Tourism employment surpasses 2,85 million Social Security registrations after a 3,5% rise in October

International

Tourism Employment Data (Turespaña)

Tourism continues to show positive labour-market momentum in the autumn months. According to Turespaña, 2,855,255 people were registered in tourism-related activities in October — a 3.5% increase compared to the same month last year. In absolute terms, this represents 96,854 additional workers. Tourism now accounts for 13.2% of all registered employment in Spain, compared with an overall national labour market growth of 2.7% year-on-year.

Growth across all tourism sectors

All branches of the tourism industry recorded employment increases in October.

Hospitality saw a rise of 49,020 workers (18,399 in accommodation services and 30,621 in food and beverage services).

Travel agencies added 1,691 workers.

Other tourism activities grew by 46,143 workers.

Strong rise in salaried employment

Salaried workers — who account for 82.3% of total registered employment in tourism and are considered a key indicator for improvements in job quality — increased by 4.1% compared to October 2024.

In hospitality, salaried employment rose by 3.2%, with a 5% increase in accommodation and 2.7% in food and beverage services.

In travel agencies and tour operators, the number of salaried employees grew by 2.4%.

Self-employment in tourism, representing 17.7% of the sector, also increased, albeit at a slower pace of 1%. Hospitality recorded a slight rise of 0.4%, while travel agencies showed stronger year-on-year growth of 2.7% in the number of self-employed workers.

Combined, hospitality and travel agencies/tour operators — together accounting for 67.1% of all Social Security registrations in tourism — posted a 2.7% year-on-year increase in October.

Employment rises across all autonomous communities

Tourism employment increased in every autonomous community.

In absolute terms, Andalusia recorded the largest gain.

In relative terms, the strongest growth occurred in the Balearic Islands (8.9%), followed by Andalusia (3.8%).

These figures highlight the continued strength of the tourism sector as a driver of employment nationwide.