Tourism, technology and gender equality futures

Purpose The aim of the paper is to discuss the contribution of tourism technologies to Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5), gender equality. Design/methodology/approach Following a review of the literature on tourism technologies and a consideration of the goals of SDG5, we provide a discussion of the ways in which tourism technologies can support gender equality. Findings While the tourism industry has potential for the promotion of gender equality, there are policies and research agendas that can be followed that will enable tourism technologies to better support the SDG5 goal. Practical implications Tourism, as an industry, can play a vital role in supporting SDG5 by ensuring that women’s voices are present in the management of tourism technologies. Originality/value This paper represents a viewpoint of how automation technology applications in tourism can progress towards the SDGs, specifically in regard to gender equality. This analysis shows that there is potential at this point to incorporate women’s perspectives into automation technology applications in tourism in ways to ensure that meaningful contribution is made towards progress in gender equality.