Women remain severely underrepresented across tourism transport worldwide, particularly in technical, driving, and leadership roles, a new joint report by UN Tourism and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) showed recently.

The Global Report on Women in Tourism Transport—the first to provide sex-disaggregated data across air, land, and water passenger transport—identified legal, cultural, and structural barriers that limit women's access to decent work, career advancement, and leadership positions.

The findings paint a stark picture of a sector dominated by men. In countries where data were available, women account for 36 percent of aviation workers but hold only six percent of pilot positions, with men continuing to dominate technical, flight deck, and leadership roles.

Land passenger transport accounts for 96 percent of all tourism transport workers globally, yet women represent just three percent of that workforce. In water passenger transport, women make up 12 percent of workers, with significant gaps persisting in managerial and technical roles.

The report also flagged serious shortcomings in worker protections, noting that one in five countries still lacks legal safeguards against workplace harassment.

In response, UN Tourism and the ITF signed a three-year action plan aimed at advancing gender-responsive policies, improving working conditions, expanding training and leadership opportunities for women, and strengthening data collection and reporting across the sector.

UN Tourism Secretary-General Shaikha Al Nuwais said the data now enabled targeted intervention rather than well-meaning but imprecise effort.

"Tourism is meant to connect people and open doors. Yet in every part of tourism transport, too many doors remain closed to women," she said. "Our responsibility now is to ensure that the women who keep this industry moving are also able to help lead it."

ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton said the report marked a starting point rather than a conclusion.

"ITF and UN Tourism have made a joint commitment to work with governments, employers, unions, and industry partners to tackle the inequalities that persist across tourism transport," he said. "Our focus now is turning evidence into action."

The partnership will engage governments, workers, trade unions, and industry stakeholders to implement the report's recommendations.

Source: UN Tourism