Tourism Minister pushes for greater gender representation

Sri Lanka’s tourism sector should immediately focus on achieving greater representation of women, according to the Tourism Minister. 
Addressing a UN event, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando stressed the importance of inclusive growth in the sector by addressing the grave gender disparity. 
“One thing that triggers me is the fact that female participation in the tourism sector is below 5 percent. This needs our attention right away,” Fernando stated. 
According to UN Tourism, women occupy 54 percent of Sri Lanka’s tourism workforce. 
However, a study by Australia’s Market Development Facility revealed that 44 percent of these women cited that a male family member (mostly spouse) highlighted the influence of societal perceptions. 
Moreover, less than 10 percent of women possessed academic qualifications beyond the Advanced Level examination. This exemplified a potential blockade to entry for women looking for higher-level positions in the sector, according to the study. 
To address the issue, the Tourism Ministry is actively engaged with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to initiate gender inclusive programmes, Fernando said. “We had a very good meeting with the ADB, which has a separate gender department. We discussed about how to include women in tourism, how to guide them through to be business owners, which would be the next step Sri Lanka tourism should take on board,” Fernando stated. 
Reflecting similar sentiments at the event, UNDP Sri Lanka Resident Representative Azusa Kubota emphasised the critical need to support women entrepreneurs of the Sri Lankan tourism industry. 
“My recent travels around Sri Lanka confirmed that there is a significant stigma attached to women working in the tourism sector. This means women are being left behind from the economic recovery progress,” Kubota pointed out. 
The industry must give special attention to empower female business owners and encourage the involvement of more women in tourism-related livelihoods, she said. 
(NR)