A recent analysis by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed that a quarter of a million jobs across Italy’s Travel and Tourism sector will remain unfilled this year.

The data has been revealed through research by the WTTC, which analyzed the labour shortages across Italy and other major travel and tourism destinations, including the United States, France, Spain, Great Britain and Portugal, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

According to WTTC, Italy is ranked as the most impacted of the European countries analyzed, which expects to see a shortfall of a shocking 250,000 workers, with one in six vacancies likely to remain unfilled in 2022.

In addition, the global tourism body explains that, during the third peak month, the supply-demand gap is expected to be even higher when the sector’s demand is likely to approach pre-COVID levels.

WTTC also emphasized that before the pandemic started, around 1.4 million people were employed in the Italian travel and tourism sector. But in 2020, the country saw the loss of more than 200,000 jobs.

On the other hand, in 2021, Italy had a strong recovery with a 58.5 per cent increase in the sector’s contribution to the national economy.

According to WTTC’s analysis, Italy’s accommodation industry and travel agent segment are predicted to be the most affected, facing more than a third or 38 per cent and almost half or 42 per cent of unfilled vacancies, respectively.

Commenting on this situation, WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson said that Italy’s economic recovery would be seriously jeopardized if there were not enough people to fill the vacancies.

“If they remain unfilled, it will further dampen the revival chances of Travel & Tourism businesses across Italy which struggled for more than two years to escape the impact of the pandemic,” Simpson pointed out in this regard.

Previously, the WTTC also revealed that a total of 1.2 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector across the European Union risk remaining unfilled.

Yet, WTTC has predicted that this year the sector’s recovery will continue to accelerate, thus reaching pre-pandemic levels with an expected increase of 32.9 per cent in its direct contribution to the EU economy.

Moreover, another country where approximately 50,000 jobs are expected to remain unfilled is Portugal. According to the WTTC, in 2019, over 485,000 people were employed in Travel and Tourism in Portugal. In addition, compared to 2020, it lost over 80,000 jobs.