For Tourism-Dependent Balkan States, Foreign Workers Fill Growing Gap

Tourism is a mainstay of the Croatian, Montenegrin and Albanian economies. But growing labour shortages mean hotels, restaurants and bars are increasingly looking abroad for staff.

Croatia once had a problem with unemployment. Now, it lacks labour, and its vital tourism sector is feeling the effects.

Between 2011 and 2021, a period in which Croatia joined the European Union, in 2013, the country lost roughly a tenth of its population, or some 385,000 people, mainly thanks to emigration. And most of those leaving are young, educated, and at their most productive.

This is a headache for the tourism industry – which accounted for 21 per cent of Croatia’s national economic output in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic brought its rise to a sudden halt – and the construction sector.

Tourism bounced back in 2022 and this year industry experts are predicting another bumper season, but only thanks to a growing influx of foreign workers.

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