Gender and Development

Lao PDR: Socially Responsible Tourism Development

A young girl masters the art of bargaining with tourists at the Night Market in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. Photo by Anupma Jain, 2005.

Just imagine...

...think about the last time you took a trip. Chances are, at some point you were greeted, served or sold something by a woman. If you strolled through a morning or evening market, you probably haggled with a girl-child or woman to save a mere 50¢ or $1 on those incense sticks, embroidered hand bags or cushion covers. You probably never stopped to consider the impact of your presence and behavior as a tourist on the daily life of that female.

Tourism presents both opportunities and risks for women. On the plus side, it provides the chance for women to earn much needed income through tourism-related employment such as home-stays, handicraft production, and sale of local food. Improved infrastructure helps make life a little easier for men and women, and employment opportunities contribute to reducing poverty and gender inequalities. On the negative side, tourism can also bring unwanted social influences. Such influences have the potential to threaten traditional values, social organizations and networks, and facilitate the exploitation of women and girls. Socially responsible tourism protects culture and tradition, enhances women's rights and opportunities, and contributes to poverty reduction.

A gender strategy was prepared for the GMS Mekong Tourism Development Project in Lao PDR. Specific gender actions outlined in the gender strategy include:

• Improving the skills of gender focal points in tourism offices at all levels.
• Improving information and knowledge management on gender and tourism.
• Enhancing cooperation and networking among tourism service providers.
• Improving recruitment procedures so in increase the number of women employed in the formal tourism sector and to increase the number of women in management positions.
• Developing mechanisms to institutionalize gender issues in the tourism sector.
• Strengthening links with women's machinery.

Participants at the Tourism Learning Program in 2006 share their vision of the "GMS town" based on a social mapping exercise. Photo by Anupma Jain, 2006.

The GMS Tourism Sector Strategy incorporates some of the findings from the gender strategy prepared for the Lao PDR Gender Tourism Strategy and highlights poverty reduction, gender equality, and environmental sustainability as pivotal to tourism development. The Tourism Learning Program introduced in 2006 in the Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management Program includes sessions that highlight the need for socially responsible tourism development. For more information on the Tourism Sector in the GMS, contact Alfredo Perdiguero, SESS; and Anupma Jain, SESS. Read more about the GMS Tourism Sector Strategy.