Recent developments

New ILO publications

The Office - in close cooperation with the ILO constituents - has produced three working papers, one on social dialogue in the tourism industry, a second on poverty reduction through tourism (also available in Spanish), and a study on Socially responsible HR and labour relations practice in international hotel chains.

Three Decent Work pilot projects for Africa and the Caribbean

Three new pilot activities in the Hotels, catering and tourism (HCT) sector work are being developed in the context of Decent Work Country Programmes in Barbados, Egypt and Tanzania, building on the ILO Action Programme on Addressing more and better jobs in the hotels, catering and tourism sector (2004-06). Tripartite meetings and consultations have helped to develop these projects on "More and better jobs", which aim to improve the competitiveness and quality of the tourism sector by supporting vocational training programmes and developing and/or improving institutionalized, sustainable social dialogue structures at the national and enterprise levels.

ILO-UNWTO agreement on cooperation

The Hotels, catering and tourism sector should become an increasingly important vehicle for employment creation, development and the elimination of poverty, according to the ILO and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on their agreement in 2007 on cooperation to strengthen the capacities and activities of the two UN agencies in this field. The agreement was approved by the ILO Governing Body in March 2008.

Addressing the global economic crisis and referring to the ILO Global Jobs Pact, ILO and UNWTO issued a joint statement on Tourism and Employment in September 2009.

Another result of this cooperation between the ILO and the UNWTO is a "Sources and Methods" statistical publication entitled "Labour Statistics on Employment in the Tourism Industries". The 5th UNWTO International Conference on Tourism Statistics - Tourism: An Engine for Employment Creation (Bali, Indonesia, 30 March-2 April 2009), organized jointly by the two UN agencies, provides a lot of information on the issue. The ILO and the UNWTO are also working together in a pilot activity on Poverty Reduction through Tourism in Tanzania.