Female Employment Patterns in the Tourism Sector: A Global Review

Introduction

Tourism is a vital sector for several economies around the world. From a macroeconomic point of view, tourism is a substantial sector that increases the revenue of countries, develops employment potential with job opportunities, reduces unemployment, and closes the balance of payments deficits. Moreover, it stands out as a key sector that makes significant contributions to growth and development, especially for developing countries. In addition to these features, tourism is a sector that has back-and-forth connections with many sectors, that is, an added value created in the tourism sector also affects the economic size of different sectors in the country. For example, the food and beverage sector, which is a sub-sector of tourism, is in close relationship with the agriculture sector. The travel and accommodation sector is linked to both the agricultural and industrial sectors. In other words, the development of the tourism sector in a country paves the way for the development of other economic sectors. The tourism sector, which has significant contributions to global GDP and employment, is a key sector in certain regions of the world. Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean are regions where the total contribution of tourism to GDP and employment is considerably high (WTTC, 2022).

Women are disadvantageous compared to men all over the world in terms of participation in the labor market. When the basic indicators of the labor market are examined, it is observed that female employment is low and female unemployment is high compared to males all over the world (ILO, 2022a). However, the presence of women in the labor market is a very important factor that paves the way for women's economic empowerment, welfare, and future. Women's employment has a positive impact not only on the welfare and future of themselves but also on the future and welfare of their children and family members. At this point, the tourism sector comes to the fore as a very important sector because the sector is largely feminized. Moreover, international statistics (such as WTO&ILOSTAT) reveal that in many countries, the rate of female employment in the tourism sector is higher than the female employment rate in the general economy. Therefore, the tourism sector has a notable role in empowering women and ensuring gender equality. It should be underlined that tourism is central not only to achieving gender equality but also to many of the sustainable development goals targeted to be achieved by the end of 2030 globally.

The main aim of this study is to examine the employment patterns of women in the tourism sector globally in the pre-and post-Covid-19 period, based on comprehensive international statistics and literature. In the study, regional differences in employment in the tourism sector were also tried to be examined in detail. Since there is no study in the literature that examines women's employment in the tourism sector in such detail in the axis of current data, it is thought that this study will fill an important gap in the literature. In this framework, the first section of the chapter discusses the contribution of the tourism sector to the global economy and global employment. The second part examines patterns of female employment in the tourism sector. The third part investigates the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on female employment in the tourism sector. The study ends with the conclusion section in which the findings are summarized.