Beginner’s Guide to Gender-Inclusive Strategies for Tourism Businesses

Wednesday November 27, 2024 | 09:00AM – 10:00AM (ET) / 15:00 - 16:00 (CET) | Language: English

Co-organized by

UN Tourism and UN Women are organizing and introductory online seminar for tourism businesses on how to develop and implement a gender-inclusive business strategy.

The benefits of advancing gender equality for private sector enterprises are well documented. When businesses have inclusive policies and an inclusive culture they are 63% more likely to have increased profitability and productivity, 60% more able to attract and retain talent and 58% more likely to have an enhanced company reputation. Businesses with gender-balanced boards are almost 20% more likely to have enhanced business outcomes, while closing gender gaps in employment could boost GDP per capita by 20%.

The Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles offering guidance to business on how to advance gender equality and women's empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. Established by UN Women and UN Global Compact, the WEPs are informed by international labour and human rights standards and grounded in the recognition that businesses have a stake in, and a responsibility for, gender equality and women's empowerment. Currently, the WEPs have been endorsed by over 10,000 CEOs in more than 190 countries, of which 250 are in the travel, lodging and amusement industry.

In the tourism sector, businesses tend to have limited awareness of how to advance gender equality and integrate it in their operations and future planning. In addition, the experience of UN Tourism's flagship 'Centre Stage' capacity building programme for gender equality in tourism has revealed an urgent need to provide more tools and guidance on gender-inclusive strategies for tourism businesses.

UN Tourism and UN Women, together with the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, published in 2022 the Gender-inclusive Strategy for Tourism Businesses intended to assist businesses achieve effective strategies to promote gender equality across their operations.

This virtual seminar is a continuation of this work and will contribute to an increased understanding and implementation of gender-inclusive strategies in tourism businesses. It will address important questions including:

What is a gender-inclusive business strategy and why do we need it in tourism?
How can I develop and implement a strategy?
What support + resources are available for tourism businesses to do this?

Objectives:

Increase awareness of gender-inclusive strategies and corporate policies amongst tourism businesses;
Facilitate tourism businesses' work in reducing gender-inequalities in a systematic fashion.
Share main lessons learned in designing gender-inclusive strategies in tourism, focusing on the specificities of the sector and the different challenges this can pose;
Share practices and tools that can help to ensure corporate policies and strategies are designed to respond to the specific needs of women, girls, men and boys.
Increase awareness of the Women's Empowerment Principles and what it means to be a WEPs signatory.