A Eurostat survey for the International Day of Tourism in September has found that there are more women than men at work in the hotel and restaurant sector of the EU economy. Over the Community as a whole 44% of employed persons are female but in the catering industry the figure rises to 56%. Latvia records the biggest gap as women make up  a staggering 95% of hotel and restaurant workers compared to 50% of the labour force in total. Only in Malta were there fewer women but this must be seen against the very low rate of general female employment in that country.
As tourism is often identified with low pay and poor working conditions it is doubly unfortunate that, even here, women earn, on average, less than men in all the countries who provided statistics. The gap varied between 93% of their male colleagues’ earnings in Belgium down to a measly 62% in Hungary.

Member State		% women employed 2006	% women employed in hotels/restaurants 2006	gap
Malta		32	28	-4
France		46	49	3
Greece		39	44	5
Belgium		44	50	6
Sweden		47	53	6
Netherlands		45	52	7
Denmark		47	55	8
United Kingdom		47	56	9
Italy		39	49	10
Cyprus		44	55	11
Czech Republic		43	55	12
EU 27		44	56	12
Hungary		46	58	12
Spain		41	54	13
Germany		46	60	14
Bulgaria		47	62	15
Ireland		42	57	15
Portugal		46	62	16
Slovakia		44	64	20
Austria		45	65	20
Romania		46	66	20
Slovenia		46	67	21
Poland		45	68	23
Finland		48	72	24
Estonia		50	76	26
Lithuania		50	83	33
Latvia		50	95	45

Data not used for Luxembourg as distorted by commuters.

EU labour costs rise
Labour costs in the EU (defined as the payment by employers in wages, bonuses and extras such as company cars plus social security contributions and employment tax per employee) rose by 3.2% in the year to June. However in the 13 countries which use the Euro (EA13) the increase was only 2.5%. The breakdown by country shows the strength of economic growth and wage demands in eastern Europe with Latvia’s 31.7% topping the list.