No sustainability for tourism without gender equality

Abstract

This paper explores the interconnections between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and tourism from a gender perspective. It is the first paper to take a critical analysis of how SDG 5 relates to tourism, and how tourism and gender equality interconnects with the other SDGs. First, we analyse the recent gender sensitive sustainable development agenda in order to set out the challenges – both past and present – that any sector involved in sustainable development faces. We then explore the links between the SDGs and tourism development from a gender perspective. In the third part of the paper, based on the field experiences of the authors, we use the examples of SDG 6 (“clean water and sanitation”) and SDG 8 (“sustainable economic growth and decent work”) to highlight the interconnections between gender equality and the other SDGs. Finally, we suggest some tools to help tourism businesses improve their performance with respect to gender equality thereby enhancing their capacity to contribute towards the achievement of the SDGs. We argue that, without tackling gender equality in a meaningful and substantive way, tourism’s potential to contribute to the SDGs will be reduced and sustainable tourism will remain an elusive “pot of gold”.

Keywords:

• Tourism from a gender perspective
• SDGs
• SDG 5
• human rights

Acknowledgements

The authors very much appreciate to Angela Hadjipateras, Dr. Lucy Ferguson, and Dr. Tricia Barnett for assistance and comments that improved the manuscript and to the British Academy for the funding of the Gender, Tourism and Water research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Available here: http://www.tourism4development2017.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/070417_iy2017-discussion-paper.pdf

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniela Moreno Alarcón

Dr. Daniela Moreno Alarcón has honed an international experience in the tourism sector, specifically working towards the integration of a gender perspective and gender mainstreaming in tourism development, national policies and strategies, and programme design across a range of country contexts. Currently she is the field gender expert for Latin America and The Caribbean of the Second Edition of the UNWTO Global Report of Women in Tourism. She is a co-director of Equality in Tourism.

Stroma Cole

Dr. Stroma Cole is a senior lecturer in Tourism Geography at the University of the West of England. Stroma combines her academic career with action research and consultancy, most recently looking at tourism, gender and water rights in Indonesia. She is a co-director of Equality in Tourism. Stroma is a feminist activist researcher critiquing the consequences of tourism development.