Education, Financing and Building Support Networks Are Key Factors for Achieving Gender Equality In Tourism, at the Latest Edition of FiturNext
The Fitur Observatory focuses on promoting good tourism practices for encouraging sustainability, sponsored by Mastercard. At this edition it brought together over thirty panellists, many of them women business leaders in the sector. The panellists took part in three days covering education, financing and building support networks as the key factors for achieving gender equality in the sector
In particular, the event emphasised that creating opportunities, especially in less developed contexts, involves education on general aspects (such as labour rights and women’s rights), specific training (in areas such as starting businesses, financing and languages) and one-to-one mentoring.
At the same time, many of the talks at this FiturNext edition focused on obtaining financing for new businesses through micro-credits as a critical factor for the development of women entrepreneurs. Lastly, building a community or developing a partnership network to promote links and increase a project’s impact was suggested as the third pillar for promoting equality in the industry.
Inspiring Dialogues by Women Leaders In the Sector
Another highlight of the three days of the congress was the extensive programme of conversations with experts from the tourism sector committed to gender equality. Some of the most inspiring speakers were Carme Artigas, Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence of the Government of Spain, Begoña Gómez, director of the Extraordinary Chair of Competitive Social Transformation of the Madrid Complutense University, Paloma Real, general manager of Mastercard Spain, Cristina Figueroa, professor at the Rey Juan Carlos University and Maribel Rodriguez, senior vice chair for Membership, Commercial & Events at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
Replicable Women’s Initiatives and a Report on Gender Equality
The FiturNext awards for initiatives contributing to empowering women were also presented. The winners were: Afrikable, which offers job opportunities to women in Kenya’s tourism sector; Women in Travel CIC, which provides job opportunities for women at risk of social exclusion; and the “Rutas” (Routes) programme of the Codespa Foundation, which promotes rural community tourism in Peru and Bolivia.
Finally, the Observatory presented its report, FiturNext: Hacia un turismo con igualdad de género (FiturNext: Towards Tourism With Gender Equality). This document summarises the good practices the Observatory has researched over the last year. It is available for download.