The Herald

Tendai Rupapa in ACCRA, Ghana

ZIMBABWES Environment and Tourism patron, First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, has voiced concern at the exclusion of women in tourism despite forming a huge base of the workforce in the sector.

She said in the tourism sector, the percentage of women who work in the industry was high, but they occupy unskilled and lowly-paying jobs.

The First Lady decried the low representation of women in decision-making positions in the industry.

Addressing delegates at the inaugural Regional Congress on Women Empowerment in the Tourism Sector Focus on Africa here yesterday, Amai Mnangagwa said in most developing countries, women were excluded in mainstream tourism, in spite of them being natural hospitality players by virtue of their warm and welcoming nature.

The First Lady, who is a champion for women empowerment, is leading a delegation of Zimbabwean women in the tourism sector.

The tourism sector definitely provides various entry points for womens employment and opportunities for creating self-employment, thus creating paths towards the elimination of poverty in women and local communities, she said.

Tourism presents both opportunities and challenges for gender equality and womens empowerment.

The contribution of women in the business world has increased in recent years, although women are under-represented in management and leadership.

The First Lady paid tribute to United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary-General Mr Zurab Polikashivili for his sterling leadership that has seen UNWTO partnering with Ghana to host this event on Women Empowerment in the Tourism sector.

Gender stereotyping and discrimination, the First Lady observed, meant that women mainly perform jobs such as cooking, cleaning and hospitality.

Much tourism employment is seasonal and fluctuates according to the volatile nature of the industry. If a strong gender perspective is integrated into planning and implementation processes, tourism can be harnessed as a vehicle for promoting gender equality and womens empowerment at the household, community, national and global level.

At the same time, greater gender equality will contribute to the overall quality of the tourist experience, with a considerable impact on profitability and quality across all aspects of the industry. I have no doubt that this platform will allow us to share and exchange the various strides being made to ensure inclusion and empowerment of women through the Women in Tourism Empowerment Programme (WITEP), which was set-up by the UNWTO.

In Zimbabwe, Amai Mnangagwa said, the Government supported the inclusion of women in the tourism sector and has supported the creation of a Women in Tourism National Chapter.

She said this development has been taken to the grassroots through the launch of Provincial Chapters of Women in Tourism.

These local chapters have enabled us to organise the women in the sector for better access to finance and capacity building to enable the economic empowerment of women in the tourism sector from the grassroots level.

I am happy to advise this gathering, taking advantage of the fact that tourism is a low-hanging fruit, most women in Zimbabwe have been involved in the setting up of tourism businesses, especially in the accommodation sector, said the First Lady.

She cited the example of Bulawayo, where 80 percent of lodges are owned by women and were operating successfully.

Zimbabwe is a signatory to a number of declarations aimed at increasing the number of women in top decision-making positions in politics and other spheres.

A study conducted in 2011 funded by the World Bank revealed that about 28 percent of workers in the tourism sector were women and 11 percent of these were in leadership positions.

As Women in Tourism, we continue to engage Government to provide more incentives to empower women to participate in the tourism sector and ensure more are employed in leadership positions in the sector.

I am glad to note that our current private sector organisation in the tourism sector, the Tourism Business Council, is currently being led by a woman, which is a vote of confidence to our abilities to lead as women.

Amai Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was intensifying its focus on cultural and heritage tourism promotion to diversify the tourism product base and promote domestic tourism.

This type of tourism, she said, had resulted in tourists interacting with communities and having a personal encounter with traditions, history and culture.

Zimbabwean women and the youths have been spearheading these projects in our less developed communities. The participation of women through community-based tourism programmes has resulted in creation of employment at grassroots level, development of infrastructure in our rural communities and promotion of social cohesion and environmental responsibility. Through the community-based projects, a total of 50 community-based tourism projects have been implemented in Zimbabwe, benefiting close to 200 000 households in Zimbabwe.

Speaking at the same occasion, Mr Pololikashvili acknowledged that tourism in Africa was on the rise.

The number of international tourist arrivals to African countries has been growing by 6 percent annually since 1995 and we are confident arrivals will reach 134 million a year by 2030.

We estimate that tourism supports more than 20 million jobs. It also helps build schools and roads and promote natural and cultural heritage, he said.

He added: The true potential of tourism as a driver of change for Africa is yet to be realised and this cannot happen without true gender equality. Women are at the forefront of development in Africa, therefore, this congress, a first of its kind, is our opportunity to discuss the importance of gender mainstreaming in tourism.

Ghanaian Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who officially opened the congress, said the event was taking place at a significant moment when international tourism was reaching new heights globally.

He said tourism constituted one of the fastest growing sectors in the world.

The industry has become a global and highly competitive socio-economic and environmental activity in both developed and developing countries.

It is a labour-intensive industry creating skilled and unskilled jobs in the supply value chains. (The) tourism market has shown strong growth across Africa in recent years.

It has a great potential to accelerate progress across the sustainable development goals.

Well-managed, the sector can generate quality jobs, reduce poverty and offer incentives for environmental conservation.

Dr Bawumia said tourism was one of the major sources of foreign exchange in many developing countries.

He added that he was informed the UNWTO was working hard to harness tourisms immense contribution to develop the most vulnerable members of society. The three-day congress aims at analysing the challenges and opportunities for women empowerment in the tourism sector, creating a synergy among African countries and key stakeholders.

Among the dignitaries attending the congress is the First Lady of Spain, Begona Gomez Fernandez.

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First Lady decries exclusion of women in tourism - The Herald