New challenges for women in churches: tourism-related problems.

Although it is widely acknowledged that tourism is one of the biggest industries is an integral part of the development strategy in many countries now and that issues such as protection of environment, social justice, drugs, gambling, child prostitution and sexual exploitation have to be linked to tourism, tourism-related issues are not yet--or any longer--on the agenda of the churches.

In the seventies churches, particularly in the South, were quite active in this sector and founded the Ecumenical Coalition on Third World Tourism (ECTWT) in 1982. ECTWT's primary objective was to raise the awareness about the negative impact of tourism, such as (child) sex tourism, and to fight against this.

Women-most exploited in the tourism industry

Despite all the efforts undertaken by ECTWT and other NGOs during the past 20 years, most churches do not pay much attention to the negative impact of tourism. Violation of Human Rights in connection with tourism development (forced labour for tourism infrastructure as in Burma and forced sex-trafficking) are gradually becoming an issue for some churches but the social, cultural and environmental impact of tourism are not well known.

Approximately 80% of the labour workforce in tourism are women though the ratio varies greatly from country to country: from 0.1.% in Pakistan to 89% in Finland.

The ILO (International Labour Organisation) has repeatedly characterised working conditions in the tourism industry as very poor: long working hours, job insecurity, seasonal employment, low wages (whereby women earn up to a third less than their male colleagues), a low degree of unionisation and collective bargaining, frequent infringements of labour laws, and lack of training and qualification opportunities. (1)

Apart from prostitutes, the most exploited women in the tourism industry are the golf caddies who are forced to carry the heavy golf equipment for many hours in the sun and who often are also forced to serve golfers after their games as sex slaves -frequently without any compensation.

Only women between 18 and 25 years are being employed as caddies whereby maximum weight and a certain height are additional requirements to qualify as a caddy who should attract male golfers to the play ground. Caddies do not receive a regular wage or a minimum wage but they only get paid if actually working as a caddy. If there are not enough golf players to employ all 300 caddies who are on average available on a 18 hole golf course, the women who waited all day long to be chosen by a golfer will not earn anything. (2)

Although golf is one of the most prestigious and expensive sports and has become a big industry in the recent years, its impacts on the environment, on people and wildlife is fairly unknown.

In many countries golf has brought heavy ecological and social costs: deforestation, the destruction of biodiversity and erosion; dispossession of people's homes and farms; over-consumption and pollution of water, and very high use of pesticides and fertilizers which threaten nearby residents, wildlife, workers and golfers. On an island off the west coast of the Malayan peninsula, one 18-hole golf course requires 5000 cubic meters of water per day. The amount needed annually would supply a village of 20,000 for a year! Up to 90% of the chemicals sprayed on golf courses ends up in the air. Middle and long-term effects include diseases which, prior to the construction of the golf courses, had been unknown, as observed in Thailand. A high incidence of rhinitis, asthma and some cancers have been found among caddies, golfers and nearby residents.

Rice farmers in Thailand had to give up farming as there was not enough water for the rice paddies as public water resources were illegally used for the maintenance of the green golf courses. The World Food Summit in 1996 pointed out that golf had, in effect, taken "food out of people's mouths ... If tens of thousand of hectares wasted on golf courses construction had been planted in grain, it would have supported hundreds of thousands of people ... Tourist earnings may be important but golf courses are catering to an upper elite and contribute little to the welfare of the 1.2 billion people in the world, believed to be surviving on less than one US Dollar a day." (3)

Global Code of the Ethics for Tourism

In 1999 the issue of tourism obtained wide international attention as

(a) the 7th session of the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) in April focused on tourism,

(b) the World Tourism Organisation adopted a GLOBAL CODE OF ETHICS FOR TOURISM at its General Assembly in October 1999 and

(c) as the Year 2002 was proclaimed as the International Year of Eco-tourism and the Year of the Mountains.

The final CSD document can be used to raise the awareness about the impact of tourism. Churches should use their influence and should urge their governments to implement recommendations such as "to take strong and appropriate action, through the development and enforcement of specific legislation/measures, against any kind of illegal, abusive or exploitative tourist activity, including sexual exploitation/abuse, in recognition of the fact that such activities have particularly adverse impacts and pose significant social, health and cultural threats, and that all countries have a role to play in the efforts to stamp them out."

The decision to elaborate on a Global Code of Ethics for Tourism was taken at a meeting of World Tourism Leaders in Manila in May 1997 where the tourism leaders acknowledged for the first time that tourism also has cultural and social impacts.

The World Tourism Organization (WTO) invited three NGOs, the Ecumenical European Tourism Network, the Ecumenical Coalition on Third World Tourism and Equitable Tourism Options (Bangalore/India) to contribute to the Code. Jointly with some experts on ethics, representatives of the three NGOs drafted a Code of Ethics for Tourism which is quite different to the WTO Code. The NGO Code sets the tone for a just world tourism order and is a document that could be used and discussed in churches when reflecting on tourism-related problems and ethics in tourism. The Preamble reads as follows:

"Tourism is a world-wide phenomenon affecting human society and the environment. While tourists and people working in the tourism industry may benefit, people in tourist receiving areas experience a threat to their self-determination and dignity. Against the dynamics of globalisation, the vital rights of local communities have been threatened.

All cultures and societies are committed to specific ethical values within which common areas of concern have been accepted. These values draw upon secular traditions and regulations which guide the interaction of individuals, communities and societies as well as to the different beliefs of the religions of the world

The new millennium will face an increased globalisation and trade liberalisation and tourism plays a vital role in this. WTO predicts that by 2020 one out of every three trips will be a long-haul journey to another region of the world. It is expected that China will become a major force in international tourism and that about 100 million Chinese will take international trips by 2020, thus putting them in fourth place in numbers of travellers after Germany, Japan and the United States. By the same time, China will attract 137 million visitors--63,5 million overseas visitors travelled to China in 1998--and thus outrank France as the world's top destination (France received a record number of tourists of more than 70 million in 1999).

Churches, and in particular, Christian women cannot any longer neglect the tourism industry which is one of the biggest in the world and effects increasingly the life of millions of people.

Sex-trafficking and sex (child) tourism are the worst sides of tourism; drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, gambling and money-laundering are closely linked to this industry and churches are called upon to fight these evils and to develop strategies how to combat them.

(1.) ILO: Working Conditions in Hotels, Restaurants and Similar Establishments. Report VI, International Labour Conference 1990, Geneva 

(2.) Anita Pleumarom: "Wie aus Baeuerinnen Caddies werden" (How female farmers become caddies) in "Herrliche Aussichten" (Wonderful Perspectives--Women in Tourism), K.Gluetter, C.Pluess (editors), 1996)

(3.) D. McLaren: "Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel," Kumarian Press, 1997

* Tourism Alert, 19, Chemin des Palettes Ch-1212 GRAND LANCY fax & phone [phone] Email: [e-mail])

Annette Groth, former Director of ECTWT, Consultant on tourism-related issues *