Tourism: Women Taking the Lead

PR No.: PR 19017

To mark International Women’s Day 2019 UNWTO, in collaboration with UN Women, the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), World Bank Group and Amadeus, has today released preliminary findings of the Global Report on Women in Tourism, Second Edition.

ITB Berlin, the world’s leading trade fair, provided the backdrop to announcing The Global Report. The initial results indicate that across the private and public sectors women are harnessing the potential of tourism to become financially independent, challenge stereotypes and start their own businesses:

The majority of the tourism workforce worldwide is female

Tourism offers greater opportunities for women’s entrepreneurship than the wider economy

Tourism policies are increasingly addressing gender-equality

Research has also shown more and more women are challenging gender stereotypes in the sector. In Morocco women have been issued tour guide licenses for the first time. An airline in the UK has doubled the number of female pilots they employ. Uganda’s Hotel Owner’s Association is now lead by its first female CEO, Jean Byamugisha.

These are but a few examples which can be found around the world. Together, they add up to a growing trend.

Technology has also been an important factor for empowerment, providing women with more training opportunities and stimulating entrepreneurship through easier access to the tourism market.

In the public sphere, policy-makers are waking up to the importance of gender equality in tourism putting measures in place to ensure women fairly share the benefits that tourism can bring.

Speaking on these findings UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, said that “tourism is leading the charge for female empowerment all over the world”.

He added: “UNWTO is firmly committed to working towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 – the empowerment of women and girls – and ensuring that tourism continues to be at the forefront of gender-equality efforts.”

UNWTO is compiling the second edition of the Global Report on Women in Tourism in collaboration with UN Women, GIZ, World Bank Group and Amadeus. These preliminary findings have been released to mark International Women’s Day 2019. The full report will be published in Autumn 2019.

For more information on the report contact: ecsr@unwto.org

UNWTO Communications Department

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@unwto.org