Endorsed at the 56th session of the United Nations (UN) Statistical Commission in early March in New York City, this landmark decision means that—for the first time—global data on tourism employment will be systematically monitored within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) monitoring process. It also increases the number of official tourism SDGs indicators from two to three, raising recognition of the sector’s global contribution to economic and social progress.
UN Tourism Secretary-General and former Georgia Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Zurab Pololikashvili says, “What gets measured, gets done. As part of Goal 8, we strive for sustainable tourism that creates jobs. The new tourism employment indicator goes beyond gross domestic product to enhance our understanding of tourism’s potential for social progress. Policymakers will be better equipped to identify gaps, address inequalities, and maximize tourism’s social and economic benefits—ensuring no one is left behind.”
UN Tourism’s most recent survey of United Nations member states’ priorities revealed a strong preference for the organization to work toward ensuring tourism contributes to the achievement of the SDGs. The new indicator, with UN Tourism as its custodian, delivers the evidence to advance on this priority.
United Nations Strengthens Tourism’s Role in Global Development
The indicator responds to a critical policy issue in many countries. Together with the existing SDGs indicator on tourism’s GDP, the new indicator offers a broader perspective on tourism’s sustainability that better considers social progress.
With this recognition, tourism employment will now be officially integrated into the deliberations of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals Report. The data will be available on the SDG Global Database, as well as on the UN Tourism Statistics Database website.
The indicator was jointly advanced under the leadership of Austria, Spain, Saudi Arabia, CARICOM (an economic union of 20 Caribbean, Central American, and South American Countries), International Labour Organization of the United Nations, and UN Tourism. It is the fruit of extensive research and development through consultative and intergovernmental processes over several years. The inclusion of the tourism employment indicator is one of three new indicators endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission as part the second, and last, SDG Indicator Framework review within the 2030 Agenda’s time horizon.
Thanks to a partnership between UN Tourism and the International Labour Organization, the new indicator leverages on both organization’s data reporting mechanisms, maximizing prior statistical investments at national and international levels while minimizing the reporting burden on countries.
UN Tourism Notes Tourism Employs 5.6% of Workers
Between 2015 and 2023, tourism accounted for 5.6% of global employment. In 2023 alone, 127 million people were employed in tourism worldwide based on data reported by 89 countries, comprising 68% of the world population.
Tourism offers employment and income opportunities in developed and developing countries alike, even in remote areas. Tourism plays a particularly crucial role in employment in the Small Island Developing States (a United Nations group of Caribbean, Pacific, Indian Ocean, and South China Sea island nations), where on average it accounts for 12.9% of the total number of employed people.
