More than 9 million persons employed in the hotels and restaurants sector in the EU

In 2006, there were 1.7 million enterprises in the EU-27 hotels and restaurants sector, employing some 9.3 million people. This corresponded to 8.3% of the non-financial business economy's (NACE Rev. 1.1 Sections C to I and K) enterprise population and 7.1% of its workforce. Hotels and restaurants recorded value added of EUR 181.9 billion in the EU-27, which represented 3.2% of the total for the non-financial business economy. In 2008, women made up 55% of the workforce in this sector and 28% worked part time. Specialisations within this activity are strongly related to climate, natural or man-made attractions (beaches, mountains, castles, etc), as well as proximity to a critical mass of potential customers (in particular for restaurants and bars). It is therefore no surprise to find that the island destination of Cyprus is the most specialised Member State, while some regions in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Austria are also highly specialised in these activities.