Kazakhstan’s Almaty Leads Global Call For Women’s Empowerment In Tourism, Here’s All You Need To Know

Published on October 24, 2025

The first United Nations Tourism Regional Conference connected nan Empowerment of Women successful Tourism successful Europe occurred successful Almaty, Kazakhstan connected October 22-23, 2025, pinch astir 400 participants from world organizations, authorities bodies, businesses, and nan master community. The convention was a important level for discussing nan domiciled women successful tourism successful an manufacture that is mostly gender imbalanced. It besides emphasized nan request for gender equilibrium successful tourism.

The arena was a merchandise of collaborative efforts from nan Almaty Tourism Bureau, Kazakh Tourism, UN Tourism, and nan Kazakh Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Most noteworthy were nan sheet discussions that identified nan cardinal issues women successful tourism confront– nan integer divide, nan inequitable distribution of work, and women’s invisible domiciled successful nan burgeoning tourism manufacture successful Kazakhstan.

Tourism arsenic a Driver of Economic and Social Development

Nurtas Karipbaev, nan Chairman of nan Committee for Tourism Industry of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports, emphasized nan value of tourism not only arsenic a driving unit for Kazakhstan’s system but besides arsenic a societal instrumentality for preserving taste practice and encouraging creativity.

“Tourism is simply a reflection of societal development, and it serves arsenic a powerful instrumentality for enhancing sustainability and equality. Kazakhstan considers tourism a cardinal area for economical diversification,” said Karipbaev, reinforcing nan country’s committedness to balancing economical maturation pinch societal responsibility.

Karipbaev besides noted that Kazakhstan had welcomed much than 12 cardinal world visitors successful nan first 9 months of 2025, pinch Almaty continuing to spot dependable maturation successful some overseas and home arrivals. He highlighted nan government’s Tourism Development Concept done 2029, which includes actual goals for maturation and world cooperation.

Kazakhstan presently ranks 57th successful nan world tourism improvement index, pinch Almaty being recognized arsenic a awesome hub successful Central Asia. These developments are positioning Kazakhstan arsenic a competitory subordinate successful nan location and world tourism markets, particularly arsenic it fosters inclusive maturation and gender equality successful nan sector.

Empowering Women successful Kazakhstan’s Growing Tourism Sector

Almaty is making important strides toward empowering women successful nan tourism sector. Diyar Askarov, Director of nan Almaty Tourism Bureau, highlighted nan city’s ongoing efforts to create a much inclusive and equitable situation for women wrong nan tourism industry.

“As Almaty continues to turn arsenic a halfway of tourism and sustainability, women are playing an progressively important domiciled crossed each sectors,” said Askarov. “Empowering women is important for driving innovation, inclusivity, and sustainable development, and their activity is cardinal to nan occurrence of our metropolis and tourism industry.”

Almaty’s committedness to gender equality is underscored by its partnerships pinch UN Tourism, aiming to guarantee that women professionals and entrepreneurs successful nan assemblage person nan basal resources, opportunities, and support to thrive. Askarov emphasized that done collaboration pinch world organizations, Almaty is becoming a hub of opportunity and progress, wherever gender equality is not conscionable a goal, but a captious portion of nan city’s identity.

The UN’s Vision for Gender Equality successful Tourism

Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director of UN Tourism, delivered a powerful connection astir nan resilience of nan tourism manufacture and its imaginable to empower women globally. Urosevic noted that world tourism had not only recovered post-pandemic but had surpassed pre-pandemic levels by 5%. This recovery, she said, presents an opportunity to guarantee that nan benefits of tourism maturation are shared arsenic among each genders.

“The maturation of world tourism presents a tremendous opportunity for everyone. It is captious that women use from this betterment and that we create a world wherever women tin recreation without barriers,” Urosevic stated.

She besides emphasized UN Tourism’s ongoing efforts done nan Center Stage program, which places women astatine nan forefront of tourism development. This programme encourages collaboration betwixt governments, businesses, and civilian nine to beforehand empowerment successful tourism, pinch a attraction connected adjacent practice and entree to opportunities for women successful activity roles.

Adoption of nan Almaty Call to Action for Women’s Empowerment

One of nan awesome outcomes of nan convention was nan take of nan Almaty Call to Action for Women’s Empowerment successful Tourism. This action scheme outlines respective cardinal strategies for improving gender equality wrong nan sector, including:

• Reducing nan Gender Pay Gap: The model calls for addressing nan costs disparities betwixt men and women successful nan tourism industry, aiming for much equitable compensation.
• Ensuring Equal Access to Leadership Roles: The action scheme advocates for much women successful method and activity roles successful tourism, a assemblage traditionally dominated by men.
• Strengthening Anti-Harassment Policies: Policies that forestall workplace harassment and guarantee safer activity environments for women are a cardinal constituent of nan action plan.
• Promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship: The model supports expanding entree to training, financial resources, and marketplace opportunities for women entrepreneurs successful nan tourism sector.

The action scheme besides emphasizes nan value of education, particularly successful subject and technology, to thief women entree higher-paying positions successful nan tourism industry. Additionally, governments and businesses are encouraged to amended information postulation connected gender successful tourism, enabling much targeted and effective policies to reside gender inequality.

Global and Regional Context: Women successful Tourism

Globally, women correspond 54% of nan tourism workforce, a higher percent than successful nan broader economy, wherever women relationship for 39%. In Europe, women dress up 53% of nan workforce successful nan accommodation and nutrient services sector. Despite these numbers, women are often concentrated successful lower-paid and informal roles, pinch activity and method positions still mostly held by men.

UN Tourism’s information besides reveals that while nan tourism assemblage has made immoderate advancement successful narrowing nan gender costs gap, women successful tourism still gain astir 14.7% little than their antheral counterparts, compared to a spread of 16.8% successful different sectors. This spread highlights nan activity still needed to execute afloat gender parity successful nan tourism industry.

In Central Asia, grassroots initiatives specified arsenic women’s networks, cooperatives, and mentorship groups person helped women stock knowledge, amended visibility, and discuss amended conditions. These efforts connection semipermanent imaginable for greater economical information and activity successful tourism crossed nan region.

The Impact connected Tourists and Travel

The attraction connected gender equality wrong nan tourism assemblage has nan imaginable to create much inclusive and divers experiences for tourists. By empowering women to return connected activity roles, tourism destinations for illustration Almaty tin supply richer, much varied perspectives, fostering invention and sustainability wrong nan industry. Additionally, arsenic women summation much entree to entrepreneurship opportunities, nan recreation manufacture will spot a greater practice of women-owned businesses, from circuit operators to hospitality services, offering visitors much divers and personalized recreation options.

Moreover, initiatives for illustration nan Almaty Call to Action tin thief make recreation much accessible to all, ensuring that gender equality becomes a cardinal pillar successful tourism policies globally. The convention has highlighted that empowering women successful tourism is not conscionable a matter of societal justice, but besides a cardinal facet successful driving nan sector’s growth, innovation, and sustainability.

Looking Forward: Gender Equality astatine nan Forefront of Tourism Development

With nan summation of globalization, description of nan world tourism industry, and nan summation number of women actively participating to nan invention of nan industry, nan value of women’s progressive information to nan sector’s improvement cannot beryllium understated. The Almaty UN Tourism Conference has helped to beforehand prioritizing inclusion and gender-balanced invention wrong nan tourism assemblage and nan manufacture arsenic a whole. Sustainable tourism will beryllium a reality erstwhile women are afloat embraced arsenic leaders and determination makers wrong nan sector.