Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Tourism sector to focus on women

Thiruvananthapuram: The tourism sector not only employs a significant number of women, but also provides enormous opportunities for their advancement world-wide.

The World Tourism Organisation has announced ‘Tourism opens doors for women’ as the theme for World Tourism Day 2007 being observed on Thursday. The theme is an occasion to celebrate women’s achievements in the tourism sector and stimulate action in support of United Nation’s 3rd Millennium Development Goal, ‘Promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment.’

Sri Lanka is the host country for this year’s celebration. The UNWTO has launched a campaign and photo competition to increase public awareness of the great opportunities that the sector provides women.

WTO Secretary General, Francesco Frangialli, in his message, has said that women in recent years have increased their share of the workforce to hold as many jobs as men. This increase has been strongest in poor countries and in areas such as handicrafts and community development which tie closely into cultural preservation.

The development of women’s role not only gives society a balance, but also strengthens economies and social structures. “The challenges now revolve around issues like ensuring income parity, raising employment quality, creating reasonable workplace conditions.”

The stake-holders of the tourism industry have organised several programmes as part of the observance. The District Tourism Promotion Council will organise a rally from Vellayambalam to the Martyr’s Column to mark the day. Members of tourism clubs will take part in the rally. A vehicle rally from Thiruvallam to Kovalam, painting and cooking competitions will also be held. The Sakhi Resource Centre for Women and Equitable Tourism Options will organise a round table on ‘Do women really benefit from tourism-the Kerala experience?’ here on Tuesday.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Opposition will fight goonda politics, says Karthikeyan
Greens express concern over location of space institute
State faces a daunting task in finalising BPL list
Gandhi Jayanti week celebrations
Catching reality on film
Project to develop parking lots on M.G. Road
Auto driver assaulted
Tourism sector to focus on women
AIE all set to fly to Male
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM TODAY

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu