Madrid, 25 June 2026 – A new report from UN Tourism and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) shows that women remain severely underrepresented across tourism transport, particularly in technical, driving and leadership roles.
The Global Report on Women in Tourism Transport, launched today, provides the first global, sex-disaggregated evidence base on women working across air, land and water passenger transport. It identifies the legal, cultural and structural barriers limiting women’s access to decent work, career progression and leadership.
The findings show that tourism transport remains acutely male-dominated. In countries with available data:
• Women make up 36% of aviation workers but just 6% of pilots, with men continuing to dominate technical, flight deck and leadership positions.
• 96% of all tourism transport workers are in land passenger transport, yet only 3% of them are women.
• Just 12% of water passenger transport workers are women, with significant gaps in managerial and technical roles.
• Safety, sanitation and legal protection remain major barriers. One in five countries still lacks legal protections against harassment at work.
In response, UN Tourism and ITF have signed a concrete three-year work plan to deliver the report’s Action Plan for Women in Tourism Transport. The partnership will work with governments, workers, unions and industry partners to strengthen gender-responsive policies, improve working conditions, expand training and leadership opportunities, and improve measurement and reporting.
UN Tourism Secretary-General Shaikha Al Nuwais said: “Tourism is meant to connect people and open doors. Yet in every part of tourism transport, too many doors remain closed to women. This report gives us the data to act with precision, not good intentions alone. Our responsibility now is to ensure that the women who keep this industry moving are also able to help lead it.”
ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton said: Launching this report is not the end of the story, it is the beginning. ITF and UN Tourism have made a joint commitment to work with governments, employers, unions and industry partners to tackle the inequalities that persist across tourism transport. Our focus now is turning evidence into action.”
For more information contact
UN Tourism – Communications Department: comm@untourism.int
ITF – Communications Department: media@itf.org.uk
Related links
Global Report on Women in Tourism Transport
Action Plan for Women in Tourism Transport
UN Tourism and Women’s Empowerment
Online launch: Global Report on Women in Tourism Transport
