UN Tourism and the International Transport Workers’ Federation have issued a joint call for urgent action following the publication of a new report exposing severe gender imbalances in the tourism transport sector. The Global Report on Women in Tourism Transport provides the first comprehensive, sex-disaggregated data regarding female employment across air, land and water passenger transit. The research highlights major cultural, legal and structural barriers that prevent women from securing decent work and progressing into leadership roles.

According to the data, the vast majority of positions within tourism transport remain heavily male-dominated. In aviation, women account for 36 per cent of the workforce, but they represent a mere 6 per cent of active pilots, as men continue to hold the vast majority of technical and flight deck roles. The imbalance is even more pronounced in land passenger transport, which employs 96 per cent of all tourism transport workers, yet only 3 per cent of this specific workforce are women. Furthermore, women make up only 12 per cent of workers in water passenger transport, with notable employment gaps remaining in both technical and managerial roles.

The investigation also identified poor sanitation, safety concerns and a lack of legal protection as major deterrents for female workers. Shockingly, one in five countries globally still does not provide legal protections against harassment in the workplace.

To address these systemic issues, UN Tourism and the ITF have signed a concrete three-year work plan to enforce the recommendations detailed in the report. The joint initiative will involve collaborating with national governments, trade unions, workers and private industry partners. The primary focus will be on strengthening gender-responsive workplace policies, improving overall working conditions, creating more training opportunities and establishing better reporting systems.

UN Tourism Secretary-General Shaikha Al Nuwais said: “Tourism is meant to connect people and open doors. Yet in every part of tourism transport, too many doors remain closed to women. This report gives us the data to act with precision, not good intentions alone. 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: “Launching this report is not the end of the story, it is the beginning. 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. Our focus now is turning evidence into action.”