Europe’s hotel, restaurant and catering sector features 1.8 million companies employing almost 10 million workers. Tourism is one of the few sectors of the European economy with a high potential for growth and job creation, particularly providing an entry into the labour market for young people. Given the high percentage of atypical employment in the tourism sector, the EFFAT mission is to promote decent and fair working conditions. EFFAT activities in the tourism sector include promoting improvement and recognition of qualifications and skills, socially responsible and sustainable tourism, and strengthening social dialogue in the sector to improve working conditions.
Political Secretary: Kerstin Howald – k.howald@effat.org
President: José García Relucio, (FeSMC-UGT, Spain)
Vice-presidents: Andreas Gollner (Vida, Austria) & Dave Turnball (Unite the Union, UK)
Brussels, 19 June 2023 EFFAT and FoodServiceEurope have united to raise concerns about the potential threats posed by the current public procurement rules in the EU to the social and economic rights of workers and employers in the contract catering sector. They...
Eurovision takes place from 9 to 13 May 2023 in Liverpool, UK. It’ll be watched by almost 9 million people. But let’s face it: Without hospitality workers, international events like the Eurovision would never happen. As the backbone of such events, hospitality workers...
The evidence that the consequences of climate change are severe and potentially catastrophic, is not questionable. We are on a dangerous path which may lead to irreversible changes in Earth's climate systems. Reverting this trend is vital for our planet, for future...
On International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and ahead of Global Week of Action for Hotel Housekeepers, EFFAT joins the IUF urging FIFA to protect hospitality workers, mostly women, in host hotels during the World Cup 2022. In a country well...
For a level playing field and fair competition in hospitality and tourism 12 October 2022 | EFFAT and HOTREC, the European social partners for the hotel, restaurant, bar and café sector are welcoming the European Commission’s intention to present a legislative...
Tourism continues to show strong signs of recovery, international tourist arrivals are moving towards pre-pandemic levels, with arrivals in Europe reaching 74% of 2021 numbers in the first months of 2022. However, emerging from the pandemic shutdowns, the tourism...
After COVID-19, employment in travel and tourism in Europe is estimated to have dropped by 9.3%, equating to 3.6 million jobs. Tourism staff shortages in Europe impact all countries in Europe with varying intensity. Some numbers: In Germany, almost every fourth job in...
16 March 2022 | HOTREC and EFFAT, the European social partners in the hospitality sector, condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and deplore the loss of lives and the human suffering. The attack is a flagrant violation of international laws and agreements, and of...
8 February 2022 - EFFAT, the voice of 10 million tourism workers in Europe, welcomes the European Commission’s Tourism Transition Pathway (TTP) published on 4 February 2022 and presented today at the EU Industry Days 2022, and shares its vision to relaunch a...
Joint press release – ETF, ETUC, EFFAT, UNI Europa, IndustriAll Europe and ECA Brussels, 7 January 2022 The ETF, ETUC, EFFAT, UNI Europa, IndustriAll Europe and ECA welcome the Toulouse Declaration on future sustainability and decarbonisation in aviation, which was...
