7. Build a Skilled, Fair and Year-Round Tourism Workforce
A resilient visitor economy depends on people: hospitality workers, guides, transport staff, chefs, cleaners, rangers, cultural mediators, technicians and entrepreneurs. Sardinia’s tourism growth will be difficult to sustain if employment remains highly seasonal, housing is inaccessible for workers, skills shortages persist and careers in tourism appear insecure or low-value.
Tourism is already a major employment driver. In 2024, Sardinia’s employment increased by 2.6%, regional GDP grew by 0.9%, and tourism was identified as a principal contributor to service-sector growth. Yet growth in job numbers does not automatically mean good work, stable careers or a reliable supply of skilled personnel.[unionesarda]
Problem
Seasonality creates a structural workforce challenge. Demand rises rapidly during the summer, while businesses compete for staff in accommodation, restaurants, transport, visitor services and outdoor activities. Employers may struggle to recruit and retain experienced workers; workers may face short contracts, uncertain income, long commutes, high seasonal housing costs and limited opportunities to progress.
Sardinia has one of Italy’s highest shares of seasonal employment in tourism: 37.2% of sector employment, according to the 2024 national tourism-labour-market observatory cited in the academic review. The same evidence identifies a cycle in which seasonality discourages employer investment in training and makes it harder to retain the skilled workforce businesses need.[oaj.fupress]
Skills needs also extend beyond conventional service roles. Tourism enterprises increasingly need competence in languages, accessibility, sustainability management, digital distribution, climate-risk preparedness, local interpretation, food safety, data use and customer care across international markets. EURES identifies tourism as a sector with skilled and experienced-worker shortages and notes that English, German and French are frequently required in tourism and hotel work.[eures.europa]
Destination implication
Workforce policy is destination policy. Service quality, visitor safety, sustainability performance and local economic retention depend on whether jobs are viable and whether local people can build careers in the sector.
The objective should be to move from a model based on repeatedly filling short-lived peak-season vacancies toward one that develops recognised skills, supports year-round income and enables employers to retain people across complementary activities and seasons.
Proposed direction
Create a Tourism Skills, Careers and Fair Work Compact between the Region, employers, training providers, municipalities and worker representatives.
Priority measures should include:
- Develop a regional tourism-skills observatory that combines vacancy data, employer demand, workforce demographics, qualifications, pay, contract duration and seasonality.
- Establish locally accessible training pathways in hospitality operations, languages, digital skills, accessibility, sustainability, climate resilience, food and beverage, guiding, marine tourism and cultural interpretation.
- Expand work-based learning, paid placements, apprenticeships and micro-credentials co-designed with employers and education providers.
- Link public tourism support and destination-marketing participation to fair-work commitments, including lawful contracts, transparent recruitment, skills development, safe working conditions and predictable scheduling.
- Support businesses that create longer employment seasons by combining summer hospitality with shoulder-season culture, outdoor activities, food tourism, events, maintenance, restoration or digital sales.
- Develop seasonal-worker housing and mobility plans in high-pressure destinations, including partnerships for temporary accommodation, transport connections and transparent rental standards.
- Establish career-progression routes from entry-level work to supervisory, management, specialist-guide, culinary, sustainability and entrepreneurial roles.
- Recognise prior experience and improve access to training for women, young people, career changers, returning residents and international workers.
- Provide practical small-business support for human-resources planning, retention, productivity, inclusive recruitment and employee wellbeing.
- Promote tourism as a skilled career sector, not simply a source of temporary summer work.
Fair-work principle
The destination should measure success not only through jobs created, but through job quality. Useful questions include:
- Can workers afford to live near their workplace?
- Do contracts extend beyond the highest-demand weeks where business patterns permit?
- Are workers receiving training that improves pay and career prospects?
- Can local young people see a future in tourism without leaving the island?
- Are international and migrant workers recruited ethically, housed safely and integrated fairly?
- Do businesses that depend on Sardinia’s natural and cultural assets return value to the people who deliver the visitor experience?
Relevant stakeholders
Regional Departments of Tourism, Labour and Education; municipalities; employment services; universities; vocational schools; chambers of commerce; employer associations; hotel, restaurant and tour-operator associations; trade unions; training providers; destination-management organisations; social-housing and transport providers; community organisations; worker-representation bodies.
Possible indicators
| Indicator | Suggested measurement |
|---|---|
| Employment continuity | Average contract duration, months worked per year and share of workers returning to the same employer |
| Job quality | Pay, working hours, contract type, scheduling predictability, health-and-safety performance and staff turnover |
| Skills supply | Vacancies by occupation, time-to-fill, reported skills shortages and qualification attainment |
| Training access | Workers completing certified training, apprenticeships, placements and employer-supported learning |
| Career progression | Movement from entry-level to supervisory, technical, management or entrepreneurial roles |
| Housing and mobility | Worker housing availability, rent burden, commuting time and seasonal transport access |
| Inclusion | Participation and progression by age, gender, disability, locality and nationality |
| Employer practice | Share of tourism businesses meeting fair-work and staff-development standards |
Delivery horizon
Immediate to medium term. Begin with a workforce baseline and skills forecast for high-demand destinations and occupations. Use pilot compacts with major employers, municipalities and training providers to test housing, training and retention measures before embedding fair-work criteria in regional tourism funding and destination accreditation.