Our Associate Rebecca Armstrong recently represented Equality in Tourism as one of over 30 civil society organisations involved in producing the Berlin Declaration on “Transforming Tourism” presented at ITB Berlin.
Meeting in the UNWTO International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and against the background of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, the working group emphasised that whilst tourism is specifically included in the 2030 Agenda – an acknowledgement of the sector’s global significance – “for tourism to contribute to sustainable development, a fundamental transformation of tourism itself is essential and urgent.”
The Declaration is supported by a Compendium exploring the relationship between tourism and each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The chapter on Goal 5: Gender Equality, was written by our Director Daniela Moreno Alarcon and explores how sustainable development is not possible without gender equality and the empowerment of women. The 2030 Agenda constitutes an opportunity to position gender equality and women’s empowerment as an essential component in the creation and implementation of public policy.
As the Berlin Declaration envisages, “the complexity and interdependency of the 2030 Agenda reminds us to be ambitious, honest, clear, creative and transformative”. We apply those principles to our work to ensure that women have an equal voice, and share in the benefits, of the global tourism industry.
