Women in tourism have been hardest hit by the devastating blow that the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted on that sector, says Minister of Tourism Senator Lisa Cummins.
She added it was having a ripple effect on families and communities as evident in National Insurance Scheme (NIS) figures showing that 65 per cent of tourism workers filing unemployment claims were female.
Cummins said this was a largely untold story that must not be forgotten amid the discussions about macro and business development issues.
Speaking yesterday at a webinar via Zoom featuring women in tourism, titled Achieving An Equal Future In A COVID-19 World: The Tourism Focus, the minister said this was a critical time to have a conversation about women in leadership, not because it was International Women’s Day but because leadership, which came at different levels, mattered.
She told participants, who numbered more than 300 at one point, that while she and other women who held top posts in the sector were seen, generally there were more women who mattered who had been impacted by the pandemic and their issues must be voiced. (GBM)
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