Major challenges

The major challenge is to increase the development of tourism from a gender perspective. It is often believed that gender analysis involves counting men and women without considering the differences between them. Working in tourism from a gender perspective entails the use of a gender analysis – critical to improving the sustainable development of tourism in itself.

This type of analysis reveals, with the most detail possible, the differences and inequalities between women and men, their causes and consequences and the manner in which they are or are not visible. It provides a basis to foster compensation measures that diminish or eliminate gender gaps.

The development of tourism with a gender perspective implies analysing how women and men contribute, experience and are individually and collectively affected by the development of tourism, with three essential objectives:

• Identify the causes of discrimination that occur directly and indirectly due to the development of tourism.
• Improve tourism planning and management processes through planning concepts and tools that promote a gender perspective. In order to do this, it is necessary to align the global gender and development agenda with the analysis and proposals promoted by the tourism sector.
• Reassess the concept of sustainability of tourism development by incorporating a women-focused analysis.