4 Ways Women Are Re-defining the Travel Industry
See the world, change the world.
As a company, we’re moved by the desire to drive gender equality for women around the world. But why did we choose travel as the way to do it?
For one, women dominate the travel market as consumers, representing a massive opportunity to impact travel, hospitality, and tourism economies for the better. We know that supporting the economic autonomy of women has a compounding positive effect within a community.
We believe that most women booking travel and building out itineraries prefer to support the local community they visit. However, it can be hard to define what it even means to travel ethically, adding analysis paralysis to the already stressful process of booking travel.
With all of this in mind, our mission isn’t just to empower the women local to the communities we visit, but also raise awareness in women travellers of the power in their dollar. We want to make it easier to do the right thing, and give women the resources they need to make decisions for themselves.
To that end, here are some major trends occurring in the travel industry, where women are making big moves as both travelers and talent.
WOMEN ARE THE MAJORITY OF EMPLOYEES IN THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY
Tourism, travel, and hospitality is an economy already employing more women worldwide than the global average, and features twice as many women employers as other sectors. While issues of pay inequality persist, the discrepancy is lower than the outside economy. Also, the emergence of the sharing economy, with apps like Uber and Airbnb may decrease barriers to entry for women looking to earn their own income in this sector.
As in all industries, there is opportunity to improve the quality and security of the work women are doing in this sector. They are over-represented in clerical roles that have high turnover and low pay. Unsurprisingly, they also tend to take on the majority of unpaid work in family tourism businesses. The issue isn’t that women can’t access work, so much as there is a need for more opportunity for growth and more financing available for women looking to start new businesses.
Read more about the UNWTO’s recommendations for women in tourism in Issue 3 of their Inclusive Recovery Guide here.
TRAVEL DOLLARS AND JOBS MULTIPLY WITHIN LOCAL COMMUNITIES
The benefits of dollars spent in tourism have compounding effects beyond just the direct impact to GDP and employment. It’s estimated that for every dollar generated in direct travel and tourism GDP, more than two dollars are generated indirectly, with a similar impact occurring with regards to employment. This ripple effect occurs throughout the supply chain, in adjacent industries like construction, retail, and agriculture.
As consumers, we believe that we can create the demand for more women-led and women-operated businesses. In doing so, we may harness the existing momentum and ensure that women are getting their fair share of the wealth and opportunity generated. By loudly demonstrating our interest in women-led and women-operated businesses, we have the opportunity to influence that incidental expenditure and employment opportunities into gainful, dignified employment for women.
WOMEN TRAVEL MORE THAN MEN, MAKE MORE DECISIONS THAN MEN, AND SPEND MORE THAN MEN
Women are outpacing men as leisure travelers across all brackets, clocking in around 56 per cent. They’re more apt than ever to travel solo and with each other than ever before. They also live longer, and therefore dominate in the category of retirees.
However, even in travel that isn’t solely theirs, women are still at the wheel. It’s a very common phenomenon that women take on not only more physical household labour, but also the project management—and thinking that comes along with it.
When it comes to travel spending and budgeting, this decision making is women’s work 85% of the time. This makes them the unequivocal keyholders of this market and the ones that need to be convinced. Besides this being a great opportunity to influence the market with purchasing decisions, it also points to what we suspect anecdotally: women don’t just need a break from working and homemaking. They need a break from keeping all the mental tabs open. Vacationing where you have to own every detail isn’t a vacation.
WOMEN AREN’T WAITING FOR MEN TO TRAVEL
A new phenomenon that marketers call “Revenge travel” is dominating travel purchases now across genders, where travellers are booking the trips of their dreams after years of uncertainty. The result is a boom in bigger budget, more experiential travel. For many women, it means not letting guilt around expense or pleasing the whole family dictate the itinerary and location. Sisters, as they say, are doing it for themselves.
Interest in solo travel for women is on the rise, but so is the phenomenon of women travelling alone, together. Given safety is a major influence on women’s travel behaviour, it stands to reason that the safety of numbers would appeal. For women who want to book day trips or tours, it can be awkward and expensive to make these bookings as a solo entity. Women-only travel offers women the opportunity to capitalize on group rates and private trips, rather than getting jostled around in a mini-bus full of strangers or having to go their own way. Plus, they get to hang out with cool, like-minded women who share a spirit of adventure, curiosity and optimism.
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As travel and tourism is coming back online with a vengeance, we have the opportunity to set new norms and rebuild opportunities for women in this industry around the world. We’re thrilled to be building a company that drives that momentum forward, and so happy to invite you to be a part of it.
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