Mass Tourism: Bad for Culture but Good for Women?
June 13, 2017
The Estação do Rossio, one of Lisbon’s main railway stations and tourist site. Women are more likely to be employed in tourism than men globally, but long-term benefits elude women in the industry. JOHN PENNEY
FLORENCE, Italy — This month, Italy’s tourism season kicks into high gear. Florence, which receives more than 16 million tourists a year, is one of many cities to be marred by mass travel.
In the famously picturesque Piazza della Signoria, groups plod through the cobblestoned square, shepherded by flag-waving guides. Vendors peddle selfie-sticks in broken Italian. They peer, disoriented, through the teeming crowds.
But for all its bad points, tourism — which provides one out of every 11 jobs globally — remains one of the largest employers of women worldwide.
“Women play a crucial role in the tourism sector and they can directly benefit from it,” said Issa Torres, the director of global programs at Sustainable Travel International, a nongovernmental organization. Women account for the majority of the sector’s workforce and are twice as likely as men to be employers in the industry, compared with other fields.
In parts of Latin America, three times as many women are employers in tourism than men. Throughout Africa, one out of every three tourism ministers is a woman, and one out of every five worldwide.
