UNWTO: tourism a vehicle for gender equality

According to a new World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)/UN Women report launched at the ITB tourism fair in Berlin, women make up an important percentage of the tourism workforce, but more work must be done to close the wealth and skills gap between men and women employed in tourism. Women are almost twice as likely to be employers in tourism as compared to others sectors. Tourism also offers leadership possibilities, with women accounting for one in five tourism ministers worldwide; more than in any other branch of government. Nevertheless, women are often “concentrated in low-skill, low-paid and precarious jobs”, typically earn “10% to 15% less than their male counterparts” and tend to perform jobs such as cooking, cleaning and hospitality, states the report.Source: UNWTO press release of March 11, 2011Preliminary findings of the report availbale in pdf here>>.

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