In Chile, the level of employment in the tourism industry recovers

The report for the May-June-July 2021 quarter from the National Institute of Statistics reveals a recovery in employment in Tourism Characteristic Activities (ACT).

According to the report, jobs in the ACTs increased 34.4% in twelve months, reflecting an improvement of 5.7 percentage points compared to the year-on-year variation of the immediately previous quarter, in which the registered increase reached 28.6%.

In this way, a total of 496,469 employed persons in ACT in the measured period, a figure that is equivalent to 126,949 more employed than in the same period of the previous year and 20,066 more compared to the immediately previous moving quarter, in which 476,403 persons employed in tourism were recorded.

The undersecretary of Tourism, José Luis Uriarte, stressed that “we have almost 500,000 people employed in tourism, which is tremendous news for the sector and also for the country's economy. This mobile quarter, the national economy created more than 100,000 jobs and more than 20,000 of them correspond to the tourism sector ”. In addition, he assured that "the data that we see today reflect the good health situation of the country, but also the constancy of the sector, which has complied with all health standards, has taken care of its workers and customers so that tourism continues to be an activity safe within Chile ”.

According to the undersecretary, "we still have to recover a little more than 100,000 jobs to reach the figures we had before the pandemic and it is very important to do so because tourism is not just entertainment or relaxation, it is an engine of our social development and that today represents 6.1% of total jobs in the national economy. I have no doubt that, post-pandemic, this sector will become even more relevant ”.

Meanwhile, the national director of Sernatur, Andrea Wolleter, highlighted that in the May-June-July quarter, tourism recovered 126,949 employed persons compared to the same period in 2020, which is equivalent to 12% of the total employed persons that the entire labor market recovered .

Regarding the branches of activity, the INE report shows that those employed in accommodation and food services grew 42.3% in twelve months; in sports, recreational and cultural activities the increase was 33%; and in tourist transport 25.8%.