Global Report on Women in Tourism 2010

Jointly developed by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and UN Women, the Global Report on Women in Tourism 2010 marks the first attempt to map the participation of women in the tourism industry worldwide. In the context of responsible tourism and local development, this study seeks to demonstrate that tourism can act as a vehicle for the empowerment of women.

With a particular focus on developing countries, the Report is divided into five thematic strands: Employment, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Education and Community. The study's findings confirm that women make up a large proportion of the global tourism sector, which offers a wide range of opportunities for their economic empowerment. However, upon closer inspection, the Report finds that women are concentrated in low-skill, low-paid and precarious work in tourism. In the business world in general, gender equality has proven highly profitable. Women with higher levels of training and greater opportunities to develop their businesses contribute to exponential quality improvements in all areas of tourism activity.This fact opens up new and interesting opportunities for the tourism sector, where the enormous potential of women has not yet been fully harnessed. The study further provides recommendations for the tourism industry, national tourism administrations and the international community on how to move forward with this pressing issue.

For more information, please see: UNWTO-UN Women Global Report on Women in Tourism 2010