SPEECH/97/7
Speech by Mr Christos PAPOUTSIS,
European Commissioner for Tourism
Travel and Tourism Employment
- A European View -
Travel and Tourism World Summit
- Jobs for the Millennium -
Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal - 17 January 1997
Main Points of the Commissioner’s Speech:
(...) ’ It is forecast that by the year 2006 some 2.5 million more jobs, on top of the present 18 million, will be generated by tourism in the European Union. I believe that Tourism will further reinforce its central place in the service-oriented economies of the 21st century.’ (...)
(...) ‘Tourism can and does create jobs and wealth. It can create jobs rapidly, at relatively low cost, in line with the flexibility associated with the development of SMEs generally. It can create jobs for varied groups of people, including women and young people, who traditionally find getting jobs especially difficult. It can create jobs in less developed and peripheral regions, allowing them to exploit the limited opportunities available to them to make progress in economic terms.’ (...)
(...) ‘What we have come to know as alternative or new forms of tourism are generally perceived as having good potential for creating jobs. I refer in particular to rural tourism, environmental tourism, urban tourism, cultural tourism and business tourism. The training programmes should be a great deal more focused in function of the different types of jobs on offer. As for example public and private jobs, permanent and seasonal jobs, full-time and part time jobs, managerial and subordinate jobs.’ (...)
(...) ‘Training programmes should also be based on the major ongoing and expected changes in the qualifications required for jobs. These changes concern in particular greater competitiveness as regards the quality and the rapidity of the services and separate labour requirements in tourism.’ (...)
(...) ‘The Community’s Enterprise Policy in favour of SMEs, which also falls within my area of responsibility within the Commission, covers also actions which benefit employment in tourism activities, since some 95% of businesses in tourism are micro-enterprises.’ (...)
(...) ‘The main thrust of our activities in this direction is to improve the business environment for SMEs. Our policy aims at discouraging extra regulation and simplifying administrative practices. We promote cooperation between SMEs especially through crossborder contacts. And we also support the creation of the conditions for increased competitiveness, notably by encouraging measures to provide easier finance for investment.’ (...)
(...) ‘I believe that Tourism should be included in the Treaty of the European Union as a separate policy. And I really hope that the Member-States will come to such a decision during the revision process of the Maastricht Treaty.’ (...)
(...) ‘Our determination to support tourism is clearly evident in the Commission proposal called “PHILOXENIA” for a first multiannual programme to assist European tourism over the period 1997 to 2000. The overall objective of the programme focuses on increasing quality and competitiveness in European tourism, with the ultimate aim of greater employment opportunities.’ (...)
(...) ‘I hope that the Council of Ministers will, finally, agree to the programme proposed. Because I believe it is a matter of Political Credibility.’ (...)
(...) ‘The European Council underlines the need to promote job creation. But the Council of Ministers is not ready to adopt a programme for Tourism, an important job creation sector.’ (...)
Full Text:
Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to begin by thanking WTTC for giving me this opportunity to put forward the Commission’s view on tourism and employment in the context of this World Summit.
This brings me back to April 1995 when I attended the presentation of WTTC Report on Europe. A report on the impact of Travel and Tourism on the European economy and on the life of all European citizens.
On that occasion the special importance of tourism in economic development, and in particular in the labour market, was emphasized.
Since our meeting in 1995, some important developments have taken place at Community level, both in the fields of employment and of tourism. Before dealing specifically with the issue of jobs in tourism, I should like to outline to you the Commission’s general approach on employment.
The Report on “Employment in Europe” published by the Commission in 1996, analyses the current trends and developments in the European labour market. It confirms that the recovery of the economy would lead to an increase in job creation, but that the general impact on unemployment would be small.
Furthermore, this report outlines a series of policy issues which have to be addressed as part of an effective employment strategy. The basic conclusion is that employment-friendly growth is likely to be achieved through an offensive strategy to promote increased demand and competitiveness, rather than a defensive approach based on the sharing of existing jobs.
Increased levels of growth should be driven by efforts towards greater innovation to open up sources of job creation, while at the same time consolidating existing employment.
This can be brought about by a policy comprising investments in four key areas: physical productive capacity, human resources, entrepreneurial environment, and knowledge and skills. It is clear that, under this approach, tourism activities can make an important contribution to employment-friendly growth.
The employment strategy presented by the Commission in 1996 in the “Confidence Pact for Employment” proposes a framework for tackling the unemployment issues. It clearly identifies the role and responsibilities of the Member States, the social partners and the Community.
These proposals have been widely supported throughout the Community, and have most recently received the endorsement of the European Council at its meeting in Dublin last month.
