World Tourism Day: How the door opens for women
Saturday, 29 September 2007
Shaker Hussain
WORLD Tourism Day 2007 was observed Thursday (September 27) with the theme -- "Tourism opens doors for Women" -- to celebrate women's achievement in the tourism sector and encourage continuous action in support of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goal 3, "Promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment."
This year's host country is Sri Lanka, an active UNWTO member for 30 years with a vibrant cultural heritage in which women have played a prominent role. The theme highlights an issue of fundamental importance for our future.
The Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) chalked out programmes, which included rallies, telecasting of interviews with the Tourism Adviser as well as the Tourism Secretary and the Chairman of the Corporation, publication of special supplements in national dailies and holding of seminars, to observe the day. But there was no concrete step taken by the private tour operators to highlight or promote participation of women in this sector yet.
Women's Employment and Participation in Tourism: The tourism industry is one major employer of women, offers various opportunities for independent-income generating activities, and, at the same time, affects women's lives in destination communities.
The tourism sector definitely provides various entry points for women's employment and opportunities for creating self-employment in small-and medium-sized income generating activities, thus creating paths towards the elimination of poverty among women and local communities in developing countries.
There has consequently been a rapid rate of job creation and development. The general picture suggests that the tourism industry seems to be a particularly important sector for women (46 % of the workforce are women) as their percentages of employment in most countries are higher than in the workforce in general (34 - 40 % are women, ILO data).
The numbers of women and their percentage of the workforce in tourism vary greatly between countries - from 2.0 %, up to over 80 %. There has been a broad increase in the participation of women for tourism industry at the global level. The majority of this increase in female participation may be driven by the growth in the industry for specific countries, such as Puerto Rico, Chile and Turkey.
For the industrially developed countries, there has been little change in the actual participation of women in the tourism industry. The situation in the tourism industry resembles the one in the labour markets in general. As in many other sectors, there is a significant horizontal and vertical gender segregation of the labour market in tourism.
Horizontally, women and men are placed in different occupations - women are being employed as waitresses, chambermaids, cleaners, travel agencies' sales persons, flight attendants, etc., whereas men are being employed as barmen, gardeners, construction workers, drivers, pilots, etc.
Vertically, the typical "gender pyramid" is prevalent in the tourism sector - lower levels and occupations with few career development opportunities being dominated by women and key managerial positions being dominated by men. Good news is that now women hold jobs across the employment spectrum from artisan or guide to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the board in countries and companies of all sizes around the world. Recent research showed that in some countries, women occupied positions such as Hotel General Manager, Chair of the Tourist Board, Airline Director, Conservation Area Manager and, by no means, the least -- Tourism Minister.
Women's Rights, Stereotypical Images, Sexual Objectification: The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) form the basis of addressing human rights and women's rights issues in tourism. Women can suffer specific discrimination within the tourism sector. Women are consistently denied positions of leadership and responsibility within the industry, they are concentrated in low skilled and low paid occupations, they are being objectified as part of the tourism "package" and they can have their traditional roles perpetuated within an industry that feeds on uncomplicated images.
In less direct ways, too, women are among those most adversely affected by tourism development. Tourism can violate women's rights, but it can also be used to challenge traditional roles and to empower women, in economic, social, cultural and political terms. Women can find a voice and independence through getting involved in tourism activities - by becoming part of decision-making processes and carving out new roles in their families, homes and within local power structures.
With sex tourism being the most negative and prominent example, there is a significant amount of sexual objectification of women working in the tourism industry. Studies have shown that women are expected to dress in an "attractive" manner, to look beautiful (ie slim, young, pretty) and to "play along" with sexual harassment by customers. Stereotypical images of women are in many cases part of the tourism product.
Friendly smiling women, fitting certain standards of attractiveness, who seem to be waiting to submissively serve the customer's every wish, are being portrayed. Women working at destinations as well as indigenous women are being shown in a stereotypical way in tourism brochures and other materials.
Recommendations for the Tourism Industry: Governments, local governments, employers, trade unions and community groups should jointly create community-based institutions and services to help women and men to cope with the double burden of family and household work as well as work outside the home to generate income, such as childcare facilities which, in turn, can create jobs.
