Research Blog

FUTOURWORK: Strengthening Social Dialogue to Improve Worker Well-being in Tourism and Hospitality

Tourism and hospitality employs over 270 million people globally, accounting for approximately 8.2% of the global workforce. Despite its economic importance, workers in this sector frequently face precarious employment conditions, exacerbated significantly by the rapid rise of platform-based labour. Platform workers, often categorised as self-employed, lack traditional labour protections such as collective bargaining, leaving them highly vulnerable to exploitation through algorithmic management, a digital system controlling their tasks, pay, and performance.

These employment challenges disproportionately affect marginalised groups, including women, migrants, and young people, who experience heightened vulnerabilities related to discrimination and job insecurity. Social dialogue—structured discussions between workers, employers, and governments—has traditionally improved labour conditions, though its effectiveness varies significantly by region. Scandinavian countries have successfully used robust social dialogue frameworks to tackle low wages and insecure employment. In contrast, weaker institutional frameworks in southern Europe and the Global South often leave workers without adequate representation or protection.

Recognising these challenges, our current Horizon Europe project, FUTOURWORK, seeks to revitalise and expand social dialogue to substantially improve worker well-being in the tourism and hospitality sector across Europe. FUTOURWORK acknowledges that traditional social dialogue mechanisms struggle to keep pace with the rapid transformations of the labour market, especially the rise of digitalisation and platform-based employment.

FUTOURWORK’s outputs include practical and innovative tools to address these issues. Key outputs will be an index enabling the tourism and hospitality industry to benchmark worker well-being, a documentary based on real-life worker stories to enhance public understanding, and an observatory platform designed as a space for ongoing dialogue between workers, employers, and social dialogue organisations. These resources will help integrate marginalised workers into meaningful conversations about their employment conditions and rights.

Led by a collaborative consortium including the University of Westminster in the UK, CoLABOR and Universidade Lusófona in Portugal, Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania, the American College of Greece Research Centre, Dalarna University in Sweden, Zangador Research Institute in Bulgaria, and Equality in Tourism International, FUTOURWORK benefits from diverse expertise and broad international collaboration.

In essence, FUTOURWORK aims to position revitalised social dialogue as the cornerstone for achieving fairer and more sustainable employment in tourism and hospitality. By addressing legal, institutional, and technological barriers, the project intends to transform employment conditions and secure a more equitable future for millions working within this vital global industry. After all, good jobs make great tourism—and everyone deserves decent work.