Social Determinants of Precarious and Low-Wage Work in the Tourism Industry: Insights from Italian Case Studies

This proposal investigates the social factors contributing to the widespread prevalence of precarious and low-wage work in the tourism industry. Despite geographic differences and the international division of labour, tourism occupations are frequently found within secondary segments of labour markets, characterised by low quality, poor wages, difficult working conditions, short-term contracts, high levels of informality, and high turnover rates. These historical conditions, along with their global spread, make these jobs particularly illustrative of the key traits of contemporary precarious work.

Conventional explanations link difficult working conditions, low wages and precariousness to the economic and organisational peculiarities of the sector, arguing that these issues are 'naturally' rooted in the inherently disorganised, contingent and underdeveloped structure of the industry. However, numerous studies have questioned the notion that tourism is inherently a poor sector, or that low wages, low status, and precariousness are intrinsic characteristics of these jobs.

Through the analysis of empirical data collected via qualitative methods in various Italian tourism contexts, this proposal contends that tourism work has been socially constructed as low-wage, casual, and precarious employment. This social construction emerges from the interaction of several labour devaluation processes and determinants: a) the lack of adequate institutional regulation (including the role and presence of trade unions); b) the historical structuring of tourism jobs (linked to reproductive and servile labour); c) the social composition of the workforce, particularly regarding racial and gender stratification; d) shifts in the global political economy, marked by power imbalances; and e) the discursive framing of tourism work as temporary and gig-based. The findings highlight that the combined influence of these locally varying factors plays a critical role in shaping the social and institutional regulation of precarious work in the tourism sector.