Women and work in the maritime industry - achievement or challenge?

Abstract

Tourism as a social, cultural and economic phenomenon is composed of various activities, such as accommodation, transport, catering, recreation and leisure, cultural services, travel agency and operation services.
Cruise Tourism, considered a complete tourism product as it combines the main activities of Tourism is part of the maritime industry and as such, requires qualified labour to work on ships, including engineering command positions, safety, bridge command and those directly related to hospitality, a department responsible for 80% of the positions on board.
The maritime industry is still an extremely masculine sector. When operating in this environment women face several challenges, which include prejudice, discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual tension (Theotokas & Tsalichi, 2021). Ships have a confined, complex environment with a rigid social structure. Although female representation is growing every year, the percentage of women serving on ships, especially as officers in command positions, is still very small, as shown by studies in several countries.