FUTOURWORK partners Fiona Bakas (IGOT, University of Lisbon), Stroma Cole and Michela Trentin (University of Westminster) recently travelled to Leeds for the ATLAS 2026 Conference, hosted by Leeds Beckett University from 23–25 June.
The team brought a timely and important topic to the conference floor: the platformisation of tourism and hospitality, and its impact on social dialogue and worker wellbeing.
A Paper Panel and an Industry-Academia Discussion
Our partners presented the project’s conceptual paper, developed as part of Work Package 1, in a special session exploring the relationship between platformisation, algorithmic management, social dialogue and worker wellbeing. They offered a framework for understanding how digital tools and platforms are affecting working conditions across the sector.
A stimulating industry-academia discussion followed, examining the impacts of platformisation on worker wellbeing and the often ambiguous position of social dialogue when it comes to platform workers in tourism and hospitality.
Bringing together voices from research, trade unions and industry, speakers included:
- Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, Unite the Union
- Stroma Cole, Equality in Tourism
- Jess Porritt Best, Events Industry Systems Manager
- Raoul Bianchi, Tourism Academic
Bringing Visibility to an Under-Researched Issue
Digitalisation is changing how work is organised, allocated and monitored across tourism and hospitality, yet its impact on worker wellbeing remains significantly under-researched. The discussion at ATLAS highlighted how this shift is having particular consequences for those facing intersecting inequalities, including gender and migration status.
Panellists also underlined the importance of social dialogue and collective organisation in protecting worker wellbeing. They acknowledged the real challenges of applying this within a fragmented industry often dominated by large corporations, some of which use union-busting tactics to suppress collective action.
Sessions like this one, bringing together research and industry perspectives, are central to building a clearer picture of how digital transformation is affecting the sector’s workers, and identifying where policy and social dialogue can better protect their wellbeing. We’d like to thank the panellists for contributing to a valuable exchange and Leeds Beckett University for hosting us.
For more on FUTOURWORK’s research into digitalisation, worker wellbeing and social dialogue in tourism and hospitality, explore our latest outputs.
