UN Tourism: Few Women Work in Key Roles in Tourism Transport

According to a new global report by UN Tourism and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), gender imbalance remains strong in tourism transport. The fresh material, presented on June 25, 2026, is not a direct change in schedules, yet it is an important signal to the travel market: issues of labor shortages, service security, training, and the pipeline of future leaders could significantly affect the quality and reliability of transport services travelers receive in the coming years.

For tourism to function, an attractive destination, a good hotel offering, and cheap flight tickets are not enough. The entire travel chain is kept in motion by people: pilots, flight attendants, bus drivers, railway workers, ship crews, airport ground handlers, ticket agents, dispatchers, technicians, and customer service staff. If the labor base in this system is persistently narrow, or if many professional paths remain closed to certain groups, it is not just a social issue, but also a problem of transport and tourism competitiveness.

UN Tourism and the ITF are therefore treating women's participation in tourism transport not as a general equality campaign, but as a sectoral operational issue. According to the report, for the first time, a global, gender-disaggregated evidence base has been created that examines air, land, and water passenger transport together from a tourism perspective. This is essential because the quality of the tourism experience is often decided at the points where the passenger comes into contact with transport providers.

What do the latest data show?

The most important figures in the report show strong differences between the various modes of transport. In countries where comparable data were available, women make up 36 percent of the aviation workforce, but their proportion among pilots is only about 6 percent. This indicates that women are present in aviation, but less likely to reach positions requiring high qualifications, long training paths, or leadership decision-making roles.

The largest difference is seen in land passenger transport. According to the report, the vast majority of those working in tourism transport, 96 percent, are found in this segment, including roles related to road and rail travel. Yet, the proportion of women is only around 3 percent. In water passenger transport, the proportion of women is 12 percent, while underrepresentation remains significant in technical, onboard, and leadership positions.

Behind the numbers are not simply differences in career choice. UN Tourism and the ITF identified barriers such as security risks, inadequate hygiene and rest facilities, limited access to training, work schedules difficult to reconcile with caregiving duties, short-term or precarious employment, and a lack of protection against harassment. One particularly important finding of the report is that in every fifth of the examined countries, there is still no adequate legal protection against workplace harassment.

Why is this tourism news and not just a labor market issue?

From the passengers' side, the topic may seem distant at first. A Hungarian traveler searching for flight tickets, checking live flight information from Budapest Airport, or checking the Vienna Airport flight status before departure, generally does not examine the workforce composition of the provider. However, in the background, this also affects service stability.

If a sector cannot reach a large part of the potential workforce, it will be harder to replace missing specialists in the long run. This is especially true in tourism, where demand fluctuates strongly seasonally, and during peak periods, airports, railways, bus providers, and shipping companies simultaneously struggle with capacity pressure. The summer period, school holidays, city events, and traffic to popular Mediterranean destinations bring a load where every well-trained employee counts.

Greater involvement of women is not an automatic solution to every labor market problem, but it can expand the professional pipeline. This is why the report speaks not only of representation but also of training, safety, leadership paths, and data collection. These are all factors that indirectly affect the service quality perceived by travelers: how much staff is available, how fast the administration is, how predictable the traffic management is, and whether there are enough experienced specialists to handle disruptions.

What do UN Tourism and the ITF commit to?

A three-year action plan is linked to the fresh report. UN Tourism and the ITF intend to cooperate with governments, employers, employee organizations, and industry partners in the coming period. The goal is more gender-sensitive policy, better working conditions, expanded training and leadership opportunities, and more accurate data collection.

It is important to emphasize that this is not an immediately effective passenger rights rule, not a new airport regulation, and does not mean a direct change in schedules. Rather, it is a policy and industry signal that could influence how tourism-related transport jobs are organized in the long run. The message of the report is that the future of tourism cannot be thought of only in terms of routes, fleets, new terminals, and digital booking systems. The quality and diversity of the workforce behind the service is an equally strategic issue.

What could this mean for Hungarian travelers?

From a Hungarian perspective, the topic is relevant in several points. Hungarian travelers increasingly use multiple modes of transport for a single trip: planes, airport buses, railways, city transfers, rental cars, or ship services. In a summer family trip, for example, besides the flight, the airport exit, the transfer at the destination, the local bus, or the rail connection are at least as important. If the staffing side of tourism transport is more stable, it can improve the predictability of the entire journey.

The roles of Budapest and Vienna are particularly interesting. Many Hungarian travelers not only monitor the current flights of Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport but also compare departures from Vienna as an alternative. Besides the larger offering, long-haul flights, connection options, and prices, the quality of the service chain also matters: ground handling, airport information, security checks, transfers, and customer service together determine how comfortable the trip is.

The message of the report is therefore practical: it matters to travelers whether transport companies are able to provide sufficient, well-trained, and properly supported staff. This becomes especially visible when something does not go according to plan: a flight is delayed, a train is missed, the boarding gate changes, a long queue forms, or an alternative route must be decided quickly.

Safety and service quality are linked

Among the barriers mentioned in the report, safety and working conditions are prominently important. Many roles in tourism transport operate in shifts, late evening or early morning hours, under high passenger traffic. If the work environment is not safe, if there are no adequate rest areas, hygiene conditions, or complaint handling systems, it is not only a problem for employees but also weakens the resilience of the service.

Passengers often only feel the consequences of this: more tired staff, slower administration, fewer available employees, or more difficult-to-manage disruption situations. Better working conditions are therefore not merely an internal corporate matter. In tourism, the employee experience directly meets the passenger experience.

What should travelers watch for in practice?

The report does not mean that passengers must now perform a labor audit with every booking. However, it is worth looking at the providers' operations more consciously. Where a company provides clear information, operates a stable customer service, ensures transparent complaint handling, and communicates understandably even in crisis situations, there is a higher chance of a more organized organizational operation in the background.

When planning a trip, practical steps still matter. During peak periods, it is worth leaving more time for airport processes, especially at large hubs or on routes involving multiple providers. Those departing from Budapest can organize their Budapest airport transfer in advance; those choosing Vienna should include the timing of the Vienna airport transfer as part of the safety margin of the entire trip. The labor market background does not replace these basic travel planning steps, but helps to understand why transport systems may be more sensitive in certain periods.

What could be at stake in the coming years?

In recent years, tourism has simultaneously faced demand fluctuations, higher costs, geopolitical uncertainty, climate effects, and labor shortages. In this environment, transport systems that not only invest in technology and infrastructure but also build a broader and more resilient workforce base may be more competitive.

The UN Tourism and ITF report is therefore a warning for the Hungarian market as well: tourism growth does not depend only on new flights, new hotels, and marketing campaigns. The training, safety, and advancement of the people working in the background are equally part of how smooth the trip will be. If the three-year action plan becomes a real industry collaboration, it can improve not only women's employment opportunities in the long run but also the stability of tourism transport as a whole.

The current news is therefore not about a new fee, route, or entry rule, but about one of the less visible fundamental conditions of tourism. For travelers, the short-term lesson is that during peak season it is still worth planning consciously, with buffer time and reliable information sources. For the market, it is that the future travel experience cannot be solved exclusively with airplanes, trains, and terminals: more, better-supported, and more likely to reach leadership roles specialists are also needed.