The Department of Tourism (DOT) on Thursday said its Gender and Development Agenda (GAD) aims to eliminate discrimination and achieve gender parity in the tourism sector.

Over 50 percent of the tourism workforce in the country is composed of women, as shared during the three-day Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) International Conference on Women in Travel hosted by the DOT at the BE Grand Convention in Panglao, Bohol.

In her speech, Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said the DOT recognizes the importance of the conference in focusing on women’s empowerment, promoting gender equality, and fostering leadership stories, successes, and opportunities in the tourism sector.

She said women break barriers in the travel industry, ensuring policies and practices promote gender equality and sustainable and responsible tourism.

DOT Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Elaine Bathan said with the formulation of the six-year GAD agenda, the agency launched promotion and marketing campaigns, capacity-building programs, and interventions aimed at harmonizing policies and thrusts to be gender-sensitive.

“And for the first time ever, we have also appointed Tourism Integrates, Supports, and Minds Women’s Rights and Child Safety (TourISM WoRCS) Officers across the different regions in the country to ensure the implementation and sustainability of our gender, women, children, and LGBTQIA+ welfare programs,” Bathan said.

Chieko Yokota, international gender specialist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), shared the importance of the country’s effort to invest in women.

She said that ADB’s priorities include increasing women’s economic empowerment, enhancing gender equality in human development, as well as in decision-making, reducing women’s time poverty and drudgery, and strengthening women’s resilience to external shocks. (PNA)