UN agencies partner to help women in tourism sector
Women make up 54% of the tourism workforce and they are often concentrated in low-skilled or informal work, shows UNWTO data
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is marking International Women's Day 2021 with the release of our Inclusive Recovery Guide for women in tourism, compiled in collaboration with UN Women.
UNWTO data shows that women make up the majority of the tourism workforce (54 per cent). Women in tourism are also often concentrated in low-skilled or informal work. This means that they are feeling the economic shock caused by the crisis more acutely and quicker than their male counterparts. In many cases, they are cut off from the social and healthcare protections that are so vital in a global pandemic.
Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres says, "As the world marks International Women's Day in the midst of a global pandemic, one stark fact is clear: the Covid-19 crisis has a woman's face." UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili adds, "Tourism is a proven driver of equality and opportunity. This unprecedented crisis has hit our sector's women fast and hard, which is why gender equality and empowerment must be at centre stage as we work together to restart tourist and accelerate recovery."
Almost one year on since the pandemic was officially declared, the negative impact it is having on women and girls has become devastatingly clear. This increase in women's economic and social insecurity combined with the observed rise in unpaid care work and domestic violence have meant that women in tourism have been disproportionately affected by the devastating effects of the pandemic on the sector.
As a specialised UN agency in the field of tourism, UNWTO is committed to enhancing the positive impact of tourism development on women's lives, and, in so doing, contributing to the achievement of the Fifth Sustainable Development Goal - "achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls". Since 2007, UNWTO has been working – through its Ethics, Culture and Social Responsability Department - in partnership with UN Women and a range of external partners across the globe, to bring gender issues to the forefront of the tourism sector, promoting gender equality and women's empowerment and encouraging member states to mainstream gender issues in their respective tourism policies. The Regional Report on Women in the Middle East maps the participation of women in the tourism sector across the region prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. In doing so, it assesses the contribution of tourism to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 - to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
The report, compiled to mark the 2020 G20 Saudi Presidency, aims to inform further work on gender equality and equip stakeholders with tools they need to boost women's empowerment in the region's tourism sector.
Looking ahead, the recommendations also contain measures for the recovery of the sector. UNWTO firmly believes that the pandemic has presented tourism with a golden opportunity to redefine its gender balance, building on the huge strides forward it has taken in women's empowerment by reducing barriers to entry, elevating female employees recovery efforts, increasing protections and reporting how the effects of the pandemic are affecting men and women in tourism differently.
Action Plan on Women in Tourism
UNWTO in collaboration with UN Women, the German Development Agency GIZ, World Bank Group and Amadeus has produced an Action Plan that contains a series of concrete actions for tourism stakeholders to take that would boost the sector's empowering potential for women.
The Action Plan's recommendations were adopted by the G20 Tourism Ministers in 2019, endorsed by the UNWTO Executive Council in 2020 and will form the basis of an implementation programme with Member States expected to begin in 2021.
Weaving the Recovery – Indigenous Women in Tourism
Weaving the Recovery UNWTO is formulating a programme to tackle the systematic inequalities faced by indigenous women in Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. It is selected for the Paris Peace Forum 2020'.
Why gender and tourism?
While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women's empowerment under the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world.