Early 2020. The pandemic sweeps the planet. Besides the millions of deaths and physically affected people, it was a challenging time for many industries and its employees.
Millions of people were fired, furlough, saw their contracts and worked hours reduced… and the tourism industry was one of the ones that got hit harder.
Fast-forward 2 years since the end of he pandemic, and -even with wars and economic recession looming- the industry is back to its feet and already got back to the pace -if not higher in some destinations- than what it was before the pandemic.
That has also meant- sadly- that we’ve got back to the low salaries and poor working conditions for many.
I was reading an article the other day about some Hotel housekeeping staff in Lisbon who could not even afford to share a bedroom in a shared apartment, as the rent of that bed was around 80% of their salary.
So they were homeless. The same people that clean rooms in fancy hotels are homeless.
But that is not new, sadly. In some secluded locations like Ibiza, many season-only industry workers would even rent balconies as they could not afford the rent in the island. That was pre-pandemic. We had the great resignation, Professionals leaving the industry. Staff shortages everywhere…but still, in many cases, compensation has not changed.
So rates are up because supplies have increased. Inflation is hitting hard and margins are getting slimmer. Does that not affect also the lives of those employees? Don’t they also have bills to pay?
So how can the solution be, as I was bluntly told by some industry lobby “ship people from Bangladesh and Nepal to do the job”?
It hurts to see, but in many instances, after the pandemic and all that has happened, it feels like we, as an industry, have learnt nothing.
Spanish 
English