Author(s): Costa, Vânia ; Loureiro, Isabel ; Mira, Maria ; Pereira, Raquel
Date: 2025
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/11110/3355
Origin: Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave
Subject(s): Business performance; Europe; Human capital; Orbis database; Tourism and hospitality
This paper examines the business performance of the European tourism sector, focusing on the three segments of Hotels and Restaurants (HR), Recreational and Cultural Activities (RCA) and Transport and Logistics (TL). This exploratory study is based on a sample of 6.000 companies operating in 17 EU countries during 2021, selected by the random sampling method and distributed equally among each sub-segment, providing crucial information on the financial performance and human capital of the tourism sector. Financial and human capital information was collected from the Orbis Europe database. The methodology uses a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to examine differences in financial performance indicators by group, specifically between the three segments of economic activity, size, and country where the enterprises are based. The results reveal significant differences between some enterprises' competitiveness indicators. The tourism sector is mainly made up of small and medium-sized companies.TL presents a higher volume of operating revenue. HR employs and has higher employee costs, followed by TL and RCA. However, TL has a higher average cost per employee, reflecting higher salaries, followed by RCA and finally HR. Profit per employer is highest in the RCA segment, followed by TL and RH. The EU countries with the highest profit per employee are the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, and Ireland.
This study is part of the Research Project "Talent Tour - Talent Management in the Tourism and Hospitality Sector", funded by CITUR, under Project No. UIDB/04470/2020, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology
