Do you enjoy working with people and using your communication skills? Are you happy to go the extra mile to provide customers with excellent service, including working longer hours? If so, then hospitality, leisure and tourism could be the industry for you. 

This industry needs friendly, outgoing, helpful and well organised people. 

In March 2025 there were 2.6 million jobs in the UK accommodation and food services sector, accounting for 7.1% of all UK jobs, making hospitality the sixth largest of the main UK industries. In 2023 it generated £62.6 billion for the UK economy, accounting for around 2.8% of total UK economic output. ¹

In 2023, it was estimated that 3.9 million people worked in tourism related activities, with 1.2 million of those working specifically in tourism, accounting for 3.9% of all jobs in the UK. Tourism related activities were estimated to have directly generated £127 billion to the UK economy. ²

What areas can I work in?

This is a wide ranging area, with jobs available at all levels. In hospitality you would be providing food, drink or accommodation services to customers. Leisure involves providing support in recreational activities. Travel and tourism can be a combination of both leisure and hospitality and also overlap with the culture and heritage sector in terms of certain visitor attractions.

All areas of this industry also involve an element of retail and jobs such as airline cabin crew and cruise ship workers are covered in the career area ‘Transport and Distribution’.

There may also be opportunities to work abroad.

To see the routes to getting into each of these sectors, take a look at our Career Pathway.

What kind of companies can I work for?

You might work for:

• hotels
• restaurants, pubs or clubs
• holiday parks or centres
• cinemas
• leisure complexes
• travel agencies
• tour operators
• visitor attractions
• tourist boards and information centres.

What’s the job market like?

In 2024 Scotland’s tourism sector employed 196,000 people, accounting for 7.5% of Scottish employment. It was estimated to have generated nearly £5 million to the Scottish economy, accounting for 3.4% of Scotland’s total economic output. The highest proportion of people working in Scottish tourism were in Edinburgh, East and Midlothian (36,400), followed by Glasgow College Region (35,400), and the Highlands and Islands (21,100). Between 2024 and 2027 it is forecast that there could be demand for an extra 49,800 people, a growth of 3.1%. This compares to a Scotland wide increase of 1.9%. ³

The hospitality sector remains a crucial contributor to the Scottish economy and is its fourth largest employer, accounting for 8% of all jobs in Scotland. It supported £1.7 billion of economic activity and 252,000 workforce jobs in the first quarter of 2024. There was a modest growth of jobs since the last quarter of 2023 of 3%, or 7,000 jobs. It also has the one of the highest shares of part time workers in the Scottish economy and has seen a decline of full time roles since the third quarter of 2023. ⁴

In the UK, despite vacancy rates being above pre-pandemic levels, since 2022 the number of job postings in hospitality has been steadily declining with 102,000 vacancies advertised between January and March 2024. ⁴

Facts and figures

• The latest figures report that in 2023-24 the median hourly pay in Scottish hospitality was £12.00 per hour, higher than the Real Living Wage of £10.90 per hour. ⁴
• Between July 2023 and June 2024, there were 8,200 job postings for chefs and cooks in Scotland. The highest number of postings were in Edinburgh City (2,000), Glasgow City (1,500) and the Highlands (800) respectively. ³
• In the same period, there were 120 job postings for tour guides in Scotland. Edinburgh had the highest with 70 job postings. The median real-time advertised salary for tour guides was £31,500. ³
• Tourism was estimated to have a lower proportion of the workforce educated to SCQF Levels 7 and above, and a higher proportion educated to SCQF Levels 5 and 6, compared to Scotland overall. ⁴
• In 2023, men were paid 4% more on average than women employed in the Scottish hospitality sector. ⁴

Want to find out more?

You can find out more about career opportunities in the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industries at Springboard UK.

Sources

¹ Government support for the hospitality sector, UK Parliament House of Commons Library (27 June 2025)

² Tourism: statistics and policy, UK Parliament House of Commons Library (18 March 2025)

³ Sectoral Skills Assessment, Tourism, Skills Development Scotland (October 2024)

⁴ Serving the Future Policy Briefing (June 2025)

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