Key Issues of Gender Equality in Tourism

Lesson 1: Discrimination against women

Key Lessons

Sophia wants to be a successful career woman and a good mother. Could her husband help around the house? “She gets paid less than Paul” for doing the same job. How is that fair? 

Mia loves showing tourists her country but not when they’re rude or behave badly. She has to earn money to support her family, whatever happens at work. But one day she’d had enough. She spoke up.

Asha’s the new tourism manager. She wants a fair workplace for everyone where human rights are respected. No company can really succeed “if it allows half the workforce” to be treated badly. “It’s a small start to include some women in management positions,” but we’re half the population! Women make good decisions about workers’ rights, equal pay, childcare and the workplace culture. When you pay women the same as men for the same job, it changes the workplace for the better. When you value women and the unpaid work they do at home, it improves family life. 

When you insist on equal human rights for women, it lifts up everyone in the community. “When you support one woman, you start a chain reaction.” The ripple effect on women, children, families, communities and the wider economy is immense and we all benefit.

The manager in the film did something about the poor working conditions and unfair pay, creating a win-win situation. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case in many areas of the tourism industry.

Women are exposed to many risks in tourism

They earn less than their male colleagues, have to work long and irregular working hours and are exposed to gender-based violence, such as sexual harassment.

The tourism industry is one where gender-based discrimination takes place even though the number of women working in the industry is about twice the number of men in some countries. 

Women are exposed to discrimination in which of the following?

• Wages
• Terms of their jobs
• Working conditions
• Promotion and internal social relations

Assigning women specific rights and responsibilities based on their gender, rather than their qualifications, background, education and experience, constitutes serious discrimination. 

Lesson 2: Salary gaps and career opportunities

Women make up the majority of the tourism workforce yet tend to be the lowest paid in the lowest status jobs.

Under-represented in management positions

Women are still largely under-represented in management positions in the tourism sector.

According to a study conducted by the organisation Equality in Tourism, women make up only 27% of board members in major hotel chains. Other studies show that women account for more than 50% of the workforce in the hospitality industry. 

What can YOU do to increase women’s access to leadership roles?

Women are often denied access to the opportunities that tourism provides because of many barriers. Therefore, action is needed to increase women’s access to leadership roles:

Develop:

• Develop a gender equality policy.
• Develop a gender equal recruitment and promotion strategy.
• Make a commitment to end the gender pay gap.

Ensure:

• Ensure continuous professional development.
• Ensure that women’s voices are heard at community level.

Promote:

• Promote women’s involvement in decision-making at all levels of tourism processes.
• Provide support mechanisms to enhance the active participation of women in decision-making processes.

Enable:

• Enable all staff to balance work and home life.

Salary gaps and career opportunities are just one — but important — element where gender equality lags behind. The next lesson will look at employment conditions of women in the tourism industry. 

Lesson 3: Employment conditions for women

Women in the tourism sector, and especially in hotels, are over-represented in the lower-skilled and poorly-paid jobs and are often employed in more part-time and temporary positions than men.

Housekeeping and Waiting services have a particularly high female labour force. 

The employment rights of women working in the tourism sector are frequently violated. 

What can tourist companies do?

Tourism companies must uphold and defend the rights of women workers.

Make women aware of their legal rights

• Make women aware of their legal rights (women employed in the informal sector, such as vendors or crafts sellers, may not know what their rights are). 
• Build women’s capacity to assert these rights (e.g. through cooperatives and collectives).

Respect women’s rights

• Respect women’s maternity rights (e.g. providing maternity leave).
• Ensure safe working conditions for women (e.g. safe travel at night).
• Provide protection against workplace harassment (e.g. by formulating sexual harassment policies and appointing a harassment prevention committee).

Safeguard women’s interests

• Adopt measures to safeguard the interests, needs and rights of women, especially in the informal sector.
• Oppose all forms of sexual discrimination, such as unequal pay, dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy, unequal access to decision-making positions, promotion, training opportunities and so on

Women are often denied access to the many opportunities that tourism provides. In order to enhance their access to such opportunities, action is needed.  For example:

Specialised vocational training in specific skills to increase opportunities for female workers in the industry.

Leadership training dedicated to women.

Information on their specific rights, grievance mechanisms or women’s organisations and networks that fight for equal pay.

Lesson 4: Sexual harassment of female workers

Gender-based violence

Gender-based violence, such as sexual harassment, is a real and constant threat faced by women in the tourism industry. Women working in the hospitality sector in hotels, restaurants, bars, casinos and tourism, often risk violence and harassment. One reason for this is the contrasting social and economic status of female workers.

Who are the main offenders of sexual offences?

• Customers
• Colleagues/Co-workers
• Managers/Supervisors

As with other workers in predominantly non-standard forms of employment, where risk factors for violence and harassment are present, many do not complain for fear of losing their jobs.

Sexual harassment and exploitation

Female workers are especially exposed to sexual harassment and exploitation in bars and nightclubs — not only by customers — but also by managers or other staff members. Bars and nightclubs are often used as hubs for prostitution. In many tourism destinations, women working in prostitution are victims of human trafficking or have been forced into prostitution because of poverty. Women are also exposed to sexual harassment by hotel staff or customers (e.g. in hotel spas and massage areas). Customers are often not held accountable for their offenses.

Do something!

You as a leader can and should do something about sexual harassment. Your female employees must be able to confide in you. 

What YOU can do

• Enforce a policy of zero tolerance towards any form of exploitation of women in tourism — including labour, sexual abuse, pornography or trafficking.
• Taking steps to ensure that tourism does not displace women or alienate them. This can include awareness-raising among tourism stakeholders, providing information and empowering women in rural areas, and applying a strict zero-tolerance policy.
• Ensuring a gender-friendly environment, including the safety and security of women tourists.

