Leisure and Tourism
This sector includes jobs in pubs, hotels, restaurants, cafes, takeaways, holiday villages, campsites, amusement parks and visitor attractions, gyms, sports clubs and bookmakers. Good people skills are vital as most jobs in this sector will involve dealing with members of the public on a daily basis.
0
Did you know?
- Tourism is vital for the region's growth and economic prosperity - it is estimated that it generates approximately £963 million for the East Yorkshire economy.
- With approximately 25,065 people employed by companies in the leisure and tourism sector in Hull and East Yorkshire, it is the sixth-largest sector. Since 2015, employment in the sector has increased by 16%, adding an additional 3,505 jobs. This makes it the sector with the third-highest growth in job numbers, after the construction and manufacturing and engineering sectors, and the second-highest percentage growth in job numbers.
- Since 2015, the largest growth in employment in this sector has come from restaurants and takeaways, which have added 2,000 additional jobs.
- In Hull and East Yorkshire, over 70% of jobs in the leisure and tourism sector are in pubs, restaurants, takeaways, hotels, and sports clubs/facilities.
Source: East Riding of Yorkshire Council, BRES (2025)
Will there be opportunities available?
- Visitors to the UK were forecast to spend £34.6 billion in 2025, 22% higher than in 2019, and 6% up on 2024, continuing the demand for people to work in this sector.
- Visit Hull and East Yorkshire (VHEY) has outlined a strategic plan to further enhance the region's tourism industry. Its objectives include building a £1 billion+ visitor economy across Hull and East Yorkshire by 2029. This emphasis on substantial economic growth suggests a positive outlook for employment opportunities in the sector.
- In 2025, in Hull and East Yorkshire, demand for staff in the leisure and tourism sector remained high. Seven of the top fifty occupations advertised by companies seeking to recruit staff were in this sector. Kitchen and catering assistant was the fourth most advertised occupation, with 2,046 total online job adverts; chef was twelfth, with 918; coffee shop worker was nineteenth, with 679; bar staff was thirty-first, with 491; waiter and waitress was thirty-eighth, with 368; cook was fortieth, with 365; and sports coaches, instructors and officials was forty-eighth, with 214.
Source: Visit Britain, Visit Hull & East Yorkshire, Lightcast (2026)
Check out careers in the Leisure and Tourism sector in Career of the Week
Find out more
Videos
Careerometer
The Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers. It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation.
Use the boxes below to simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.
Businesses in Your Area
Use the interactive map to discover employers in your local area
