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Tourism Tidbits - Protecting the Female Traveler
By
Dr. Peter Tarlow September 2011 Since the inception of modern tourism women have played a significant role in the development of the world's largest composite industry. The tourism industry is proud of the fact that as one of the world's newest industries, women have played a profound role in tourism success. One only needs to attend almost any tourism or travel industry conference and to quickly note that women not only form a significant proportion of those in attendance, but also often are in the majority. Women hold top CEO positions throughout the industry to the point that no one in the travel and tourism industry gives a second choice to a person's gender. In the world of travel agencies, the great majority are women and at least in the United States women are often not merely travel agents but also the agencies' owners. That is not to say that women have not been exploited in such roles as sexual professionals. Furthermore, women in at least some of the developing world often do not have the same gender-bias free opportunities as they do in the more developed nations. Gender equality, however is not equally distributed. Thus, while in some countries women have not moved beyond menial tasks in other nations such as Guatemala, Belize, and Tanzania women have made significant progress and are on par with their sisters in the more developed world. In many nations around the world women hold cabinet level positions in tourism and head their nation's tourism industry. Women not only play a significant role in the tourism and travel industry but as more and more women have entered into the work-force, women have an important segment of the traveling public. The term "single woman traveler" does not refer to a woman's marital status but rather to the fact that she is traveling alone, be that trip for reasons of pleasure or business. Because women are now such an important part of the tourism and travel industry, they demand and receive specific travel amenities. Successful travel and tourism businesses, for example, take into account specific female security needs. Here are some ideas to consider for improving the security of your tourism entity or community for the "single " female traveler. The world is not always fair to women. Although blatantly sexist and unfair in many parts of the world, a woman traveling by herself is considered to be "fair game." The first rule of thumb then is to know the culture to which you are traveling. If the culture tolerates "sexual harassment" then do everything possible to avoid single travel. Even in highly sensitized countries women should use extra precautions. Know your security strengths and weaknesses. Never begin to think of any form of security without first doing a clear analysis. Go through your locale and develop lists of what might be a special danger to female guests. While many women are good at spotting danger, it is not their responsibility to know each and every danger spot; instead it is the host community or business that needs to pay extra attention to female security needs. Educate your staff and then educate some more! Your security is only as good as the people who work not only in security but on the front lines. Take the time to speak with all front line personnel about women's security issues. Make sure they are sensitive to the special needs of women traveling alone and know how to give good and correct advice. Use social networks. Seek out networks that serve the traveling woman. Many of these networks can provide up to the minute advice. A quick search of the web provides a wealth of information regarding women's travel networks. When educating your staff and/or yourself about women's travel safety consider some of the following points:
About the Author: Dr. Peter E. Tarlow is the President of T&M, a founder of the Texas chapter of TTRA and a popular author and speaker on tourism. Tarlow is a specialist in the areas of sociology of tourism, economic development, tourism safety and security. Tarlow speaks at governors' and state conferences on tourism and conducts seminars throughout the world and for numerous agencies and universities. If you know of anyone else who might enjoy "Tourism Tidbits," please send his/her email address to [email protected], Please let us know of any topic that you would like to see covered by "Tourism Tidbits." We invite others to submit articles for consideration for publication. All questions about "Tourism Tidbits", suggestions, or cancellations should be addressed to Dr. Peter E. Tarlow at [email protected] |
Contact: Dr. Peter Tarlow 1218 Merry Oaks, College Station, Texas, 77840-2609, USA. Telephone: +1 (979) 764-8402 |
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Tourism
Tidbits - A Checklist for Producing Great Events / Dr. Peter
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