salaries have increased. These data are good news that reflects the quality and positive contribution of this sector. We are, little by little, building the tourism model we want”.

Tourism employment rises by 4.9% in February

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Social Security affiliates linked to tourism activities reached 2,584,565 in February 2024, which represents an increase of 4.9% compared to the same month of the previous year. Tourism employment accounts for 12.5% of the total number of affiliates in the country’s economy, which as a whole grew by 2.6% for that month.

In February, the number of wage and salary earners in the tourism sector increased by 5.8% compared with the same month of the previous year and represents 81% of the total number of affiliated workers in this sector. By branch of activity, salaried employment increased in travel agencies and tour operators (8%) and in hotels and restaurants (5.9%).

Self-employment in tourism, which represents 19% of the total number of affiliated workers, increased by 1.2%. The hotel and catering business remained stable and travel agencies saw a year-on-year increase of 6.9% in the number of self-employed.

Increase in the number of workers in the sector as a whole
The increase in absolute terms, in the month of February 2024, was 120,003 new workers in employment compared to the same month of the previous year. This is a growth that affects all branches of activity in the tourism sector.

While in hotels and catering it was 75,126 (23,603 in accommodation services and 51,523 in food and beverage services), in travel agencies it reached 4,671. The rest of the tourism activities also recorded a joint increase of 40,206 workers.

Balearic Islands, the fastest growing
Employment in hotels and catering and travel agencies/tour operators as a whole increased in all Autonomous Communities in the month of February 2024. In relative terms, the year-on-year increase in the Balearic Islands stands out (9.5% more).

In absolute figures, the largest increases were in Andalusia (14,156 more registered workers), Madrid (12,506 more registered workers), Catalonia (10,580 more registered workers), Valencia (9,990 more registered workers) and the Canary Islands (with an increase of 9,569).