If there was ever any doubt that travel and tourism is a female-dominated profession, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has put the notion to rest with a new report stating that the majority of the global tourism workforce – 54 percent – are women.

Significantly, that figure contrasts with 39 percent in the broader economy, according to the UNWTO’s second edition of the Global Report on Women in Tourism.

Released at the recent World Travel Market in London, the publication highlights the progress the global tourism sector has made in advancing gender equality, with key case studies and statistics gathered from around the world.

Another key finding of the report is that the wage gap between men and women is smaller in the tourism sector with women in tourism earning 14.7 percent less than men compared to 16.8 percent in the broader economy.

Tourism also offers women more opportunities for leadership roles, according to the findings, with, for example, more female tourism ministers than men – 23 percent vs. 20.7 percent.

“Tourism is leading the charge for female empowerment all over the world. Across the private and public sectors women are harnessing the potential of tourism to become financially independent, challenge stereotypes and start their own businesses,” said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.

He added, “UNWTO is firmly committed to working towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 – the empowerment of women and girls – and ensuring that tourism continues to be at the forefront of gender-equality efforts.”

The Global Report on Women in Tourism further suggests that more and more women are challenging gender stereotypes in the tourism sector. In Morocco, for example, women have been issued tour guide licenses for the first time, while a UK airline has doubled the number of female pilots employed and Uganda’s Hotel Owner’s Association is now led by its first female CEO.

Technology has also been a key catalyst for empowerment by providing women with access to more training opportunities and stimulating female entrepreneurship through easier access to the tourism market, notes the report.

At the same time, policymakers in the public sphere are “waking up to the importance of gender equality in tourism and putting measures in place to ensure women fairly share the benefits that tourism can bring.”

For example, at the recent The Wings of Change summit in Berlin, more than 30 airlines committed to “25by2025,” a program designed to increase female employment at senior and under-represented levels within the airline industry by a minimum of 25 percent from current levels by 2025.

“This has created huge momentum for this very important issue,” said IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac. “We need a skilled, diverse and gender balanced workforce to meet the growing needs of our customers. Our eventual goal is equal gender participation at all levels, and the 25by2025 pledge is the start of our journey on that path.”

Celebrity Cruises is another company making waves when it comes to gender balance. Noting that only two percent of the world’s mariners are women, the cruise line reports that 22 percent of its bridge teams include women – up from three percent 2015 – and that it intends to continue to “lead the industry into a more diverse future with bold initiatives…”

One such initiative of its BRIDGEthegap campaign will be to conduct the first-ever sailing of a major cruise ship with an entirely female bridge and officer team. The historic sailing will take place on International Women’s Day – March 8, 2020 – aboard the Celebrity Edge with Captain Kate McCue at the helm, accompanied by 26 other women representing 17 different countries.

“We are all passionate about closing the gender gap,” says Celebrity’s President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. “Over the last few years, we have worked hard to diversify the crew on board and bring more women than ever into our industry… Now, we hope this all-time industry-high will continue to grow; we just need more women to raise their hands for careers at sea, especially in engineering.”

The Global Report on Women in Tourism 2010 provided the first look and a baseline study on the situation of women in the tourism sector. The second edition of the report, produced in collaboration with UN Women, The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), World Bank Group and Amadeus, considers how the situation has evolved since then and provides a thorough assessment of tourism’s contribution towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 – to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Read the  full report  HERE.