Abstract
The paper examines the influence of tourism industry on GDP, employment and capital investments in selected Mediterranean countries (Croatia, France, Greece, Italy and Spain). It points out important contribution which tourism has on economic activity and capital investment of selected economies and labour market. The analysis highlights the importance of tourism strength in generating employment. It synthesizes data on tourism employment and employment according to educational level. The results show that the quality of human capital is increasing but at the same time indicating gender discrimination in tourism labour market. Despite women being the majority of higher education degree holders in tourism, men hold upper-management and decision-making positions more often than women do. Lastly the paper indicates strong contribution of tourism sector in GDP and total employment in selected countries showing strong problem of seasonality.