The United Nations has taken a major step in recognising the role of tourism in sustainable development by adopting a new tourism employment indicator as part of the official Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Indicator Framework.
Endorsed at the 56th session of the UN Statistical Commission, this landmark decision means that, for the first time, global data on tourism employment will be systematically tracked within the SDG monitoring process. It also increases the number of official tourism SDG indicators from two to three, enhancing the recognition of the sector’s global contribution to economic and social progress.
UN Tourism’s most recent survey of Member States’ priorities revealed a strong preference for the organisation to focus on ensuring tourism contributes to the achievement of the SDGs. In response, the new tourism employment indicator, with UN Tourism as its custodian, provides the evidence needed to advance this priority. This indicator addresses a critical policy issue in many countries, offering a broader perspective on tourism’s sustainability by complementing the existing SDG indicator on tourism’s GDP and better considering social progress.
With this recognition, tourism employment will now be officially integrated into the deliberations of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals Report. The data will be available on the SDG Global Database and the UN Tourism Statistics Database website.
The indicator was developed under the leadership of Austria, Spain, Saudi Arabia, CARICOM, ILO, and UN Tourism, following extensive research and consultative processes. It is one of three new indicators endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in the second and final SDG Indicator Framework review for the 2030 Agenda.
Through a partnership between UN Tourism and ILO, the indicator leverages both organisations’ data reporting mechanisms, maximising previous investments and minimising the reporting burden on countries.
The new indicator, derived from the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism, tracks all working-age persons with paid employment and self-employment. It can be expressed as a share of total employed persons and disaggregated by gender, employment type (employee/self-employed), and the 10 tourism industries. This allows for a comprehensive measurement of tourism sector employment both within individual countries and globally.
UN Tourism secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili said: “The new tourism employment indicator goes beyond GDP to enhance our understanding of tourism’s potential for social progress. Policymakers will be better equipped to identify gaps, address inequalities, and maximise tourism’s social and economic benefits – ensuring no one is left behind.”
