Tourism and labour mobility in the European Union

The advent of the Single European Market was supposed to free up the European labour market and make labour mobility within the European Union (EU) much easier. This should benefit the tourism sector by reducing labour shortages, lowering labour costs, ameliorating skill shortages and improving flexibility. A recent study undertaken for the European Centre for Vocation Education (CEDEFOP) indicates that this ideal is far from being reached. Barriers to labour mobility still exist in terms of language, qualifications, housing, and social security regulations. This paper presents the main findings of the research, and discusses the implications for labour markets and tourism education. The research shows substantial spatial, occupational and demographic variations in labour mobility, with lowest and highest occupational levels exhibiting the greatest levels of mobility and young workers being particularly mobile. In general, low levels of mobility persist in southern Europe, including the key tourism regions around the Mediterranean. This is partly a result of labour market inflexibility, but also relates to linguistic and cultural factors.