A new report launched by The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in collaboration with UN Women, The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), World Bank Group and Amadeus has revealed that the Tourism is leading other sectors in advancing gender equality globally.
According to the report, women hold a whopping 54% of the tourism workforce worldwide compared to 39% in the broader economy. This is not all, the report also showed that the wage-gap is smaller in the tourism sector as women in tourism earn 14.7% less than men compared to 16.8% in the broader economy.
The report also showed that Tourism offers women more opportunities in leadership roles. Female Tourism Ministers are put at 23% compared to 20.7% of Ministers overall while highlighting how more and more women are challenging gender stereotypes in the sector.
In Morocco, for example, women have been issued tour guide licenses for the first time. An airline in the UK has doubled the number of female pilots they employ and Uganda’s Hotel Owner’s Association is now lead by its first female CEO.
Technology has also been a catalyst for empowerment, providing women with access to more training opportunities and stimulating female entrepreneurship through easier access to the tourism market.
In the public sphere, policy-makers are waking up to the importance of gender equality in tourism and putting measures in place to ensure women fairly share the benefits that tourism can bring.
UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili is excited about this development. According to him, “tourism is leading the charge for female empowerment all over the world. Across the private and public sectors women are harnessing the potential of tourism to become financially independent, challenge stereotypes and start their businesses. UNWTO is firmly committed to working towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 – the empowerment of women and girls – and ensuring that tourism continues to be at the forefront of gender-equality efforts” he enthused.
This latest report is the second edition of the Global Report on Women in Tourism and it highlighted the progress of the global tourism sector in advancing gender equality, with key case studies and statistics gathered from around the world.