How Tourism Can Better Invest in Women

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This year’s 2023 International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity,” a call to action to spur discussion on equity vs. equality and how it is only through equity that that we can create a truly more inclusive world. One that acknowledges the current inequalities and what changes and resources are needed to move closer to the goal of equity where everyone has an opportunity for success even with different starting circumstances.

Companies, governments, and communities play a crucial role in creating this more equitable world through deliberate change and actions to more inclusively ensure that women and marginalized groups have access to resources, support and opportunity. The tourism sector is certainly no exception.

Equity vs. Equality: Why the Difference Matters

In fact, the tourism sector is in a good and unique position to act on the #EmbraceEquity campaign call from the official International Women’s Day website. One of the goals of the this year’s campaign theme is to get people talking about “Why equal opportunities aren’t enough.”

People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.

When we embrace equity, we embrace diversity, and we embrace inclusion.

We embrace equity to forge harmony and unity, and to help drive success for all.

Equality is the goal, and equity is the means to get there.

Through the process of equity, we can reach equality.“

Before we move on, it’s important to understand the difference between the words equality and equity as they are often used incorrectly as synonyms. This IWD page does a good job breaking this down and providing examples of equity vs. equality.

“Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.”

“Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.”

In other words, in order to make our inequitable world more equitable, we need to acknowledge that a one-size-fits-all equal approach for everyone will not work to lift everyone up to a desired level of equality and success. For example, an equality approach might be to provide laptops to all students in the world without acknowledging that the lack of electricity and internet in many parts of the world will make those laptops obsolete and without desired results. An equity approach would aim to address the problems around access to electricity, internet, digital literacy and other circumstances that might prevent students from achieving success with the provided laptop.

Travel and Equity

In an ideal form, travel is all about celebrating diversity, valuing differences, breaking down stereotypes and bias, engaging local communities, and making places better for local people to live. At least that’s the goal for many people who work in tourism, and something that much mindful and sustainable travel achieves. We know, however, that sadly not all tourism and travelers live up to this ideal.

Rebuilding the tourism sector, deliberately pursuing greater participation from women and greater social impact is a way to get closer to this ideal. This inclusiveness promises not only to strengthen the sector and make it more resilient, but it will also help construct deeper and more transformative travel experiences for travelers that are closer to that ideal above.

With the landscape in mind, this article offers some specific ideas and mechanisms that tourism and travel can apply to empower women, support women entrepreneurs and businesses, and actively invest in communities to do so. Through all this, the travel sector can #EmbraceEquity and deliberately work towards making a more equitable and inclusive world.

Women in Tourism Before the Pandemic

Prior to the pandemic, women accounted for 54% of the tourism sector’s employment worldwide. On one level, this statistic can be interpreted as an achievement, a foundational step toward opportunity and access for women.

However, according to research done by the UNWTO, most of those jobs are concentrated in the least powerful, lowest-skilled and lowest paid positions. Only around 19-25% of leadership and C-suite levels are filled by women. This implies that women are often hired only for low level jobs and especially for those participating in the informal economy, the remain the most at risk of job loss and displacement from economic shocks like the pandemic.

As the tourism sector rebuilds its challenge is not only to focus on greater involvement of women as part of the workforce, but as partners and leaders. And if we think of this year’s theme of equity, to provide the needed resources and opportunities in that local context for women and marginalized groups to be successful.

Why Investing in Women Matters

Investing in women is an investment in our communities and future generations.

Kiva, a microfinance organization which lends money low-income entrepreneurs around the world, found that women reinvest 80% of the income they earn into the education and wellbeing of children. Other research from the United Nations indicates that women-led economic empowerment leads to more gender equality and rights, economic growth, increased rates of girls education, and other community indicators of well-being.

Moshi Mamas provides business and skills training to women, as well as market access for handicrafts.

We’ve seen this play out in our projects repeatedly over the the last 10+ years, whether working with microfinance or tourism organizations.

Shoshe, who had received business training and market access for her handicrafts through a program in Moshi, Tanzania, explained this concept above in personal terms: “I want to break the cycle for my daughter. I want to prove women can work and earn money.”

