The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has pledged to continue putting women at the center stage of world tourism.
According to data from UNWTO, while they make up 54% of all workers in the global tourism industry, women are still tremendously underpaid and overworked in the industry.
Female workers in the tourism industry have also had to bear more severe effects of the Covid-19 pandemic than male workers, effects such as getting laid off either temporarily or permanently.
Speaking on the occasion of the 2023 International Women’s Day (March 8), UNWTO secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili stressed that the global tourism industry needs to keep placing women at the “centre stage” of its growth.
“UNWTO has worked with our partners to study and document the huge contribution women make to tourism,” Pololikashvili said.
“Now it is time for tourism to give back.”
As part of efforts to celebrate women in tourism while marking this year’s International Women’s Day, the UNWTO restated its commitment to the ‘Centre Stage’ project.
Established in 2021 in partnership with UN Women and the German development ministry, the ‘Centre Stage’ project was created to make the needs of women a core focus of the global travel industry.
In the two years of its existence, the project has trained over 1,800 women in the tourism workforce. Also, more than 2,826 women have been promoted in the industry.
“With the ‘Centre Stage’ model we can help the sector work for women and we will not stop until the girls of tomorrow have the same opportunities as the men of today,” Pololikashvili affirmed.
