New Tourism Workers. Lavoratori stranieri e sviluppo turistico nel territorio bresciano

The tourism is one of the driving forces in the global economy in terms of wealth production and job creation. Recent studies have highlighted the contribution of foreign workers in the sector and questioned their working conditions often marked by vulnerability and exposure to forms of discrimination. Foreign workers face some structural criticalities in the tourism labor market, primarily, the persistent seasonal nature of activities, the high elasticity of labor demand, and occupational stratification. After a general framing of the topic, the paper presents and discusses some data on the presence of foreign workers in the Italian tourism sector, with a focus on what is happening in the province Brescia. Tourism in Brescia is growing strongly, both because of the degree of internationalization of some locations and because of recent initiatives such as "Bergamo and Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2023." To foster a growth of the sector marked by the principles of social sustainability, it is necessary to analyze the transformations of local tourism work and support a commitment by all figures involved in the tourism supply chain to improve working conditions for all.