PolyU and WTTC Study Reveals Key Trends Shaping The Future Of Work In Travel & Tourism

As a global employment powerhouse, the travel and tourism sector supports one-tenth of the world’s workforce, accounting for 350 million jobs in 2024 and is poised to create 91 million more by 2035. However, behind this promising growth lie critical challenges that could hinder the sector from reaching its full potential. The Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism (RCdTT) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) in collaboration with World Travel & Tourism Council (WTCC), the Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Coraggio Group and Miles Partnership, recently released a report, entitled “The Future of Work in Travel and Tourism: The key trends shaping workforce strategies”, to delve into the employment trends and challenges in the travel and tourism sector.

Led by Prof. Haiyan SONG, Principal Investigator and SHTM Associate Dean, RCdTT Director and Mr and Mrs Chan Chak Fu Professor in International Tourism, with the RCdTT team comprising of Prof. Richard TR QIU, SHTM Associate Professor and Prof. Yitong YU, SHTM Assistant Professor, along with Mr. Nejc Jus, Director of Research at WTTC, and co-authored with members from WTTC, the study surveyed 349 respondents across multiple travel and tourism sub-sectors, including accommodation, tour operations, travel services, and food and beverage, focusing on talent challenges and the future of work. Responses were globally distributed across Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Prof. Kaye CHON, SHTM Dean, Chair Professor and Walter and Wendy Kwok Family Foundation Professor in International Hospitality Management, said, “This research provides actionable insights for businesses and policymakers to tackle workforce shortages and close critical skills gaps. We hope the travel and tourism sector will find this report valuable in helping them remain competitive and sustainable.”

The Shifting Employment Landscape

The travel and tourism sector faces mounting workforce challenges, including difficulties in recruiting and retaining talent due to lingering post-pandemic effects, aging populations, and restrictive labour policies. Shifts toward remote, hybrid, and gig work models are disrupting roles that traditionally rely on in-person service. At the same time, rapid technological advancements and the growing emphasis on sustainability demand urgent readiness from both employers and employees to embrace digital transformation and integrate sustainable practices.  

Skills Requirements

There are critical skill gaps across managerial, customer-facing, and operational roles. At the managerial level, critical thinking and analytical skills are essential but underdeveloped, with creative thinking expected to grow in importance over the next decade. Customer-facing roles require stronger leadership and management capabilities, while operational roles demand reliability, attention to detail, flexibility, and resilience. Lifelong learning is a critical practice that needs to be embraced across the workforce to meet evolving demands in the coming years.  

Skills Supply & Demand Analysis: Forecast to 2035

By 2035, the travel and tourism sector is projected to face a severe labour shortage, with demand outstripping supply by 43.1 million workers, leaving the global workforce 16% below required levels. Low-skilled roles will account for nearly half of this gap, while the hospitality industry alone is expected to see an 18% shortfall. The largest deficits are forecast in China, India, and the European Union, with Japan, Greece, and Germany facing the steepest relative shortages. These findings underscore the urgent need for proactive measures to enhance the sector’s attractiveness, improve productivity, and invest in skills development through collaborative efforts between businesses, governments, and education providers.  

Recommendations

To address these critical issues, the research team suggested a set of comprehensive actions for the travel and tourism stakeholders to tackle labour and skills shortages.  

1. Enhance industry perception: Improve the perception of the sector as a desirable career path to attract young talent.  

2. Foster career progression: Provide leadership development programmes and clear pathways for internal promotions to boost retention.  

3. Ensure decent working conditions and inclusivity: Offer competitive wages and benefits, diversify the talent pool, and adopt a supportive company culture.  

4. Leverage technology to boost productivity: Implement a strategy to integrate innovative technology across all functions to boost productivity and enhance staff training.  

5. Facilitate recruitment flexibility: Lower barriers to recruiting from abroad and combine part-time roles into full-time positions to better accommodate varying workforce demands.  

6. Improve the provision of Travel & Tourism qualifications: Broaden the variety and availability of courses and target the provision of free and subsidised training.  

7. Strengthen collaboration and alignment between businesses and education providers: Align educational institutions with industry needs to ensure that training programmes meet current skill requirements.  

8. Provide upskilling and lifelong learning across the sector: Offer access to upskilling opportunities, mentorship, and online training platforms to prepare employees for future challenges.  

Prof. Song remarked, “The findings of this study highlight an urgent need for collaborative action to address workforce shortages and skills gaps in travel and tourism. By providing data-driven insights and practical strategies, we aim to empower businesses, policymakers, and educators to build a resilient, future-ready workforce that can sustain the sector’s growth and competitiveness in the years ahead.”  

With the employment landscape constantly evolving, the sector’s continued success depends largely on stakeholders’ ability to adapt. To ensure the sector’s sustainability, this report aims to provide industry leaders with actionable insights and practical strategies to overcome recruitment challenges and build a resilient workforce for the future of Travel and Tourism.  

If you’re interested in reading the full report, please download the report from the WTTC website.  

About the Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism

The mission of Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism (RCdTT) at PolyU focuses on advancing the understanding and implementation of digital technologies in the tourism industry. This involves conducting research on how digital transformation can enhance tourism services, improve customer satisfaction and drive sustainable growth in the sector. The centre aims to provide insights and solutions that help tourism stakeholders adapt to technological changes, optimise operations and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. 

About PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management

For more than four decades, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has refined a distinctive vision of hospitality and tourism education and become a world-leading hotel and tourism school. Ranked No. 1 in the world in the “Hospitality and Tourism Management” category in ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2025 for the ninth consecutive year; placed No. 1 globally in the “Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services” category in the University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2024/2025 for eighth years in a row; rated No. 1 in the world in the “Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism” subject area by the CWUR Rankings by Subject 2017; and ranked No. 2 in World in the “Hospitality and Leisure Management” subject area in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, the SHTM is a symbol of excellence in the field, exemplifying its motto of Leading Hospitality and Tourism.

The School is driven by the need to serve its industry and academic communities through the advancement of education and dissemination of knowledge. With a strong international team of over 90 faculty members from 21 countries and regions around the world, the SHTM offers programmes at levels ranging from undergraduate to doctoral degrees. Through Hotel ICON, the School’s groundbreaking teaching and research hotel and a vital aspect of its paradigm-shifting approach to hospitality and tourism education, the SHTM is advancing teaching, learning and research, and inspiring a new generation of passionate, pioneering professionals to take their positions as leaders in the hospitality and tourism industry.