46
Alfraganus University
GENDER EQUALITY AND ISSUES
IN TOUR OPERATING ORGANIZATIONS:
¹ Ижтимоий фанлар кафедраси ўқитувчиси, Alfraganus university, Тошкент, Ўзбекистон. Почта: dostonjontojiyev26@gmail.com, ORCID:
0009-0009-1614-802X
A CASE STUDY ON GENDER AS WORK
FROM SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN
ГЕНДЕРНОЕ РАВЕНСТВО И ПРОБЛЕМЫ В ТУРИСТИЧЕСКИХ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯХ:
ПРИМЕР ГЕНДЕРНОЙ РАБОТЫ ИЗ САМАРКАНДА
TURIZM TASHKILOTLARIDAGI GENDER TENGLIGI VA MUAMOLLAR:
GENDER MASALASI SAMARQANDDA, ISH HAQIDA KEYS TADQIQI.
Dostonbek TILOVMURODOV
¹
Abstract:
Few past study has highlighted gendered labor challenges, issues and made recommendations for organizations
to promote gender equality in the tourism and hospitality industries. Nevertheless, little is known about how academic
research has been put into practice by travel organizations. Traditional values in many cultural locales may obstruct
female's engagement as a staff in the tourist business and may represent an important role in the production and
reproduction of gender discrimination. Gender equality is regarded as one of the key measures of socio-cultural
sustainability in tourism destinations. As a result, interviews were used to assess the situation of women's equality is
one of the key role in this study. Data were collected from different travel agencies at (Samarkand) Uzbekistan.
Аннотация:
Немногие прошлые исследования выдвигали на первый план гендерные трудовые проблемы, пробле
-
мы и давали рекомендации организациям по продвижению гендерного равенства в индустрии туризма и
гостеприимства. Тем не менее мало что известно о том, как туристические организации применяют
UDK:338.481.482.486.048.4
47
Alfraganus University
академические исследования на практике. Традиционные ценности во многих культурных регионах могут
препятствовать вовлечению женщин в туристический бизнес и могут играть важную роль в возникновении
и воспроизведении дискриминации по признаку пола. Гендерное равенство считается одним из ключевых
показателей социально-культурной устойчивости туристических направлений. В результате интервью
были использованы для оценки ситуации с равенством женщин, играющей одну из ключевых ролей в данном
исследовании. Данные были получены от различных туристических агентств в (Самарканде) Узбекистане.
Annotatsiya:
O'tgan bir nechta tadqiqotlarda turizm industuriyasidagi gender muammolari ta'kidlangan va turizm,
mehmondo'stlik sohalarida gender tengligini targ'ib qilish bo'yicha turistik tashkilotlarga tavsiyalar berilgan.
Shunga qaramay mustaqil izlanuvchilar tomonidan “Gender muammosi” haqida olib borilgan akademik tadqiqotlar
qanday amalga oshirilganligi haqida sezilarli darajada kam. Ko'pgina madaniy hududlardagi an'anaviy qadriyatlar
ayollarning turistik biznesga xodim sifatida jalb qilinishiga to'sqinlik qilishi va gender muammosini keltirib chiqarishi
hamda industriyada ko'payshiga sabab bo'lishi, ish hayotida muhim rol o'ynashi mumkin. Dunyoda gender tengligi
turizm destinatsiyalarida ijtimoiy-madaniy barqarorlikni ta'minlashning asosiy chora-tadbirlaridan biri sifatida
qaraladi. Natijada, bu maqolada ayollar tengligi holatini baholash uchun intervyulardan foydalanildi, bu tadqiqotda
asosiy rollardan biri hisoblanadi. Intervyular (Samarqand) O'zbekistondagi turli sayyohlik agentliklaridan olingan.
Key words:
Tourism, Travel, Gender equality, Gender problem, Traditional value, Female staff.
Ключевые слова:
Туризм, Путешествия, Гендерная проблема, Гендерная дискриминация, Тра-
диционные ценности, Женский персонал.
