The number of job vacancies in the tourism sector has risen significantly compared to last year, confirming once again the acute staffing problem facing the industry as a whole.
According to available data, staffing shortages in hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues exceeded 85,000 positions this year, marking an increase of over 40% compared to 2025, when the corresponding needs were estimated at approximately 60,000 positions.
Part of this shortfall—approximately 10%—was covered, as emphasized by Konstantinos Marinakos, Associate Professor of Tourism Management at the University of West Attica, President of the Peloponnese Tourism Organization and Vice President of the Panhellenic Hoteliers Federation, through the system of recruiting workers from third countries.
According to Mr. Marinakos, the shortage of human resources is now a structural problem for Greek tourism and is not exclusively linked to the increased needs of the summer season. As he points out, the pool of available workers has shrunk significantly in recent years, as many left the sector during the pandemic, seeking more stable employment conditions in other sectors of the economy.
At the same time, he emphasizes that a significant number of workers in the sector have been absorbed by the short-term rental market.
“We, as business owners , also bear responsibility for the fact that young people no longer choose tourism as a sector to work in, because we have not convinced them that this profession is not just a temporary job but has real prospects. Despite the fact that we have raised wages—in some cases exceeding the sector’s Collective Bargaining Agreement—we have seen significant losses in human resources in recent years,” said Mr. Marinakos during the presentation of the inter-university program “Hotel Business Management - Executive MBA in Hotel Management" (a collaboration between the University of West Attica and the Hellenic Mediterranean University), which aims to fill the gap in highly specialized executives in the hospitality sector.
Where the Shortages Lie
According to the study “The Future of the Greek Hotel Industry: Opportunities & Challenges," recently presented by the Panhellenic Hoteliers Federation (POX) in collaboration with Deloitte Greece, specifically regarding the hotel sector, one in two businesses in Greece is unable to find staff.
The shortage is most evident in front-line positions, which are essential for the daily operation of hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues. Specifically, 55% of hoteliers rate staffing difficulties as very or extremely high, while an additional 32% describe them as moderate.
More specifically, the greatest difficulties are found in housekeeping and room service staff, which 73% of businesses cited as the area with the most significant shortages. This is followed by kitchen and service staff at 64%, while high percentages are also recorded for technical support and maintenance (41%) as well as front desk and reception positions (30%).
Significantly smaller, but still present, are the shortages in specialized positions such as marketing and sales (8%), unit administration and management (7%), and IT support (7%).
According to the same data, the main cause of the problem is limited staff availability, cited by 67% of hoteliers, followed by the industry’s strong seasonality at 63%. In contrast, wages rank lower on the list, as they are cited by 24% of businesses as a key factor in staffing difficulties. At the same time, 36% of hoteliers attribute the problem to a lack of suitable skills, while 26% believe that societal perceptions of tourism professions act as a deterrent to attracting new employees.
“This broad assessment underscores that the staffing issue constitutes a widespread and structural challenge for the industry, directly affecting the ability of hotel businesses to effectively meet their operational needs and maintain a consistent level of quality in the services they provide,” the report notes.
Regarding the intention to invest in staff training, 40% of hoteliers state that they invest or plan to invest to a moderate extent in the training and retraining of their staff, 36% to a high extent, and an additional 5% to a very high extent. In contrast, only 19% report limited or no investment in this area.