Based on this pact, the Commission’s communication of November 1996, entitled “Putting services to work”, explores how best to ensure that the services sector can realise its full economic and employment potential.
By way of follow up, the Commission will present a White Paper on services. This White Paper will deal in particular with how Europe can unlock the economic and employment potential of the Single Market in the services sector.
In a communication of December 1995, tourism was identified by the Commission as one of 17 fields with potential for offering substantial employment prospects, together with other related activities such as cultural heritage, local cultural development and protection, as well as the conservation of natural resources.
Today, our primary goal is to reduce unemployment within the European Union. And to achieve this objective, we all recognise the importance of developing new services and consolidating the position of established service sectors.
The Union’s general approach to employment has direct relevance to tourism. Tourism activities can even represent a suitable test-bed for applying Community strategy.
Other recent analysis and forecasts, for instance by the OECD, also consider the role of the Tourist sector in reducing unemployment and creating new jobs in the short to medium term.
As far as the European Union is concerned, we should not forget that tourism directly accounts on average for 5.5% of GDP and 6% of total employment. Tourism is also an activity which is linked to other key economic sectors like transport, construction, manufacturing, retailing, telecommunications and financial services. The wider contribution of tourism to the Member States’ economies has been estimated at 13% of both GDP and of employment.
Most Member States have a high dependence on tourism and give it high priority. The range among Member States is from 11% to 18% of GDP and from 10% to 19% of total employment.
It is forecast that by the year 2006 some 2.5 million more jobs, on top of the present 18 million, will be generated by tourism in the European Union. I believe that Tourism will further reinforce its central place in the service-oriented economies of the 21st century.
Mr President,
Tourism can and does create jobs and wealth. It can create jobs rapidly, at relatively low cost, in line with the flexibility associated with the development of SMEs generally. It can create jobs for varied groups of people, including women and young people, who traditionally find getting jobs especially difficult. It can create jobs in less developed and peripheral regions, allowing them to exploit the limited opportunities available to them to make progress in economic terms.
While tourism can and will contribute to reducing unemployment, it would be wrong to give the impression that it is a sector destined for success automatically. All the partners concerned have important efforts to make. The trends which have been forecast will only be realised if the right business, security and political environment are present.
Today we need to address four important questions in order to be able to define a strategy for developing employment in tourist activities.
Firstly: Where could the new jobs emerge?
Secondly: How to find the right relationship between jobs and balance development?
Thirdly: What are the training needs for prospective jobs?, and
Fourthly: How to identify and to remove obstacles to job creation?
As regards the first question on the creation of new jobs there is a great diversity between the potential arising from different tourist activities when it comes to job creation and consolidation.
Expectations are somewhat different in the case of hotels and restaurants, tour operators, travel and transport, leisure centres and specialist tourism attractions. Changes in tourist preferences are creating new jobs in leisure and related services, and in transport.
It is less likely that hotel, café and restaurant jobs will increase to the same extent. Though I could well imagine that in some areas there will be strong growth in tourism activities even in the traditional parts of the market.
To determine the real potential for job creation it is necessary to improve knowledge, in particular the statistics, on each activity.
At Community level Member States have only begun to put into operation the statistics Directive of 1995. And we in the Commission are actively seeking ways of improving information on the key indicators, while being careful to avoid imposing unreasonable requirements on the various sectors of the industry.
What we have come to know as alternative or new forms of tourism are generally perceived as having good potential for creating jobs. I refer in particular to rural tourism, environmental tourism, urban tourism, cultural tourism and business tourism.
Here again with rapidly changing preferences and development of technology, we need to be cautious in categorising particular forms of tourism and travel, as likely to develop faster than others.
We should also be careful not to neglect the traditional high volume markets, which, with constantly increasing quality and competitiveness, should continue to prosper.
Another source of job creation could result from the access to tourism of particular categories within the population (youth, elderly and disabled people), which are regarded as requiring special attention.
The second issue is the relationship between job creation and balanced jobs development. Employment is not exclusively a question of the development and prosperity of tourism enterprises.
Development in tourism needs to be balanced in terms of geographic spread of investments and also in terms of the human dimension. Especially in regard to the rights and sensitivities of local populations resident in attractive tourism locations.
This leads to the search for sustainable and balanced development.
And I am referring to the balance between areas, where tourist demand is concentrated, and areas where it is underdeveloped. The balance between national, regional and local interests. The balance between short and long term threats and opportunities, and the balance between residents and the tourist population.
The third question on the training needs for prospective jobs merits close examination. It would be over simplistic to assume that, as tourism generates jobs, all training must be welcome. Such an attitude could encourage untargetted training courses, and cause dissatisfaction among both employers and employees. This approach would not create a skilled labour force or increase the prospects of long term jobs in a stable environment.
