Women face barriers in tourism transport

WOMEN remain significantly underrepresented across the global tourism transport sector, according to UN Tourism’s Global Report on Women in Tourism Transport, the first report to provide global, sex-disaggregated data on women working across air, land and water passenger transport. The report highlights the legal, cultural and structural barriers that continue to limit women’s access to decent work, career progression and leadership opportunities throughout the sector. The report also points to workplace safety and legal protection as ongoing challenges. According to UN Tourism, one in five countries still lacks legal protections against workplace harassment. ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton said the report marked the beginning of a joint commitment to turn evidence into action by tackling inequalities across tourism transport. To address these challenges, UN Tourism and the International Transport Workers’ Federation have signed a three-year work plan to implement the report’s Action Plan for Women in Tourism Transport. The partnership will work with governments, unions, workers and industry partners to strengthen gender-responsive policies, improve working conditions, expand training and leadership opportunities and improve the collection and reporting of data. UN Tourism Secretary- General Shaikha Al Nuwais said the report provided a foundation for meaningful change. “Tourism is meant to connect people and open doors. Yet in every part of tourism transport, too many doors remain closed to women. This report gives us the data to act with precision, not good intentions alone. Our responsibility now is to ensure that the women who keep this industry moving are also able to help lead it.” she adds.