Lesson 5: Working mothers in the tourism sector

Child care is rarely provided 

Many women face difficult decisions when it comes to caring for their children. Child care is rarely provided by the state and erratic and long work schedules make it difficult to find affordable child care. Most female workers in the sector rely on relatives for child care —  even if they live far away. 

The time spent on unpaid care work prevents women from enjoying the professional and economic opportunities available to men. This reduces their earning power and their influence in family decision-making and causes economic dependence.

Adressing child care

By addressing child care and supporting female workers, businesses can benefit in the form of:

Talent acquisition and retention

Female workers are increasingly looking to align work and child care. Thus, offering child care opportunities for female workers — especially skilled ones — increases staff retention and helps to recruit talented staff.

Increased productivity

Reduced distraction, fatigue and absenteeism, due to assisted child care, results in higher productivity.

Supply chain resilience and diversity

Leads to revenue and business growth (e.g. when companies produce labour-saving devices to address unequal care work).

What can tourism businesses do?

Maternity leave

• Grant or extend paid maternity leave even when there is none provided for by law.
• Respect women’s maternity rights (e.g. providing maternity leave).

Working arrangements

• Provide alternative working arrangements, such as shorter working days, after maternity leave.
• Allow working from home when possible, or allow staff to work close to their hometowns if they need to care for their parents.
• Provide childcare facilities and flexible employment policies to enable women with children or other care responsibilities to work.

Educate your employees

• Train workers on gender norms and issues such as the equitable division of household work among all family members.

What you can do for Gender Equality in Tourism

Lesson 1: Women in Tourism

The ratio of men to women in the world is roughly equal, how much of the world’s work do you think is produced by women?

• 33%
• 44%
• 55%
• 66%

Women perform 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of the food, but only earn 10% of the income and own 1% of property.

In tourism, the majority of the workforce is female — more than 54% of all formal tourism activities worldwide are carried out by female workers. In the informal sector, the figure is estimated to be even higher. In developing countries, the number of female employees in the travel industry is 75%. 

There is a lot of potential to provide women with jobs in the tourism industry. As a manager, you can also do a lot to improve women’s working conditions.

Address discrimination by

• Supporting women’s enrolment in executive and fast-track development programs to maximise their career growth.
• Developing a code of conduct which includes non-discrimination policies.
• Developing a gender-inclusive workplace culture, which includes women in management and senior leadership roles.
• Aligning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy and practice to enable small, female producers to become supply chain stakeholders.

As a responsible employer, you can do your part to eliminate discrimination against women in the workplace and ensure that their rights are protected.

Lesson 2: The situation of women in the travel industry

As the majority of the workforce in the tourism sector is female, it offers promising job opportunities for women. With its flexible working conditions, easy access to jobs and the promise of quick money, it especially attracts people with low qualifications. But the amount on the payslip is usually very low.

Most management positions in the sector are filled by males.Women are often bypassed for promotion opportunities.

Unpaid and informal work

Unpaid Work: The percentage of women doing unpaid work also remains high, especially in family tourism businesses, as informal work is common in the sector. 

Because many tourism companies are small, family enterprises, the line separating women’s paid and unpaid work is often unclear. Many women contribute to income-generating activities but they do not receive appropriate remuneration for their work

Informal Work: Women are involved in micro-businesses and Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in many cases informally, and because of discriminatory laws, this can prevent them from gaining access to finance. In developing economies, informal work makes up 70 percent of women’s employment and these informal jobs are the first to disappear in times of economic uncertainty.

They struggle to be included in decision-making processes due to their domestic responsibilities, compounded by social and cultural constraints. And, of course, they are subject to exploitative practices in some tourism destinations such as sexual abuse, human trafficking and slavery.

Why include women as leaders?

More and more tourism enterprises are realising that there is a benefit to including women in decision-making and promoting them as leaders. When women serve as leaders and employees of companies, businesses benefit and performance improves.

More competitive

Various studies show that organisations that embrace diversity and inclusion will be more competitive in the future.

Different perspectives

Women bring different perspectives. Diversity of thoughts can result in better decision-making and lead to more creative and innovative solutions.

Increase in creativity and innovation

Inclusive business cultures lead to an increase in creativity, innovation and openness and  thus to a better assessment of consumer demands.

Lesson 3: Female entrepreneurship

In many countries, women and girls are at a disadvantage from the beginning because of a lack of access to education, cultural expectations regarding a woman’s role in the home and inherent gender bias in the workplace.

Tourism can offer women considerable options for entrepreneurship that do not require heavy start-up financing. However, challenges are still posed by women’s limited access to collateral, financing and markets to start or grow a tourism business. Women’s tourism entrepreneurship is also held back by a lack of access to technology, information, business skills, education and training. 

Tourism has the potential to empower women financially

Tourism has the potential to empower women financially. This gives them purchasing power, provides opportunities to diversify businesses and have broader social involvement, resulting in an increase in self-confidence. This also allows women to take more control in other areas of their lives. For example, balancing social position, improving power relations and strengthening capacity.

What needs to be done to foster women’s entrepreneurship?

Below are five initiatives that will help female entrepreneurs. Which ones could you initiate in your area in order to foster women’s entrepreneurship?

• Strengthen women’s capacities in technology, training and business skills.
• Encourage collaboration and cooperation between women.
• Positive outreach and awareness-building which will ensure women’s access to information.
• Sensitise stakeholders to gender in the tourism industry.
• Support credit cooperatives or others schemes that give women access to credit, technology and market linkages.
• Start with the initiative that is most suited to your environment and context. Some actions are easy to start with — others might take longer to materialise.  Doing nothing is not an option.

Now that you have successfully completed the unit you can immediately start to implement or improve women’s rights in your business.