Kalit so‘zlar:
Turizm, Sayohat, Gender tengligi, Gender muammosi, An'anaviy qadriyat, Ayol xodimlar.
1.0 Introduction
- Uzbekistan's travel and leisure industry has grown significantly in recent years. More
than 7,400 cultural historical monuments are on the UNESCO World Heritage List in four ancient cities: Khiva,
Bukhara, Samarkand, and Shakhrisabz. In recent years, the number of tourists have also increased. Concurrently,
2.69 million international tourists visited Uzbekistan in 2017, growing to 5.3 million in 2018. The number of
travel operating organizations rose from 398 in 2015 to 950 by the end of 2018, with 900 hotel and accom-
modations. The export volume of tourism services in Uzbekistan more than doubled between 2010 and 2017,
reaching 546.9 million US dollars in 2017 and 1.041 million US dollars in 2018. At the same time, President
Sh. Mirziyoyev is taking an active approach to tourism development, adopting legal and regulatory documents
and working to attract tourists and develop tourism infrastructure in the regions, most notably the adoption of
the "Tourism Development Concept in Uzbekistan for 2019-2025." (Decree of the President, 2019). The main
goal of Uzbekistan's state tourism policy, according to the concept, is to lead the tourism sector in the complex
development of regions and their infrastructure, to solve urgent socioeconomic objectives, to increase jobs, to
ensure the diversification and development of regions, to improve the income, standard of living and quality
of the population, followed by increase the country's investment attractiveness and image [1]. At the same
time, the difficulties of identifying the tourist phenomena as a result, the generated jobs in this industry, which
are often categorized as direct or indirect, must be considered. Tourism labor is created in the hotel, food and
beverage, entertainment, travel management and tourist attraction sectors. However, Gender encompasses the
social, cultural, and psychological elements of life, as well as ’gender' refers to the biological components of
being male or female. In other words, gender is permanent and determined by nature and gender is variable
also determined by society [2 - 8]. Such concept of gender indicates distinctions across the various cultures
dependent on the values, beliefs and behavioral expectations that are at the same time evolving through time
[3]. One may argue that gender has arisen as a cross-cutting problem in international development during the
last few decades. Gender in the tourism business is seen as being built, legitimized, reproduced and altered
[4], which can impact the identities of visitors, residents, staff, as well as gender identification [8]. Tourism
industry is a fundamentally gendered economic sector [5], with clear but culturally varying female participa-
tion within the travel industry. [6] Observed that men and women are often influenced unequally by tourism
due to a common awareness of the social construction of gender [7-11]. Yet, 'equality of opportunity' could
significantly contribute to sustainable development and women's empowerment [12], contrary to the feminist
approach, especially emphasizes liberal women's emancipation [13]. There is an inherent tension in Uzbekistan
between traditional values and the requirement of work place and working shifts, such as in tourism and hos-
pitality industry, which creates great obligations on females, of course at the price of social sustainability and
equality. Being a traditional, culturally oriented Central Asian country, women have been portrayed as feeble
and subjugated by husband and male relatives, a cultural phenomenon that originates mostly from traditional,
religious rules also family norms. This phenomenon inhibits women from entering the tourist sector because of
household work such as child care, cleaning the house and cooking duties for family members [14]. According
48
Alfraganus University
to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), greater equality is a vital aspect of an effective
tourism business because women make up over half of the potential workforce. Moreover, women's economic
empowerment in tourism increases its economic opportunities, allowing them to achieve equality and dignity
[9]. [15], for instance, discovered that the travel industry in Uzbekistan is dominated by men, particularly at
the highest levels of management.
1.1 Objectives and hypothesis of the research
- The primary goal of this research is to examine the tra-
jectory of gender equality in the tourism sector in one of Uzbekistan most popular tourist destinations (city
of Samarkand). Women have traditionally been seen to be important in the development of societies, since
female empowerment will enhance economic growth and long-term sustainability. Another aim of this study
is to contextualize occupational segregation and inequality at Samarkand touristic travel agencies. This may
assist travel industry decision-makers to steer upcoming management plans to include more women and to
eliminate cultural limitations and detentions that prevent women from entering the tourism business. The
research hypothesis designed base on the literature.
Hypothesis 1 (H1) There are various dimensions that female worker experience of inequality and occupational
segregation in tourism industry.
Hypothesis 2 (H2) The household works such as cleaning, cooking, caring child are interacting for women to
work in tourism industry.
1.2 Study area of the research
- Samarkand, originally known as Samarqand, is a city in southern Uzbe-
kistan and one of Central Asia's oldest continuously inhabited towns. There is evidence of human activity in
the city region that originates from the late Paleolithic period. Because there is no clear proof, some theories
suggest that Samarkand was founded during the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. Samarkand was once one
of Central Asia's largest [8] town, owing to its location on the Silk Route connecting China, Persia and Europe.
[10]. The modern city of Samarkand is divided into two sections: the ancient city and the new city, which was
built after the 1960s. The old city has historical monuments, stores and old private dwellings. Indeed, the new
city contains administrative buildings, new highways and one of the best infrastructures, as well as cultural
and educational institutions. [10] The city was host the (2022 SCO) summit on September 15-16, 2022.
2.0 Material and Method of the research
- This study used a qualitative data analysis (QDA) [16]. The
study relies on interviews with 40 female employees who work at the tourism-related companies and insti-
tutions like travel agencies in the study region (city of Samarkand). Interviews were also done with males and
individuals (owners of the agencies) to extract information about tourism in a socio-cultural framework in
order to develop a clear picture of gender and how it is produced in the research region. The study used three
indices of gender equality: the number of women and men working in the travel agency, demographic vari-
ables such as age, marital status, education, and employment rate, and the working shifts that put in place to
empower women. The data gathering procedure was carried out at several travel agencies in Samarkand and
various sorts of data were collected (interviews). Lexalytics was used to evaluate and analyses the data [16].
3.0 Result of the research
- According to data collected in 2021, the majority of women working in the
tourist business are between the ages of 18 and 25, with the remainder being between the ages that out of
32-40 and age above than 40. The majority (60%) have a marital status of single, which is consisted with the
Samarkand city distribution. (Figs. 1).
² It has been created by the author.
²
49
Alfraganus University
Followed by educational background of women’s who were working in the tourism industry in travel
agencies are bachelor degree (70%) and Non-education group is (10%). The minor educational group only (5%)
was who graduated master degree, Indeed, there were nodiv who completed PhD among the participants.
Respondents (38 participants) in Samarkand believed that there is no work available or either claimed,
who did not have educational background and working experience that cannot or hard to find a suitable job.
Considering female worker’s monthly salary were lower than male workers at the travel agencies that only 2
participants said salary lower than male ones, the results shows that eight participant have to work at night
for night shift works at the travel agencies. In addition, Travel agencies mostly prefer male workers due to
energy and power that had been stated by 39 female participants, the number of male worker were more than
female workers base on (Fig.2).
³ It has been created by the author.
⁴ It has been created by the author.
50
Alfraganus University
The majority of participants (33 of them) who were working at the travel agencies in Samarkand have to
do cooking before work and 30 participants stated than they have to clean the house before working hours
started and only few of them do not have cooking and cleaning before their work starts. Followed by majority
participants (27 out 40) have to do all the washing also 24 of them mentioned yes for taking care of babies
before go to work. Mainly, almost all of the participant highlighted that household works giving them negative
effects and their relative won’t agree for them to work unless complete household works first (Fig. 5 above).
