Why Gender Should Be at the Heart of COVID Recovery

May 6, 2020 | Angela Kalisch
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The tourism industry has been catapulted into a global emergency by COVID-19. After decades of stable growth, only temporarily interrupted by incidents of terrorism, pandemics or natural catastrophes, it has now come to a complete standstill. Millions have already lost their jobs and their livelihoods, no more so than the people eking out an existence at the margins of society. This global pandemic is a health and economic disaster which will bring poverty and hardship to many communities, especially those who have come to depend on tourism to increase their quality of life and choice of opportunity in the absence of other economic options. Tourism, notwithstanding its potential for degeneration, has been a life line for many people in local, especially rural, communities, who have benefitted from the emerging awareness of sustainable and responsible tourism in the form of cultural, community-based or agro tourism. On the other hand, where communities have had to resist the ravages of tourism – think land grab, pollution and natural resource depletion – communities may breathe a sigh of relief, grateful for some respite. Either way, severe economic poverty and austerity will be a reality for many communities for some time to come, particularly in poorer countries.