By: Piper Duncan
Make the beds, clear the trash, wipe the surfaces, scrub the bathroom, vacuum, sweep, mop — all in 20 minutes — repeat 20 times. Whether you’re in Niagara Falls, Cancún, or Bali, the people cleaning your hotel rooms are the overworked, underpaid, and exploited women of the tourism industry. While the of the responsibility for the explication of women’s labor falls onto corporate greed and government neglect, it is also necessary that tourists, whether traveling a few dozen or hundred miles away, ensure that their dollars are supporting a tourism system that benefits all by providing fair wages, safe working conditions, and sustainable practices for all.
The tourism industry is a large contributor to global economic growth, helping create jobs, develop infrastructure, and boost local economies through tax revenue and foreign investment. The tourism industry accounts for 10% of all jobs globally, employing nearly 48 million women, and producing 9.1% of the world’s GDP — nearly 10 trillion dollars in 2023.
Tourism supplies cash and jobs, but its positive effects are not equally distributed. Those at the top of the corporate ladder reap the rewards of growing tourism while those laboring see little in return for their work. This is especially true for women, who primarily work in low-level positions and receive poverty-level wages. The exploitation of women in the hospitality and tourism industry is not country or region-specific. In Toronto, it would take a housekeeper nearly 595 days to earn what the top six hotel CEOs earn in one day. This number grows exponentially in less developed countries like the Dominican Republic or Thailand. The global tourism industry as a whole is built upon a patriarchal system that requires the labor exploitation of women to function.
Corporate Greed and Government Negligence: Putting on the Ritz
Tourism is a labor-intensive industry, meaning it requires a significant amount of labor to provide hospitality and services to its customers. Many of the most crucial jobs — housekeeper, cook, server — are considered low-skilled, meaning they require little to no training or experience and pay accordingly. Women dominate “low-skilled” tourism positions, with men occupying more managerial and other “skilled” positions.⁵
The distinct gender segregation between these roles has led to what academics call “feminization,” where women are associated with “low-skilled” positions. The difference between “skilled” and “unskilled” jobs in tourism, however, often has to do with the gender makeup of the workforce. The International Labor Organization states that “…the (mainly female) room attendants in hotels frequently earn rather less [than] male kitchen porters whose work demands differing physical exertions but is at an equivalent skills level.”
Jobs like housekeeping provide little job security for those in the field due to their “low-skilled” designation, meaning women often put up with poor working conditions and low wages knowing that they are easily dispensable. This fear of replacement and unemployment prevents many housekeepers from organizing unions for better working conditions, which allows these large hotel chains to “race to the bottom” in pursuit of higher profit margins at the expense of workers’ rights. Women in tourism earn, on average, 16.7% less than their male counterparts. Women, in all industries, face wage discrimination; however, in tourism, wage discrimination is only the beginning of the challenges women face during employment.
Housekeepers are usually responsible for fully cleaning 10-20 rooms per shift and refresh dozens more. With rooms taking anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to clean, housekeepers frequently skip breaks and mealtimes to meet their quotas. Cleaning rooms quickly can result in many hazards and injuries.¹ Harsh chemicals, uncomfortable positions, constant movement, and heavy lifting can all result in long-term injury and pain. One study found that 91% of housekeepers surveyed reported pain on the job, with housekeepers having a 40% higher injury rate than other service workers. Housekeepers are also at high risk of sexual harassment or assault, with one survey of Chicago-based housekeepers finding that 58% of them had been sexually harassed by guests.
Much of the exploitation women face as housekeepers goes unpunished by governments. Countries often pursue tourism development to increase foreign investment, secure the loyalty of local elites by providing lucrative business opportunities, and increase their global influence. Governments rarely want to jeopardize this by prosecuting labor exploitation within large corporations that rely on cheap labor.
While tourism may provide much-needed money to struggling economies, it is the responsibility of all governments to protect the labor rights of their citizens by holding corporations accountable. The government can start to fulfill its responsibilities by ensuring that women in tourism are paid an equal and fair wage, that their right to organize unions is protected, and by increasing workplace safety standards.
Consumer Awareness: Safe Travels
Large policy changes in governments and corporations will be necessary to protect women from labor exploitation, but they will not change the status quo without pressure. Consumers can play a big role in corporate reform by choosing where to spend their money. When traveling, tourists must keep in mind how their dollars affect the local economy. By supporting locally and independently owned businesses, tourism dollars will directly support workers and their communities. Supporting women-owned businesses and hotels takes this a step even further by supporting female entrepreneurs.
Tourists can avoid supporting exploitative businesses by choosing to stay at unionized hotels and avoiding known violators. Resources like fairhotel.org and ETIC Hotels curate lists of hotels with fair labor standards and sustainable practices. Boycotting hotels that prevent unionization or exploit their employees can lead to a long-term change in corporate policies.
Tourism is not inherently good or bad. Its effects can both improve and destabilize the lives of women through opportunities for financial independence or through wage inequality, workplace exploitation, and human rights violations. Researching ahead helps consumers can choose to support local women and help create a sustainable system that benefits all involved. Tourism will continue to grow as our world becomes more and more connected forever, but exploitation doesn’t have to be a part of the itinerary.
