The document discusses the growing significance of tourism in the global economy, emphasizing its role in providing employment and influencing economic activity through both direct and indirect employment opportunities. In Sri Lanka, tourism is projected to create around 600,000 jobs by 2020, appealing particularly to young workers, while many skilled workers are also employed internationally. Additionally, it highlights the economic advantages of tourism for governments, reinforcing the sector's potential for job creation and economic development.

1. Sri Lanka Tourism Employment in the Context of Global
Tourism (Regional and International Comparison)
Prepared by
Visvalingam Keethopayan

2. An introduction of Global Tourism
• Tourism is a rapidly growing phenomenon and tourism activities, taken as a
whole, are accounting for a growing share of economic activity in most countries.
• This upward trend looks likely to continue into the future.
• With globalization, the world economy is becoming increasingly integrated; trade,
investment, financial and information flows are all fuelling this process of
integration.
• Tourism is about people – visitors are people, subject to changes in their behavior,
demands and decision-making.
• Such changes are difficult to predict and anticipate. Tourism products and
services are also about people.
• The tourism industries are heavily dependent on the human factor (in addition to
other factors such as natural resources, infrastructure and capital) to ensure
delivery and quality of its products and services.

3. Economic impact of tourism the economic impact
of tourism can be summaries as:
• A powerful economic force providing employment, foreign exchange and tax revenue;
• visitors are generators of economic impact for a country, a region, a city or a destination
area: directly from their spending and indirectly from the tourism multiplier effect.
• It should be noted that inbound tourist spending is an export, while outbound tourist
spending is an import.
• Economic impact of tourism is measured in terms of its effect on:
• Income;
• Employment;
• Investment and development;
• Balance of payment

4. Tourism employment
Tourism employment can be categorized at two separate levels depending on their
involvement in or contribution to tourism supply-side.
• Front offices in hotels,
• Restaurants,
• Travel agencies,
• Tourism information offices,
• Aircrafts,
• Cruise lines,
• Resorts or shopping outlets provide direct employment because their employees are
in contact with tourists and cater for tourist demand.

5. The impact of tourism industries on employment is
brought in the following ways…..
• Direct employment in the tourism industries
• Indirect employment in the sectors supplying inputs to the tourism industries
• Induced effect on employment as a result of subsequent rounds of spending
• Total effect on employment which is reflected in the employment multiplier, with the
remark that a high employment multiplier of the tourism industries would indicate
that countries facing high levels of unemployment could opt for tourism promotion
as a possible effective means of absorbing the excess manpower.

6. Tourism also supports indirect employment……
• Tourism also supports indirect employment in activities like
• Restaurant suppliers,
• Construction companies that build and maintain tourist facilities, as well as
necessary infrastructure, aircraft manufacturers,
• Various handicrafts producers,
• Marketing agencies,
• Accounting services,
• which are more or less dependent on the companies providing direct employment for
their revenues.

7. Tourism Economic Impact Reports
• Alongside our Insights reports, WTTC produces reports on the economic and
employment impact of Travel & Tourism for 185 countries and 25 geographic or
economic regions in the world.
• These reports are a vital tool in helping us to equip public and private sector
bodies with hard evidence of the huge value Travel & Tourism brings to the
economy, so that their policymaking and investment decisions support our sector.
• WTTC’s latest annual research, in conjunction with Oxford Economics, shows the
Travel & Tourism sector experienced 3.5% growth in 2019, outpacing the global
economic growth of 2.5% for the ninth consecutive year.
• Over the past five years, one in four new jobs were created by the sector, making
Travel & Tourism the best partner for governments to generate employment.