Alessandra Alonso from Women in Travel explained during a G Adventures Retravel panel on the topic of women in tourism: “For us, economic empowerment is the beginning of everything. Because when a woman earns, then the kids get educated, the extended family eats and the whole community is much better off.”

Jordan Travel, Zikra Initiative Social Enterprise — Learning to Make *Shrak*, traditional Jordanian bread, with women from a Zikra Initiative social enterprise.

The Business Case for Inclusive Work Forces

In addition, investment in women and inclusive work forces makes good business sense. Studies show companies that exhibit higher levels of gender diversity, especially at the executive level, usually outperform those without in terms of economic profit. One of the reasons is that men and women often display different leadership styles. The expression of diverse opinions and perspectives generates collective intelligence and can often result in more creative solutions and more effective problem solving.

The business rationale is there on the consumer side, too. In tourism and travel, it’s estimated that women consumers make 70-80% of the travel decisions. Women travelers comprise a growing percentage of the entire traveling community. A company’s capability – aided by workplace diversity — to comprehend and process the needs of its current and prospective customers seems a no-brainer.

Here are a few practical ways that travel and tourism can better invest in women and support empowerment, women businesses and leadership as the sector emerges after the pandemic and other crises.

Develop tourism products together with local community organizations and social enterprises that focus on supporting local women and marginalized groups. This social impact product development approach not only provides opportunity and to women and marginalized communities, but it can also provide crucial market access and a source of income for the local organization. If you are unsure on how to get started with a community-driven product development process, we can help.
Hire more women, and not only at the lowest levels of participation. Focus especially on leadership and management positions. If you believe that your company already does an adequate job at gender diversity, conduct a simple audit to see how many positions in the company are filled by women or individuals from marginalized communities. This might offer a more objective snapshot of the actual diversity of your company’s workforce.
Deploy innovation in gender diversity. Open positions and offer or expand training for women-led initiatives that might at first be considered unconventional. This will help to expand the definition and idea of what a “woman’s job” is or what’s possible for women to aspire to do. For example, Chobe Game Lodge was the first company to in Botswana to feature an all-female safari guide team. Sakha Cabs in India trains women to be taxi and professional drivers, a profession once considered “a man’s work.” Women in these roles push boundaries. Stereotypes are changing. Get ahead of the curve.
Don’t just localize the supply chain, but make it more gender equal by choosing women-owned suppliers and local businesses. This approach will not only support your sustainability efforts, but women-owned businesses tend to amplify and expand opportunity and employment for other women in the community.
Identify barriers and understand local women’s needs by asking them. Then provide the support they need to productively engage in projects, get the skills they want, and join the workforce. For example, this might include offering child care, transport to and from work to alleviate safety concerns, skills training to supplement basic education, and flexible work hours to accommodate traditional responsibilities at home.
Encourage women to be the storytellers. Especially in indigenous communities, we’ve found that women are the stewards of tradition and culture. They are often the ones who pass on knowledge, traditions and techniques to their children, thereby sustaining community wisdom. Women’s voices often go unheard, for they don’t understand the value of their knowledge, nor are they actively given the opportunity to share it. Tourism companies are in an ideal position to amplify these stories and voices by inviting women to be guides or speak as local experts.
Communicate to your customers and your travelers the deliberate decisions you’ve taken to invest in women. Share stories of access and opportunity. Be transparent and don’t be afraid to season your story by sharing some of the mistakes you’ve made along the way. Invite your customers to join this journey with you. Educate them on the impact of their decisions and behaviors to support women around the world. If you don’t know how to get started with social impact communications, let us know.

Chobe National Park, Electric Vehicle — Lynn, part of the all-women guiding team at Chobe Game Lodge, with her fully-electric Land Cruiser.

For those of us in tourism, we know that it can create opportunity and jobs, thereby enhancing lives and livelihoods. It can take transferable skills and embed them for use in the formal economy.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, we need to move from words and inspiration on one day of the year to deliberate and continual action which supports and empowers women every day.

Should the tourism sector rise to “Embrace Equity,” women will be provided with the resources and support they need to take the driver’s seat on the journey to create a more inclusive and equitable future for all of us.

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How Tourism Can Better Invest in Women – Uncornered Market discoverescape.com