PUBLIC and private sectors’ joint efforts are encouraged to develop further the women sector to become more competitive in the tourism industry and, at the same time, provide them with an enabling and safe environment to continuously thrive in this field amid the easing travel restrictions due to the improving Covid-19 situation in the country.
Stakeholders from government and tourism business stakeholders called for this collaboration on Tuesday as global hospitality platform provider Airbnb revealed that more and more Filipino women are accommodating local and foreign tourists through its platform, given the opportunities it provides for them financially and, at the same time, break the boundaries in the male-dominated tourism and travel industry.
Mich Goh, head of public policy for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Airbnb, cited that Filipinas comprise up to two-thirds of all their hosts internationally, making the Philippines Airbnb’s second-largest women-driven host community across the globe after New Zealand.
“Around the world, 55 percent of Airbnb hosts are women. But here in the Philippines, this percentage has been incredible [at] 66 percent [in 2022],” she said during their inaugural #WomenInTravel industry dialogue in Taguig City. “The year before that, it’s at 62 percent. So, it’s actually trending upwards.”
Known for their iconic warmth and hospitality, Filipinos, particularly the women, are increasingly contributing to the country’s tourism economy by welcoming travelers into their homes, and hiring fellow women to support in their daily operations.
Faced by inflationary pressures, hosting has become a popular way for them to generate additional income to help cover the rising costs of living. In fact, as the ensuing health crisis started to improve in 2022 that resulted to relaxed travel restrictions, it opened significant financial opportunity to Filipina hosts.
“Last year, hosting on Airbnb allowed Filipinas to collectively earn over P2.5 billion in income,” she said, while citing their diverse profiles with most of them being under 30 years old and mothers.
“Regardless of their background or age, it’s really clear that women are leading the charge for our hosts community.”
While some countries and borders are still restrictive in so far as foreign travelers are concerned, Airbnb observed that domestic travel has become a very big part of tourism in the Philippines.
“There are lots of different parts of the country trending right now from domestic perspective. So Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, El Nido, and Coron, they are all our major trending destinations [in our platform] with the reopening of travel. And I think a lot of this also happened throughout the Covid pandemic,” Goh said.
Traveling alone is, likewise, gaining momentum here. To wit, 56 percent of all solo traveler nights in 2022 were booked by Filipinas, according to her.
The top executive added that women are also bringing their families on trips to discover new destinations and the joy of travel, and more of them are becoming travel entrepreneurs.
“They are taking roles and opportunities in the travel space that traditionally occupied by men. So it’s really, truly and exciting time for women in travel,” she said.
Delighted by the increasing number of Filipinas who open their homes to travelers and provide the authentic Filipino hospitality, she emphasized that Airbnb remains committed to supporting and growing them while ensuring that their roles in contributing to the industry are recognized.
For Quezon City Mayor Maria Josefina “Joy” Belmonte, the public sector must also do its share to encourage and develop more women to take part in the tourism and travel sector.
“So the role of the government in this scenario is to make it more accessible for women to participate in this field. What we do in the government is the 3As,” she said. “[The first ‘A’ stands for] Agency, meaning you’re able to do things on your own. The second would be ‘Authority,’ meaning people start to respect you because you do things on your own. And ‘Autonomy,’ you become independent because you learn to make your own choices.”
The 3As, she explained, are helpful in preparing women for employment in the tourism, travel and hospitality sectors, while ensuring that they are empowered with different laws so that they know when they are being harassed, taken advantaged of, or discriminated, while getting the right protection and justice due to them.
Other things the state must prioritize are the promotion of entrepreneurship and capacity building for women in the business of tourism. Belmonte said: “The local government in that regard has a budget of several millions of pesos that we give as capital assistance to entrepreneurs who would like to start their own business, including the culinary, hospitality and artisan areas. In terms of education, we have to provide skills to women so that they can be confident enough to embark on a tourism-related field.”
Coming from the development sector perspective, Philippine Commission on Women Gender and Development representative Anne Jeaneth Casalme pointed out that it’s high time to bring more Filipinas not just in the tourism sector, but also across all industries that promote human capital development because it will level the playing field for both men and women.
“These gender issues, we can bring them up to the forefront of the tourism sector that would enable you to promote gender equality, women empowerment and, on our part, to ensure that implementing agencies are responsive of addressing the major gender issues in their sectors, especially in tourism,” she said.
“We are excited to see companies like Airbnb showcasing their expertise in tourism development and promotion of women entrepreneurship in the country while advocating the safety of women tourism travelers. We look forward to more discussions on women’s sector development with the private sector in the country,” she added. -30-