Abstract

The tourism sector is a very important industry in Germany. With a share of 3.9% of gross value added, it is on a par with other major industries. Its importance for employment is even greater: 6.8% of total employment is accounted for by the tourism sector (all figures from 2015: "Wirtschaftsfaktor Tourismus in Deutschland", BMWI 2017). The tourism sector was particularly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many tourism businesses were forced to temporarily close due to the lockdown. When the businesses reopened in the summer of 2021, it then became apparent that there was a shortage of labour, in some cases dramatic, which threatened the existence of quite a few businesses. In the course of this project, it will be investigated which companies and regions are particularly affected. An analysis of the whereabouts of workers formerly employed in the tourism sector will be used to derive recommendations on how new workers can be recruited. The work is being carried out in cooperation with the Bavarian Centre for Tourism Research (BZT), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Schmude.