Industry can look into opening child-care facilities in tourist resorts to children of employees. Supporting women to become self-employed through tourism-related activities should be linked with micro-credit programmes.
Loans to women's initiatives should be included as a means of creating opportunities for the industry to buy and source locally, thus maximising the benefits for local communities. Training should also be provided to promote activities that are indirectly linked to tourism, such as printing, dyeing and folk-arts. Special training for women might be needed in many cases.
Development of the handicraft industry should form an important part of strategic planning for community participation in tourism, especially the participation of women. Employers should set up programmes and schemes encouraging women to move into non-traditional occupations, invest in women's training, appoint them in managerial positions, and re-appoint them after years of less involvement due to family responsibilities.
The tourism industry and tourism boards should abolish marketing strategies using women's stereotypical images as part of the product. Employers should review their standards and criteria of employing women and men, and their policies to protect women from sexual objectification and sexual harassment by customers.
What role should be played by the women? The development of women's role not only gives a society balance, but also strengthens economies and social structures. The challenges now revolve around issues like ensuring income parity, raising employment quality, creating reasonable workplace conditions and penetrating glass ceilings - issues which are relevant generally to Millennium Development Goal 3 and gender equality.
Women, especially in rural communities, have a particularly important role to play in the development of responsible tourism. The employment of women can be a fundamental determinant of the development impacts of the tourism industry. The potential employment impact of the tourism industry on both men and women in rural areas will considerably improve family life.
The urban drift among men who migrate to cities in search of employment has had a deleterious impact on rural women who continue to suffer not only from hard labour in the rural fields, but also have poor access to infrastructure and basic necessities such as water.
The special roles that women can play in the new tourism drive of Bangladesh are identified below:
As teachers mothers and mentors, awareness can be generated about the potential of tourism to stimulate community growth and development;
Pro-active poliey supports can be provided for shaping a responsible tourism industry in Bangladesh as policy-makers, entrepreneurs, entertainers, travel agents, tour guides, restaurateurs, workers, managers, guest's house operators and other leading roles in the tourism business environment;
Equality should be ensured about the conditions of employment of women. Too often, women are seen as a "cheap" alternative to employing men, with no security of tenure, maternity leave or investment in career development;
Respect for and dignity of women in the development, marketing and promotion of tourism need to be promoted and, wherever possible have to be ensured;
The support of developers and local authorities can be mobilished for the provision of services and infrastructure to enhance the position of women in communities;
The provision of craft training and other opportunities can be arranged to expand the skills base of rural women;
Special attention need to be given to caber to the needs of women tourists, with a particular emphasis on safety and security.
Rural women's full participation in economic activities, associated with the development of pro-poor ecotourism through training in running micro-enterprises, tour guiding, home-stays and handicraft production, can be supported.
Perspective of women in Bangladesh: Though women in Bangladesh have since liberation been encouraged to enter all kinds of professions alongside the men, their persistent social backwardness prevented them to have equal access to the top levels of administration in the governmental hierarchy.
The government has been trying hard to involve and integrate women in the policy and decision making processes.
Many steps were being undertaken to change the status and conditions of women through provisions of laws, executive orders, policy interventions and building of institutions. These steps and measures seem consistent with the similar ones of the United Nations, e.g., the Declaration of International Women's Year in 1975, Designation of UN Decade for Women (1975-85), Adoption of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Indeed, all these measures seem to have influenced the government a great deal to adopt policies and programmes to enhance women's status, roles and rights. Bangladeshi women have a significant role to play in social and economic development, both nationally and globally.
If women are associated with development activities on an extensive seale, an environment will be created to make their participation possible. Women in Bangladesh often suffer from the traditional value system of a patriarchal society and gender discrimination.
Women do not have adequate access to, and are deprived of, many benefits from services in education, health, employment and governance. The Constitution of Bangladesh recognises equal rights of women but the family laws and laws relating to religious rites put men and women on unequal platforms.
Women emancipation movements and efforts in women empowerment can open new avenues for their broader participation in economic activities and also for recognition of women as agents for change and development.
