Decent Work and Employment Creation in the Tourism Sector

This report advocates for the prioritization of decent work and employment creation in South Africa's tourism sector planning. It notes that despite the sector's capacity to employ low-skilled workers and the establishment of a dedicated Ministry in 2009, policy focus on employment has been lacking. The document highlights the need for strategies to recover from Covid-19 job losses and supports the reinstatement of the national tourism masterplan process over the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan (TSRP).

• The South African government has prioritized the tourism sector, notably by creating a dedicated Department and Ministry in 2009, because the sector is employment-intensive and can absorb low-skilled workers. However, there has been a lack of policy and strategy focus on employment within the sector to date.
• While global organizations like the International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) recognize the importance of tourism's employment impacts and decent work, there are few global employment-focused tourism policies with clear strategies for achieving decent work.
• The tourism sector in South Africa and globally suffered significant job losses due to Covid-19. While a draft tourism masterplan was created in 2019/2020, it was neglected for the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan (TSRP) adopted by Cabinet in April 2021; however, the government has since agreed to reinstate the masterplan process following objections from organized labour.

APA

iej_admin (2022). Decent Work and Employment Creation in the Tourism Sector. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/resource/research-report/decent-work-and-employment-creation-in-the-tourism-sector/

Chicago

iej_admin. Decent Work and Employment Creation in the Tourism Sector. Institute for Economic Justice, 2022. https://iej.org.za/resource/research-report/decent-work-and-employment-creation-in-the-tourism-sector/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=iej_admin |title=Decent Work and Employment Creation in the Tourism Sector |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=20 November 2022 |url=https://iej.org.za/resource/research-report/decent-work-and-employment-creation-in-the-tourism-sector/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{iejadmin2022decent, author = {iej\_admin}, title = {{Decent Work and Employment Creation in the Tourism Sector}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://iej.org.za/resource/research-report/decent-work-and-employment-creation-in-the-tourism-sector/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }