Sérgio Gonçalves· S&D

Underestimated

The EU tourism sector comprises about 2.3 million businesses and employs almost 11 million people directly

Omissions

• The speaker used data that appears to be outdated or rounded down. More recent Eurostat data from 2022 shows higher figures: 12.3 million employees (not 11 million) and approximately 2.6 million enterprises (not 2.3 million). The data represents the year 2022, which would have been available to the MEP in March 2026.
• The source (Eurostat) was not cited by the speaker, though the figures appear to be based on official statistics.
• The employment figure of 12.3 million in 2022 represents a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw lower employment in 2020-2021 (11.3 million in 2021).

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat - Tourism industries economic analysis (PDF)In 2022, almost 1 in 13 enterprises in the EU business economy belonged to tourism industries, employing 12.3 million persons. With approximately 33.5 million total EU enterprises in 2024, this implies approximately 2.58 million tourism enterprises.
• PrimaryEurostat - EU tourism industries employed 11.3 million people (2021 data)In 2021, 11.3 million people in the EU were employed in economic activities related to tourism.