(The writer is a Senior Training Officer, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation)
WORLD Tourism Day 2007 was observed Thursday (September 27) with the theme -- "Tourism opens doors for Women" -- to celebrate women's achievement in the tourism sector and encourage continuous action in support of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goal 3, "Promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment."
This year's host country is Sri Lanka, an active UNWTO member for 30 years with a vibrant cultural heritage in which women have played a prominent role. The theme highlights an issue of fundamental importance for our future.
The Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) chalked out programmes, which included rallies, telecasting of interviews with the Tourism Adviser as well as the Tourism Secretary and the Chairman of the Corporation, publication of special supplements in national dailies and holding of seminars, to observe the day. But there was no concrete step taken by the private tour operators to highlight or promote participation of women in this sector yet.
Women's Employment and Participation in Tourism: The tourism industry is one major employer of women, offers various opportunities for independent-income generating activities, and, at the same time, affects women's lives in destination communities.
The tourism sector definitely provides various entry points for women's employment and opportunities for creating self-employment in small-and medium-sized income generating activities, thus creating paths towards the elimination of poverty among women and local communities in developing countries.
There has consequently been a rapid rate of job creation and development. The general picture suggests that the tourism industry seems to be a particularly important sector for women (46 % of the workforce are women) as their percentages of employment in most countries are higher than in the workforce in general (34 - 40 % are women, ILO data).
The numbers of women and their percentage of the workforce in tourism vary greatly between countries - from 2.0 %, up to over 80 %. There has been a broad increase in the participation of women for tourism industry at the global level. The majority of this increase in female participation may be driven by the growth in the industry for specific countries, such as Puerto Rico, Chile and Turkey.
For the industrially developed countries, there has been little change in the actual participation of women in the tourism industry. The situation in the tourism industry resembles the one in the labour markets in general. As in many other sectors, there is a significant horizontal and vertical gender segregation of the labour market in tourism.
Horizontally, women and men are placed in different occupations - women are being employed as waitresses, chambermaids, cleaners, travel agencies' sales persons, flight attendants, etc., whereas men are being employed as barmen, gardeners, construction workers, drivers, pilots, etc.
Vertically, the typical "gender pyramid" is prevalent in the tourism sector - lower levels and occupations with few career development opportunities being dominated by women and key managerial positions being dominated by men. Good news is that now women hold jobs across the employment spectrum from artisan or guide to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the board in countries and companies of all sizes around the world. Recent research showed that in some countries, women occupied positions such as Hotel General Manager, Chair of the Tourist Board, Airline Director, Conservation Area Manager and, by no means, the least -- Tourism Minister.
Women's Rights, Stereotypical Images, Sexual Objectification: The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) form the basis of addressing human rights and women's rights issues in tourism. Women can suffer specific discrimination within the tourism sector. Women are consistently denied positions of leadership and responsibility within the industry, they are concentrated in low skilled and low paid occupations, they are being objectified as part of the tourism "package" and they can have their traditional roles perpetuated within an industry that feeds on uncomplicated images.
In less direct ways, too, women are among those most adversely affected by tourism development. Tourism can violate women's rights, but it can also be used to challenge traditional roles and to empower women, in economic, social, cultural and political terms. Women can find a voice and independence through getting involved in tourism activities - by becoming part of decision-making processes and carving out new roles in their families, homes and within local power structures.
With sex tourism being the most negative and prominent example, there is a significant amount of sexual objectification of women working in the tourism industry. Studies have shown that women are expected to dress in an "attractive" manner, to look beautiful (ie slim, young, pretty) and to "play along" with sexual harassment by customers. Stereotypical images of women are in many cases part of the tourism product.
Friendly smiling women, fitting certain standards of attractiveness, who seem to be waiting to submissively serve the customer's every wish, are being portrayed. Women working at destinations as well as indigenous women are being shown in a stereotypical way in tourism brochures and other materials.
Recommendations for the Tourism Industry: Governments, local governments, employers, trade unions and community groups should jointly create community-based institutions and services to help women and men to cope with the double burden of family and household work as well as work outside the home to generate income, such as childcare facilities which, in turn, can create jobs.