4.0 Discussion of the research
- Despite equal education and employment prospects in Samarkand, wo-
men's involvement in travel agencies in the Samarkand area is comparable to that across the country, which is
lower than male employees. Presently, there is a specific requirement in the Samarkand region for recruiting
educated and job-experienced women in the tourist business, as opposed to other industries where the majo-
rity of them are not educated, such as in the kindergarten or sales department. This is explained by the sort of
employment women often have in such industries; women work as assistants at the travel companies. It is a
deliberate purpose to give them an advantage beyond men in terms of power and vitality. In essence, gender is
socially manufactured, with people subconsciously seeing gender as socially female. As a result, the total of the
behaviors in the community must be conducted in accordance with its cultural standards. For example, women
are not socially capable of living on their own without the authorization of their parents, husbands, other male
relatives and there are many household tasks that they must complete rather than working somewhere, and
there is sometimes no permission for them to study at universities, all of which stem from social and family
norms that cause females to feel unequal. Based on the findings, certain implications concerning women's
positions in the tourism business in terms of efficiency may be reached as following household work. It beco-
mes extremely evident that domestic works have bad impacts on women. As a result, they feel exhausted and
dizzy, which leads to a lack of efficiency in the travel sector, which generates occupational segregation or being
jobless in general labor markets.
5.0 Conclusion of the research
- Despite tourism in Uzbekistan is still in its initial stages, it has shown
the potential for providing jobs and stimulating income-generating enterprises to assist local populations in
nationally popular tourist destinations such as Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Shakhrisabz. It is notable that
the tourist industry gives job possibilities, however women's employment and opportunities are fewer than those
of male workers. But, there are a few factors that might make this possibility more effective such as creating
51
Alfraganus University
policy fort female rights. This necessitates a more favorable engagement among travel groups, including national
and local governments, non-governmental organizations, industry, local communities, and community-based
tourism projects. Nonetheless, the tourist business in the Samarkand appears to be an especially suitable "can-
didate" for engaging in initiatives to promote women. Because of the expansion of tourism. Women's equality
in Samarkand's tourism industry demands a shift in traditional cultural and religious attitudes and practices
that perpetuate gender inequities. The fair number of women workers in Samarkand's travel agency workforce
offers a crucial foundation for women's further growth, which is now at a large level.
6.0 List of References
1. Figueroa-Domecq, C. (2020). Application of a gender perspective in tourism research: a
theoretical and practical approach. Emerald, pp 1-20.
2. Genç, A. D. (2021). The Impact of Tourism in the Reduction of Gender Inequality. Research
Gate, pp 1-16.
3. JAMHAWI, M. (2005). GENDER EQUALITY IN TOURISM INDUSTRY: A CASE STUDY FROM
MADABA, JORDAN. Journal of Global Research in Education and Social Science, pp 1-15.
4. Je, J. S. (2020). Gender issues in tourism organizations: insights from a two-phased pragmatic
systematic literature review. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, pp 1-25.
5. Kogovsek, M. (2010). HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM GENDER ISSUES REMAIN UNSOLVED: A CALL
FOR RESEARCH. MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH JOURNAL, pp 1-11.
6. Núria Abellan Calvet, C. I. (2021). Gender inequalities in the tourism labor market. Barcelona: Alba
Sud Editorial.
7. Sanggyeong. (2020). Gender issues in tourism organizations: insights from a two phased pragmatic
systematic literature review. JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM, pp 1-25.
8. „History of Samarkand”. www.advantour.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-16. Retrieved
2018-05-15
9. Veijola, S. (2010). Gender as Work in the Tourism Industry. Tourist Studies, pp 1-18.
10. Xu, H. (2018). Moving toward gender and tourism geographies studies. An International Journal of
Tourism Space, Place and Environment, pp 1-8.
11. Aitchison C. Gender and leisure. Social and cultural perspectives. London: Routledge; 2018.
12. Hughes, E., & Scheyvens, R. (2018). Development alternatives in the Pacific: How tourism corporates
can work more effectively with female gander. Tourism Planning & Development, pp 516–534
13. Waylen, G. (2014). Informal institutions, institutional change, and gender equality. Political Research
Quarterly, pp 212–223.
14. World Economic Forum. (2020). Global gender gap report. pp 7-12.
15. Tucker H. (2017) Undoing shame: Tourism and women’s work in Turkey. Journal of Tourism and
Cultural Change. Pp 87-105.