There are differing views also as to the quality of existing tourism training. And there is particular concern that the placement in industry of graduates specialising in tourism - related subjects has remained relatively low in many European countries. Training requirements are not always clearly identified and expressed.
This leads to the conclusion that training programmes should be a great deal more focused in function of the different types of jobs on offer. As for example public and private jobs, permanent and seasonal jobs, full-time and part time jobs, managerial and subordinate jobs.
Training programmes should also be based on the major ongoing and expected changes in the qualifications required for jobs. These changes concern in particular greater competitiveness as regards the quality and the rapidity of the services and separate labour requirements in tourism.
Requirements for additional competences, such as in language or in communications, sales methods, use of new technologies, management techniques, resort planning, and eco-impact analyses must be taken into account also in developing an effective strategy.
Now we come to the question of how to cope with obstacles in job creation and consolidation. Apart from the lack of appropriate training there are other obstacles to creating lasting employment in tourism.
We should consider the seasonal and precarious nature of some tourist employment.
The attitude of some stakeholders, preferring to concentrate activities on some periods and to lay off staff for other periods.
The lack of published standards and of quality control.
We should consider the characteristics of entrepreneurs, composed of a large number of individual small businesses and a variety of professions.
We should consider the insufficient co-operation between the private and the public sectors.
We should also consider the complexity and lack of flexibility in legal and fiscal instruments, which discourages adaptation, for instance towards multi-activity enterprises.
One of the central thrusts of the Commission’s approach is to continue to help all partners to remove the obstacles to progress in tourism. The Community has already made an important contribution. Both through direct measures, specific to tourism, and through other measures, included as part of other Community policy objectives, but which affect tourism in a substantial way.
Under the last Community action plan to assist tourism - 1993-1995 - support was given to improve knowledge in the field of tourism, to reinforce cooperation between all interested parties and carry through pilot projects and studies aimed at promoting sustainable forms of tourism.
For instance, we supported studies on youth tourism, business tourism, senior citizens tourism and tourism for disabled people. The results of this work will help us to refine our analysis of job opportunities in these sectors.
There was also very close co-operation between all partners. This took the form of ongoing contacts with the principal representative organisations and an important international conference on “Tourism, Employment and Training”, in 1995.
Cooperation was very evident also in the extensive consultation on the Commission’s Green Paper related on tourism. As regards inter-Institutional contacts I would like to pay a special tribute to the contribution made by the European Parliament, whose members have been tireless in their support for a vigorous tourism policy at Community level.
Some Community measures included in other policy areas also have an impact on employment in tourism activities. These policies cover in particular the internal market, regional and rural development, social, education and research fields, transport, culture and environment.
Among these other measures, the most important source of support for job creation comes from the Structural Funds, whose commitment to tourism development is substantial. Over 7.000 MECU has been allocated to tourism measures over the current programming period 1994/99.
The Community’s Enterprise Policy in favour of SMEs, which also falls within my area of responsibility within the Commission, covers also actions which benefit employment in tourism activities, since some 95% of businesses in tourism are micro-enterprises.
The main thrust of our activities in this direction is to improve the business environment for SMEs. Our policy aims at discouraging extra regulation and simplifying administrative practices. We promote cooperation between SMEs especially through crossborder contacts. And we also support the creation of the conditions for increased competitiveness, notably by encouraging measures to provide easier finance for investment.
I could go on for a long time describing the contribution of different Community policies to tourism development. I do not think this is necessary.
Nevertheless I would like to refer to a serious problem which we are faced with.
Tourism today is affected directly or indirectly by these policies. But we do not work on the basis of clearly defined priorities and within a coherent framework.
Because Tourism is not yet considered as an area where the Community should exercise a concrete policy.
Our problem today is that we do not have a European Tourism Policy. And this is also our challenge and our aim.
I believe that Tourism should be included in the Treaty of the European Union as a separate policy. And I really hope that the Member-States will come to such a decision during the revision process of the Maastricht Treaty.
Our determination to support tourism is clearly evident in the Commission proposal called “PHILOXENIA” for a first multiannual programme to assist European tourism over the period 1997 to 2000.
The overall objective of the programme focuses on increasing quality and competitiveness in European tourism, with the ultimate aim of greater employment opportunities.
The PHILOXENIA proposal is now before the Council of Ministers for decision. I cannot predict what the outcome of the Council’s deliberations will be. The great majority of Member States agree that there should be a new programme and that PHILOXENIA addresses the essential issues. The programme has recently been given full backing by the European Parliament, by the Economic and Social Committee and by the Committee for the Regions.