8. Local tourism employment
• Tourism is considered to be one of the foremost industries that provides a wide
range of employment opportunities for young people
• According to the SLTDA Country Report 30th June 2020, there are about 41,929
hotel rooms in the formal (registered) sector in operation, in 2,469establishments.
In addition, it is estimated that 413 units are the ‘pipeline’, which will add a
further 21,222 rooms in the next few years.
• This author has estimated that the new staff required to service this total estimated
room stock of 58,743 will be about 120,000 only in the direct/formal sector).
Taking into consideration the multiplier effect of the informal sector, this total
requirement could then swell to more than 250,000, resulting in a total estimated
workforce in tourism of about 600,000 or more by 2020.
• This would then mean that about 8 percent of the Sri Lankan labor force would be
engaged in tourism by 2020.

9. Local tourism employees in foreign employment
• Local tourism employees in foreign employment
• It is a well-known fact that a large number of Sri Lankan skilled hospitality
employees are employed in the Middle East and Maldives. However, there are no
credible statistics of these numbers available.
• The total estimated Sri Lankan workforce abroad - 1,189,359.
• Percentage of housemaids (ref. SLFBE) - 26 percent.
• Assume that 12 percent of the non-housemaid category is tourism-related jobs.
• Hence, on this basis, the estimated breakdown will be as in Table 1.
• This analysis indicates that some 140,000 Sri Lankan tourism employees could be
employed in foreign countries.
• According to the SLFEB, on average, 260,000 employees leave for foreign
employment each year.
• If the same ratio as above is applied, then it would mean that the annual attrition
or ‘outflow’ of tourism employees each year would be about 30,000. Issue

10. Conclusion
• From the foregoing analysis and evaluation, it clear that in the case of the tourism
industry, the exodus of employees going abroad, may not altogether be a bad thing
for the industry. Staff who go abroad come back more skilled and experienced at
the end of their
• contract abroad.
• Hence, it may not be all doom and gloom for the hotel industry due to employees
leaving Sri Lanka for enjoyment abroad. Quite apart from considering it a ‘brain
drain’, perhaps the hospitality industry should consider this as
• a ‘brain gain’.
• (References: Sri Lanka Annual Labor Force Survey 2016 - Census and Statistics
Department, National Policies and Economic Affairs Ministry ; Sri Lanka Bureau
of Foreign Employment - corporate plan 2017-2021; Sri Lanka Tourism
Development Agency Country Report 2Q 2019)

11. Thailand - Contribution of travel and tourism to employment
• Thailand - Contribution of travel and tourism to employment growth rate 2.3 (%) in
2019 In 2019, contribution of travel and tourism to employment growth for Thailand
was 2.3 %.
• Though Thailand contribution of travel and tourism to employment growth fluctuated
substantially in recent years, it tended to decrease through 2000 - 2019 period ending
at 2.3 % in 2019.
• The description is composed by our digital data assistant.
• What is contribution of travel and tourism to employment growth?
• The annual percentage change in the 2000 US$ bn series.

12. Thailand - Contribution of travel and tourism to employment as a
share of GDP
• Thailand - Contribution of travel and tourism to employment as a share of GDP 16.2(%)in 2019
• In 2019, contribution of travel and tourism to employment (% of GDP) for Thailand was 16.2 %. Though
Thailand contribution of travel and tourism to employment (% of GDP) fluctuated substantially in recent
years, it tended to increase through 2000 - 2019 period ending at 16.2 % in 2019.
• The description is composed by our digital data assistant.
• What is contribution of travel and tourism to employment (% of GDP)?
• The share of Travel & Tourism spending or employment in the equivalent economy-wide concept in the
published national income accounts or labor market statistics.
• Visitor exports are compared with exports of all goods and services Domestic Travel & Tourism spending is
compared with GDP Government individual Travel & Tourism spending is compared with total government
spending Internal Travel & Tourism consumption is compared with total internal consumption (i.e. total
domestic spending plus total export) Leisure Travel & Tourism contribution to GDP is compared with total
GDP Business Travel & Tourism contribution to GDP is compared with total GDP Travel & Tourism capital
investment spending is compared with all fixed investment spending