The UNWTO Forum on Women in Tourism, held on March 7th 2008 in conjunction with the ITB Tourism Fair in Berlin, Germany, saw the unveiling of an Action Plan to Empower Women through Tourism. Discussions at the event stressed that the positive contribution of tourism to women empowerment can only be determined if poverty reduction and the enhancement of women’s dignity and role in the work place are addressed.

Under the guidance of H.E. Ms. Nilofar Bakhtiar of Pakistan, appointed UNWTO Special Advisor on Women and Tourism, more than 70 tourism representatives, including the first female Minister of Tourism from Palestine, H.E. Ms. Khouloud Daibes, as well as H.E. Ms. Maha Kathib, Minister of Tourism of Jordan, participated in a discussion following UNWTO’s presentation of its Action Plan on gender and tourism.

The Action Plan was designed to be regarded as part of UNWTO’s “triple commitment” objectives, in the framework of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and in support of the UN Millennium Development Goals:

• tourism should benefit the poor;
• protection of our environment and
• empowerment of women.

Relevant Materials

• Report of the 2008 Forum on Women in Tourism
• Press release on the 2008 UNWTO Forum on Women in Tourism (English) (Spanish) (French)
• Did you know? promotional leafleft on women in tourism (English) (Spanish)
• Programme of the 2008 Forum on Women in Tourism
• More information on UNWTO´s work on Gender and Tourism

See also:

List of UNWTO ethics events (organized by theme) including past events on Gender and Tourism

Documents

• itb2008_womenintourism_program.pdf
• itb2008_womenintourism_rep.pdf
• itb2008_didyouknow_es.pdf
• itb2008_didyouknow_en.pdf

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