On the occasion of World Tourism Day 2007, hosted by Sri Lanka in Bentota, a Think Tank was held on the year's theme "Tourism Opening Doors For Women” and its inter-relationship with the UN Millennium Development Goals. Under the Chairpersonship of H.E. Mrs Nilofar Bakhatiar, a group of prominent tourism actors, predominantly women, discussed the importance of women in tourism and of improving the roles they occupy, particularly in developing states.

Among the myriad issues examined included the need for awareness raising of women's issues, especially among policy makers, for creating appropriate policy frameworks for women's economic empowerment, for capacity building and training, for increasing access to credit, and for showcasing women succeeding in jobs at all levels, among others.

The think tank made clear that it is not only necessary to open doors for women, but to make it possible for women to go through them.

Relevant Materials

• Conclusions of the Think Tank (English) (French) (Spanish)
• Programme of the Think Tank (English) (French) (Spanish) (Russian) (Arabic)
• List of participants of the World Tourism Day 2007 Think Tank
• Message of the UNWTO Secretary-General (English) (French) (Spanish) (Russian) (Arabic)
• Video of the UNWTO Secretary-General 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

• sgmessagewtd2007_ar.pdf
• sgmessagewtd2007_en.pdf
• sgmessagewtd2007_es.pdf
• sgmessagewtd2007_fr.pdf
• sgmessagewtd2007_ru.pdf
• wtd2007_conclusions_en.pdf
• wtd2007_conclusions_es.pdf
• wtd2007_conclusions_fr.pdf
• wtd2007_participants_en_0.pdf
• wtd2007_programme_ar.pdf
• wtd2007_programme_en.pdf
• wtd2007_programme_es.pdf
• wtd2007_programme_fr.pdf
• wtd2007_programme_ru.pdf

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