Philippines Thursday, 4th February 2021 3-5PM (Manila Time) – World Women Tourism (WWT), an organization connecting women tourism professionals, is launching an Accelerating Women in the Philippines Tourism Industry to help women in the tourism & hospitality industry impacted by COVID-19. The webinar will take place virtually on the 4th of February at 3 pm (Manila time). The expert panel includes esteemed speakers Dr. Catheryn Khoo (Associate Professor, Griffith University), Former Undersecretary Alma Jimenez (Department of Tourism & President, ASEAN Society Philippines), Dir. Nelly Nita Dillera (Department of Trade & Industry-Philippine Trade Training Centre) and Ms. Ma Christina Aquino (Chairwoman, Tourism Industry Board Foundation, Inc). The webinar will be moderated by Dr. Jenny Panchal (James Cook University, Australia) and Dr. Barkathunnisha (Co-founder, World Women Tourism).
The goal of the GWS aims to support women in the tourism industry so that they may better approach the new disruptions that challenge their personal and professional lives. The session will be country-specific and will address the issues and challenges facing women in the Philippines, combining global and local strategies to create a ‘Glocal’ mission.
“We cannot overstate the disastrous effect of COVID-19 on the global tourism and hospitality business,” said Dr. Catheryn Khoo, a Gender & Tourism Expert and Associate Professor at the Griffith Institute for Tourism. “COVID-19 has made unprecedented disruptions and impacted women’s employment, livelihoods, productivity, performance, and well-being. The world may look different now, but the professional women’s community in our industry has never been more important.”
The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that more than 100 million jobs will be at risk internationally this year. A third of them will be directly employed in travel and tourism, and 60% will be women. A new term spread throughout the tourism industry, which women deemed a ‘shecession,’ as the job market experienced a reversal of gains in women-employed labor. “Due to the impact of the “shecession” it is critical to support women through sharing of insights, resources and opportunities to facilitate innovation, capacity building and collaboration” said Dr. Barkathunnisha, co-founder of WWT.
In the webinars, tourism academics and practitioners will share insights on the approaches and responses to address the COVID-19 challenges and increase their capabilities and capacities through skills development, education, and training. Women make up more than 54% of the workforce in the global tourism industry, and women are more likely to be entrepreneurs in tourism than in other sectors of the economy.
“Women play a crucial role in the tourism industry in fulfilling essential jobs, in running tourism businesses, and in their roles as decision-makers. We are excited to offer this rich content to women across the world in a creative new venue. We aim to have the GWS travel to 100 locations around the world and reach 10,000 women,” said Dr. Khoo, Special Advisor to WWT.
The list of country-specific webinars conducted so far are as follows:
• Accelerating Women in Myanmar’s Tourism Industry (Nov. 27, 2020)
• Accelerating Women in Indonesia’s Tourism Industry (Dec. 12, 2020)
• Accelerating Women in Thailand’s Tourism Industry (Dec. 15, 2020)
• Accelerating Women in Bhutan’s Tourism Industry (Dec. 16, 2020)
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/wwtph2021