Industry can look into opening child-care facilities in tourist resorts to children of employees. Supporting women to become self-employed through tourism-related activities should be linked with micro-credit programmes.
Loans to women's initiatives should be included as a means of creating opportunities for the industry to buy and source locally, thus maximising the benefits for local communities. Training should also be provided to promote activities that are indirectly linked to tourism, such as printing, dyeing and folk-arts. Special training for women might be needed in many cases.
Development of the handicraft industry should form an important part of strategic planning for community participation in tourism, especially the participation of women. Employers should set up programmes and schemes encouraging women to move into non-traditional occupations, invest in women's training, appoint them in managerial positions, and re-appoint them after years of less involvement due to family responsibilities.
The tourism industry and tourism boards should abolish marketing strategies using women's stereotypical images as part of the product. Employers should review their standards and criteria of employing women and men, and their policies to protect women from sexual objectification and sexual harassment by customers.
What role should be played by the women? The development of women's role not only gives a society balance, but also strengthens economies and social structures. The challenges now revolve around issues like ensuring income parity, raising employment quality, creating reasonable workplace conditions and penetrating glass ceilings - issues which are relevant generally to Millennium Development Goal 3 and gender equality.
Women, especially in rural communities, have a particularly important role to play in the development of responsible tourism. The employment of women can be a fundamental determinant of the development impacts of the tourism industry. The potential employment impact of the tourism industry on both men and women in rural areas will considerably improve family life.
The urban drift among men who migrate to cities in search of employment has had a deleterious impact on rural women who continue to suffer not only from hard labour in the rural fields, but also have poor access to infrastructure and basic necessities such as water.
The special roles that women can play in the new tourism drive of Bangladesh are identified below:
As teachers mothers and mentors, awareness can be generated about the potential of tourism to stimulate community growth and development;
Pro-active poliey supports can be provided for shaping a responsible tourism industry in Bangladesh as policy-makers, entrepreneurs, entertainers, travel agents, tour guides, restaurateurs, workers, managers, guest's house operators and other leading roles in the tourism business environment;
Equality should be ensured about the conditions of employment of women. Too often, women are seen as a "cheap" alternative to employing men, with no security of tenure, maternity leave or investment in career development;
Respect for and dignity of women in the development, marketing and promotion of tourism need to be promoted and, wherever possible have to be ensured;
The support of developers and local authorities can be mobilished for the provision of services and infrastructure to enhance the position of women in communities;
The provision of craft training and other opportunities can be arranged to expand the skills base of rural women;
Special attention need to be given to caber to the needs of women tourists, with a particular emphasis on safety and security.
Rural women's full participation in economic activities, associated with the development of pro-poor ecotourism through training in running micro-enterprises, tour guiding, home-stays and handicraft production, can be supported.
Perspective of women in Bangladesh: Though women in Bangladesh have since liberation been encouraged to enter all kinds of professions alongside the men, their persistent social backwardness prevented them to have equal access to the top levels of administration in the governmental hierarchy.
The government has been trying hard to involve and integrate women in the policy and decision making processes.
Many steps were being undertaken to change the status and conditions of women through provisions of laws, executive orders, policy interventions and building of institutions. These steps and measures seem consistent with the similar ones of the United Nations, e.g., the Declaration of International Women's Year in 1975, Designation of UN Decade for Women (1975-85), Adoption of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Indeed, all these measures seem to have influenced the government a great deal to adopt policies and programmes to enhance women's status, roles and rights. Bangladeshi women have a significant role to play in social and economic development, both nationally and globally.
If women are associated with development activities on an extensive seale, an environment will be created to make their participation possible. Women in Bangladesh often suffer from the traditional value system of a patriarchal society and gender discrimination.
Women do not have adequate access to, and are deprived of, many benefits from services in education, health, employment and governance. The Constitution of Bangladesh recognises equal rights of women but the family laws and laws relating to religious rites put men and women on unequal platforms.
Women emancipation movements and efforts in women empowerment can open new avenues for their broader participation in economic activities and also for recognition of women as agents for change and development.
(The writer is a Senior Training Officer, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation)