An Analysis of Gendered Employment in the Portuguese Tourism Sector

Abstract

Tourism is crucial for the Portuguese economy. But what are the numbers behind tourism employment in Portugal? This article analyzes employment in two tourism characteristic activities, namely accommodation services and travel agencies and tour operators. A matched employer-employee data set is used. Despite having higher levels of education, women are more prevalent in low qualified jobs, while men are more likely to hold executive and management positions. Moreover, women's pay is consistently lower. It is also concluded that the accommodation sector and the travel sector have very distinct characteristics. It is suggested that future studies analyze the sectors in a disaggregated way.

KEYWORDS:

• gender
• tourism employment
• Portugal
• accommodation
• travel agencies