More women in tourism but fewer in executive positions -- TIEZA
MANILA, Dec. 11 (PNA) -- Women make up between 60 to 70 percent of workers in the tourism industry according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), however, more men still occupy executive positions.
Lawyer Shangrila Quezon said that although this was common in almost any other occupation, the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) are hoping to slowly change this scenario.
Data from TIEZA show that as of June 2016, it has a total workforce of 1,037 employees which is made up of 532 (51 percent) male employees and 505 (49 percent) female.
Quezon said that this figure did not immediately mean that there was a bias towards employing men versus women stating that equal opportunity should be maintained between both genders.
The same data from TIEZA showed that more men occupy positions in the top officials/executive levels with at least 80 percent of its workforce while women occupy the remaining 20 percent in the same positions.
“It’s like this in almost any occupation,†Shangrila said in a recent Women in Community-Based Tourism Forum held in the Diamond Hotel this week.
In the middle managers level, however, there are more women that occupy positions with 52.8 percent compared to men with only 47.2 percent.
“Men mostly occupy first level and top level, but women mostly occupy the middle level,†Quezon said noting that this was a welcome development.
“What we must work on is avoiding the objectification of women in the workforce,†she added referring to one of the main gender issues in the tourism industry.
Gender issues in the tourism industry include increased vulnerability of women and children, sexual harassment in the work place, trafficking, prostitution, commercialization of men, women and children, gender stereotyping, sex disaggregation of data, and sex tourism.
The 2015 Global Gender Gap Index Report shows that the Philippines ranked 7th among 145 countries in gender equality being the only Asian country consistently included in the top 10.
Quezon said that notable progress has been made but many aspects leave room for improvement. (PNA)
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