Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
ZAFFERANA ETNEA (CT) – “Women make up 51.7% of Italy’s tourism employees, yet only 28.4% hold managerial roles. 64.7% are in clerical positions and 39.4% are middle managers. A gap that reveals an unresolved contradiction in one of the most dynamic sectors of the national economy.”
The alarm over the so-called “glass ceiling” in the hospitality industry was raised by Rosa Di Stefano, president of Federalberghi Palermo and regional vice-president of Federalberghi Sicilia, speaking today in Zafferana Etnea at a conference organised by the Association of Hotel Directors (ADA) Sicily.
SRM-Federalberghi data: “Tourism must also give women decision-making power”
A precise snapshot of the gender disparity at the top of companies is provided by the SRM 2026 report “Tourism, Businesses & Territory”, produced by Federalberghi using data from the national social security institute (INPS).
“Tourism is a sector in which women are the protagonists every day: in reception, administration, service management, often in positions of the highest responsibility,” Di Stefano stressed. “Yet when we reach the top, their presence drops dramatically. A rapidly growing sector cannot afford to leave behind such a crucial part of its human capital. Tourism knows how to give women jobs; now it must show it can give them decision-making power too.”
Towards a new model of hotel leadership
The president of Federalberghi Palermo concluded her impassioned speech by calling for deep cultural reflection on the very concept of management and leadership in hospitality.
“A good director runs a hotel; a great director develops the people who will run it when they are no longer there. This is the inclusive leadership we urgently need,” Di Stefano remarked. “Asking why there are still so few women at the top is not about claiming positions on the basis of gender, but demanding a system in which talent, preparation and meritocracy truly have the same opportunities to emerge.”
