GENEVA (ILO News) - Experts of governments, employers and workers from the hotel and tourism sector ended a two-day meeting today at International Labour Organization (ILO) Headquarters by agreeing on a list of operational measures to overcome the crisis affecting the industry since September 11.
These included: underlining the need for cooperation, not confrontation; the need to recognize the importance of tourism for national and global economies; and to undertake additional measures to complement existing social safety nets.
The Chairman of the informal meeting, Mr. Jean-Jacques Elmiger - a top official at Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs - noted that "there can be no 'one-size fits all' approach and innovative local solutions need to be explored."
He added that while no official data was yet available, information provided by the industry suggests that the impact on business and employment was "severe and potentially catastrophic."
The tourism economy employs 207 million people worldwide, equivalent to eight percent of global employment. The industry has estimated job losses could be at least 8.8 million worldwide. In some countries, like the United States, the effect on the hotel and tourism workforce could be as high as 50 percent.
Recommendations put forward by the social partners at the meeting include action by governments to:
- Adopt policies aimed at enlarging the number of people for whom tourism opportunities are available, including special provisions aimed to encourage those on lower incomes to engage in tourist activities;
- Respond to joint approaches by governments to employers and workers organisations in the sector to initiate temporary measures to reduce costs, including a review of all tourism related taxation during the crisis period;
- Agree that education and training programmes to retain employees within the industry should be at no cost to employees and are an alternative to unemployment benefits;
- Approach relevant international financial institutions (the World Bank and IMF) to provide the necessary resources on favourable terms to those countries who are unable to finance the emergency measures from their own national budgets.
Action needed by employers and workers organisations include commitments by the social partners to seeking mutually agreed ways to extend employment, avoid and limit employment losses and, wherever possible, to give priority to reintegrating workers facing short-term job losses as a result of the crisis.
The meeting called on the ILO to review and evaluate training programmes in view of present day needs and the crisis situation, specifically those aimed at the hotel and tourism sector, with particular regard for such activities within smaller and medium sized enterprises.