UN Tourism and ITF: Underrepresentation of Women is a Major Reserve of Tourism Transport

A new global report from UN Tourism and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) highlights one of the most important issues in tourism from a rarely seen perspective: who actually operates the travel. According to the Global Report on Women in Tourism Transport presented at the end of June, women remain strongly underrepresented in the transport sectors serving tourists, particularly in technical, managerial, pilot, driver, and operational roles. This is not merely a labor market issue: it can affect service quality, capacity, the sense of security, working conditions, and how flexibly the tourism system can react to summer peaks.

The report is timely because European and global tourism are simultaneously struggling with strong travel demand, cost pressures, labor shortages, strike risks, and increasingly complex passenger flows. For Hungarian travelers, this may seem like a distant policy topic at first glance, but it is actually a very practical question. When airport ground handling is slow, there are few bus drivers, it is difficult to find a driver for a transfer, or there is little trained operational staff at a railway and air hub, the passenger ultimately feels the consequence: in longer waits, less frequent schedules, more expensive services, or more fragile summer operations.

What does the new report claim?

According to the ITF summary, the report prepared jointly with UN Tourism provides for the first time a comprehensive global picture of the role women play in passenger transport for tourism purposes. The study covers four main areas: air, road, rail, and water passenger transport. The goal is not simply to show proportions, but also to uncover what legal, cultural, and organizational barriers keep women away from many jobs that are indispensable to the daily operation of tourism.

The main figures presented by Tourexpi are particularly telling. Women make up about 36 percent of the global aviation workforce, but their proportion among pilots is only about 6 percent. In land passenger transport, which provides the vast majority of tourism transport jobs, the proportion of women is only around 3 percent. In water passenger transport, a 12 percent female participation is reported. These data indicate that in transport serving tourism, the presence of women is often not strong where the capacity shortage is greatest or where career paths are most visible.

The report does not say that the situation is the same in every country and every company. The local labor market, training system, transport culture, trade union environment, and regulation can differ significantly. Yet, the common pattern is clear: entry, advancement, and access to managerial roles remain more difficult for many women than for men.

Why is this not just a labor issue?

In tourism, transport often operates as an invisible background system. The passenger sees the plane ticket, the accommodation, the sightseeing, or the seaside holiday, but the quality of the experience is held together by numerous professions: pilots, flight attendants, maintenance workers, air traffic control specialists, bus drivers, railway staff, ship crews, baggage handlers, security workers, dispatchers, and transfer organizers. If a large part of the potential workforce in these professions cannot enter or stay due to structural barriers, it weakens the entire travel chain.

This is particularly important for the 2026 summer season. In Europe, travel demand is strong, while airlines and airports are managing capacity cautiously in several markets. Mediterranean destinations, city weekends, family trips, and long-weekend flights are putting increasing pressure on ground services. Many depart directly from Budapest, while others include Vienna, Bratislava, or regional transfers in their itinerary. Those who monitor Budapest airport flights or check the BUD live airport schedule before departure are actually relying on the stability of the same large transport system.

The link between labor shortage and service quality

Labor shortages in tourism transport are not always spectacular. They do not necessarily appear as immediate flight cancellations or big news. Often, they are felt as a slight decline in the passenger experience: longer queues at check-in, slower baggage delivery, harder-to-reach customer service, less frequent airport buses, fewer late-evening transfers, more crowded trains, or weaker flexibility in case of delays. If the sector could involve more women in safe, predictable, and advancement-offering roles, it would not only be a social goal but also a capacity policy tool.

One of the important messages of the report is that the problem cannot be solved simply with recruitment campaigns. If a workplace lacks proper changing rooms, break areas, or hygienic infrastructure, if protection against harassment is weak, if shift planning is incompatible with family responsibilities, or if managerial paths are closed through informal networks, some of the women entering the profession may quickly leave. In such cases, companies lose training funds, and the market loses experience.

For the passenger, all this is interesting because good transport service does not depend exclusively on vehicles and infrastructure. A modern terminal, a new bus fleet, or a digital ticketing system only works well if there are enough trained people to operate the system daily. This applies to airport security checks, the transfer market, and car rentals as well. In Budapest, for example, behind the convenience of a proper airport transfer or BUD airport car rental after a late evening arrival, there is organized labor, dispatcher support, and customer management.

What could be the role of the three-year action plan?

UN Tourism and the ITF announced a three-year work program in connection with the report. Its aim is to ensure that the findings do not remain at the research material level, but lead to concrete steps involving governments, employers, employee organizations, and industry partners. Main directions include better collection of gender-disaggregated data, safer working conditions, expansion of training and managerial opportunities, and reduction of regulatory and workplace barriers hindering women's entry.

Data is particularly important in tourism. Many players feel that there are few drivers, few technical specialists, few experienced operational managers, but without gender breakdown, it is harder to say where the female workforce is lost. The solution is different if few girls choose transport training, different if attrition is high after entry, and different again if women stay with the company but do not reach technical or managerial positions.

This approach is instructive for the Hungarian market as well. In Hungary, tourism and transport are closely linked: city visits to the capital, Lake Balaton and spa tourism, inbound conference tourism, as well as regional airport and railway connections, all rely on labor. If transport professions become more attractive to women, it can improve the sector's adaptability in the long run.

What could this mean for Hungarian travelers?

In the short term, the report does not change a single schedule, plane ticket price, or baggage rule. It is not a matter of the passenger having to book differently from tomorrow. The news rather highlights that the quality of tourism transport is backed by social and labor market decisions. When a sector is able to draw from a wider pool of employees, it can better manage seasonality, retirements, sudden demand waves, and the introduction of new technologies.

For Hungarian travelers, this may be relevant on three levels. First, the stability of major European airports and transport hubs directly affects transfers. Second, in domestic and regional tourism, there is a need for drivers, customer service, and operational staff, without whom vacations are less predictable. Third, for families, women traveling alone, and elderly passengers, a safe, well-organized transport service is not a luxury, but a basic requirement.

Therefore, the sector should not treat women's participation merely as equal opportunity communication. The question is much more grounded: how will there be enough trained people to operate buses, airports, railways, ships, transfers, and customer services in an era when travelers expect more, react faster to errors, and increasingly tolerate uncertain service less.

Conclusion

The new report from UN Tourism and the ITF is important because the future of tourism is shaped not only by new routes, hotel openings, and digital booking systems. It is at least as important who works in the transport background system, under what conditions, with what career opportunities, and with what security. The low participation of women in several areas of tourism transport is not only a justice issue but also an untapped capacity.

If the recommendations of the report lead to real corporate and policy steps in the coming years, its impact may gradually appear in the passenger experience: in more stable services, a broader labor base, better working conditions, and more flexible tourism transport. Hungarian travelers should view this news as a reminder: a good trip does not start on the booking page, but with the workforce that keeps the entire travel chain in motion.

Sources: UN Tourism and ITF, Global Report on Women in Tourism Transport; ITF Global summary; Tourexpi professional news summary.