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Abstract
The relationship between tourism and development has been explored in tourism studies and in policy-making circles for several decades. However, very little research has been carried out into the gender dimensions of this relationship. Using the third Millennium Development Goal (MDG3) – gender equality and women's empowerment – as the focus, this paper explores this theme from a critical perspective informed by feminist approaches to development. It analyses the claim that tourism can contribute to MDG3 by reviewing the research on the impact of tourism employment on gender relations and the tensions and complexities that this presents. The main body of this paper presents a critical overview of global gender and tourism policies, focusing on the World Tourism Organisation and the World Bank. It concludes by arguing that while tourism development may, in theory, contribute to gender equality and women's empowerment, a substantive reframing of policies is required in order to be able to maximise this potential.
Acknowledgements
This article was produced during an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (PTA-026-27-1828) at the Department of Politics, University of Sheffield. An earlier version was published as a Policy Paper by the Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales, Madrid. I would like to thank Georgina Waylen for her comments on earlier drafts and various representatives of the UNWTO and UN Women with whom I am currently collaborating on gender issues in tourism.