Enablers for empowerment: Saudi women’s employment in the events sector

ABSTRACT

A recent United Nations World Tourism Organisation publication, Regional report on women in tourism in the Middle East identified that the representation of women working in tourism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is significantly below the global average. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabian (KSA) government is seeking to address this imbalance. The purpose of this research is to support this initiative, by determining how women’s workforce participation in the event sector can be encouraged. A qualitative study using a mix of case studies and semi-structured interviews with twelve personnel from within the event sector in KSA was conducted. Additional qualitative data was gathered from the authors’ participation in virtual gender-related tourism events and conferences. Thematic analysis indicated key findings which include the need for the KSA government and the corporate sector to promote a positive attitude towards women in the workplace. The cessation of activity in the sector, due to COVID-19, requires government and business leaders to develop a recovery plan that will continue to foster the empowerment of women in the sector. Without a recovery plan, there is a real risk that the gains in the empowerment of women in the sector will be lost.

KEYWORDS:

• Saudi Arabia
• empowering women
• Saudi Vision 2030
• enablers
• government support and events

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Griffith Institute for Tourism and the Saudi Arabia Government for their support. Our thanks are also due to Tanya-Lee Robinson who proofread the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rafiah Almathami

Rafiah Almathami is a PhD Candidate at the University of Queensland. Her research interests include gender diversity, culture, society, mixed workplace environments, particularly in the tourism and entertainment contexts. She is currently exploring the challenges and opportunities faced by Saudi women in the Tourism and Entertainment industries in Saudi Arabia as part of her PhD research.

Catheryn Khoo

Catheryn Khoo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith University. As an authorized Tourism Gender Expert, Catheryn was the Regional Field Expert for the UNWTO/UN Women/World Bank Global Report on Women in Tourism; a Gender & Diversity Advisor on the International Tourism & Investment Conference; and Special Advisor to World Women Tourism. Catheryn has published many peer-reviewed works on women in tourism, and spoken on the topic at many industry and academic conferences.

Elaine Chiao Ling Yang

Elaine Chiao Ling Yang is a researcher at Griffith Institute for Tourism. Elaine’s research expertise lies in the areas of gender studies in tourism and hospitality, with a focus on empowering women as workers, entrepreneurs, and travellers through participation in transformative tourism production and consumption. She has also undertaken research on the social impact of tourism, Asian tourism, and solo consumers. Elaine is currently working on a project investigating migrant female hospitality workers. Elaine has been identified as an Emerging Tourism Scholar by e-Review of Tourism Research.