Women targeted for businesses in tourism

Campaign to get 30% more females involved in 5 years

TOURISM Minister Tokozile Xasa wants to grow women’s ownership in tourism by 30% in the next five years. She also urged women to get involved in the oceans’ economy. Speaking at a recent Women in Tourism Networking Breakfast in celebration of Women’s Month, Xasa said women made up nearly 70% of the workforce in the tourism industry and she wanted more women to become involved in township and rural tourism as well as the new oceans economy of the country.

“Women are already making a huge contribution to tourism and contributing to the economy of the country. You need more support; that is why we have initiated platforms like these. A fund has been developed so that more young people can be absorbed into after-training, because we want more women to own businesses in the tourism sector. That is why we want to grow the levels of women in tourism ownership by 30% in the next five years,” she said. “We have also started the executive development programme in tourism. All 19 the women enrolled in the programme will be graduating in October,” Xasa said.

In an effort to elevate women in tourism, Xasa also launched the “30in5” campaign at Indaba 2017 to mobilise transformation.

“The campaign commits to facilitating the attainment of the 30% target for women participation at executive level in tourism within the next five years. Women in Tourism (WiT) programme is an initiative of the Department of Tourism that brings women together to find solutions to the economic challenges that hinder their entrepreneurial progress in the sector.”

Nikki Jacobs, who worked in the tourism industry, said more training was needed for women in the industry. “More of these events are also needed where women can talk more about their experiences in the tourism industry,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) said women continued to remain “largely oppressed and exploited”.

The commission had observed with great interest the heightened activism in addressing gender equality by multi-sector organisations, it said.

“Informed by its own studies on gender transformation that looked at the mining sector, institutions of higher learning, and various industries, the commission believes there has been minimal progress in addressing gender transformation in the workplace,” it said.

“While women constitute 51% of the population in the country they continue to remain largely oppressed and exploited. Women continue to face persistent marginalisation from power and influence. This can be attributed to a range of factors including the influences of South Africa’s colonial history and dominant, patriarchal paradigms.”

The commission’s employment equity report pointed to a dire situation of gender discrimination in the workplace and also noted an increase in reported cases of sexual harassment and rape. The commission was also aware there were pay gaps between men and women doing the same job with similar qualifications.

“The CGE appeals to the leaders of the industries to be cognisant of women’s basic human rights… Trade unions should continue raising women’s worker rights and we also implore the private sector to strongly consider and share good practices.”