Global Report on Women in Tourism, Second Edition

All Regions
3 Dec 19
ISBN 978-92-844-2037-7
N PAG. 187

UNWTO has joined forces with UN Women, the German Development Agency GIZ, World Bank and Amadeus to produce the “Global Report on Women in Tourism, second edition”. The report compiles the latest statistical data and in-depth examples of good practice to illustrate the contribution tourism is making towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 - Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering all Women and Girls.

The report examines key factors that contribute to gender equality in the tourism sector, pinpointing challenges and identifying ways to mitigate inequality and harness tourism’s potential to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide.

In this Second Report on Women in Tourism the status of women in tourism is explored across the same five thematic areas as in the first edition of the Global Report on Women in Tourism 2010 – employment; entrepreneurship; education and training; leadership, policy and decision-making; and community and civil society. By exploring the five thematic areas corresponding thematic goals were developed to demonstrate what gender equality and women’s empowerment in tourism would look like.

The report draws on a combination of quantitative analysis, literature review and 25 in-depth case studies from 18 countries. It explores trends across four world regions – Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe – and four key tourism industries – digital platforms and technology, hotels and accommodation, tour operators, and community-based tourism.

The report sets out seven key findings and each one of them is linked to a corresponding recommendation:

Key finding 1: Targeted interventions by public, private and civil society actors – such as promoting equal pay, tackling sexual harassment and recruiting women into high-level employment – help to promote decent work for women in tourism.
Key finding 2: Gender-sensitive legal and macroeconomic policies at the national level increase women’s economic empowerment in the tourism sector when they are implemented effectively.
Key finding 3: Investment in skills training for women – including training on soft skills and awareness raising on available training opportunities – and gender equality training across the sector, lead to greater outcomes for gender equality.
Key finding 4: Gender equality strategies for the tourism sector are vital for women’s empowerment, and must be backed by institutional and budgetary support.
Key finding 5: Women can be empowered politically and socially through tourism when links are made with the broader community and civil society organizations.
Key finding 6: When targeted gender-sensitive training is provided and women have access to appropriate technology, the digitalization of tourism can offer exciting new opportunities for women’s innovation and empowerment.
Key finding 7: The availability of sex-disaggregated tourism data allows for better targeted gender equality interventions in the sector and leads to greater women‘s empowerment.

This report’s key findings, recommendations and action points provide stakeholders with the tools they need to empower women in tourism and bring us closer to a world where gender equality is a reality for all.