Working conditions of foreign citizens employed in tourism related jobs in Iceland

The study was intended to gain a deeper insight into the terms and conditions of foreign staff in sectors related to tourism in Iceland, than can be obtained in accessible statistics. This was done through interviews with foreign staff in tourism and employees of unions, who are in contact with foreign workers. More specifically, the focus was on local trade unions and institutions that provide information to immigrants on the rights and obligations of Icelandic society.

The aim on one hand, to gain an overview of what can be better done in the working environment of foreign workers with interviews with representatives of the trade unions, and on the other hand to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of people who come to work in this country.

Preliminary results have been presented at various conferences and lectures, A book chapter is scheduled, in a book on employment in tourism in the Nordic countries which will be released by the end of 2020. The title of the book is Tourism Employment in Nordic Countries - Trends, Practices and Opportunities and will be published by Palgrave Macmillan.

The research was finished with a final report with main findings, published in July 2020.  Link to the report can be found here.

The co-ordinators of this study are part of a research group on tourism, which is led by the Tourism Research Centre. This study was intended as a preliminary study to gain insight into the tourism-related labor market in this country. In addition to Icelandic scholars in the research group are researchers from other Nordic countries and the UK, Australia, Gran Canaria & etc.

Supervision: Iris Hrund Halldórsdóttir, ITRC [irish@rmf.is] and Magnfríður Júlíusdóttir Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Iceland.