Travel and Tourism Industry Employing Growing Number of Women Since 2010

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:35 PM ET, Wed December 20, 2023

The number of women and young professionals employed by the travel and tourism industry has soared in recent years.

Between 2010 and 2019 their ranks increased from 38.6 million to 47.8 million, which amounts to an increase of 24 percent, according to new research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Sustainable Global Center (STGC).

The same report reveals that the hospitality sector is the top employer of women within the travel and tourism industry, accounting for more than half of female employment.

Younger workers meanwhile, filled 15 percent of all jobs within the industry in both 2010 and in 2021. By contrast, the overall global employment of young workers (including all industries) fell from 16.5 percent in 2010 to 12.5 percent in 2021.

“For the first time ever, we can show that the sector has an incredibly positive impact globally, supporting more high wage jobs, a level playing field for women, and provides long-term, sustainable, economically attractive jobs to young people across the world,” Julia Simpson, WTTC president and CEO, said in a statement.

In addition to highlighting the significant strides being made by women within the travel industry, the new report provides a regional breakdown of employment across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. It represents the first analysis of the global social footprint of the travel and tourism industry, broken down by age, gender, and income.

Tour guide giving directions to a small group of tourists

Women in Travel and Tourism

Travel and tourism employed a marginally higher share of women compared to other sectors globally in 2021—39.3 percent compared to a 39.2 percent average.
Hospitality is the leading employer within the travel and tourism industry for women, accounting for more than half (52 percent) of all female employment in 2019.  
Around the world, women make up a larger share of travel and tourism employment than the economy-wide workforce in Asia-Pacific and the Americas.
The share of women working in travel and tourism in Africa has been rising since 2010, and female employment across the economy in the Middle East has also grown significantly.

Youth in Travel and Tourism  

Young people employed directly by the travel and tourism industry has grown steadily over the last decade filling a total of 39.7 million jobs around the world in 2019, which is an increase of 28 percent since 2010.
For all the years analyzed, more than half of the global youth employment in the travel and tourism industry was in the Asia-Pacific region, at 9.2 million in 2021. The region also experienced a youth employment growth rate of nearly 37 percent between 2010 and 2019, outpacing all other areas of the world, which were all closer to a 20 percent growth rate.

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