The European tourism sector faces significant challenges when it comes to workforce skills development. As a highly seasonal and fragmented industry, tourism often relies on short-term contracts, making it difficult to attract, retain, and continuously train skilled workers. This issue affects businesses, educational institutions, and public bodies alike, all of whom must collaborate to meet the evolving demands of the industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically showcased this problem. In 2020, global tourism collapsed by approximately 80%, and nearly two-thirds of direct tourism jobs were impacted. While now fully recovered, this fallout exposed the sector’s vulnerability and highlighted the urgent need for a more resilient and adaptable workforce.

Looking forward, European tourism must undergo a significant transformation to remain globally competitive and contribute to broader economic, social, and environmental goals. This includes aligning with the EU’s green and digital transitions, both of which demand new skill sets across all levels of the industry.

To meet these challenges, substantial investment in upskilling and reskilling is essential. This means not only training workers in digital tools and sustainable practices, but also creating systems that support continuous learning—even in short-term or seasonal employment contexts. Public-private partnerships, skills intelligence, innovative education models, individual training accounts, transnational recognition of qualifications and flexible training programs will be key to building a future-ready tourism workforce.  The Tourism LSP addresses all of them and works towards future-proof innovations and solutions.