 2. Gender equality and tourism Twins Rika and Eric were born into a family who owned a hotel in a small coastal town. They grew up under the same conditions and dreamed together about their future. The world was an open playground for them. Eric wanted to teach and travel the world. Rita dreamed about a business career and hope to take over the family business one day. Once their school years were over, they had to make decisions about their futures. As the father was too old to run a hotel, he handed it over to his son. Eric had to forget his dreams about being a teacher and exploring the world. Rita helped her mother to keep the hotel clean, worked in the service and the restaurant. After school, she did just the same and her parents didn't let her leave home to study. While she was working, she realized that 70% of their employees were female and most of them were performing on low paid jobs such as cleaning, cooking and service. Understanding more about gender equality issues, she learned that this situation applies to the global tourism sector and gender equality and empowering women is one of UN's sustainable goals. Meanwhile, the situation at the hotel didn't go well. Eric was not interested in running the company and their business started failing. He had to ask Rita for help, so she took over the hotel. Eric was finally able to make his dream come true and created an online teaching platform to travel and work at the same time. Rita was happy to run the company. Through her business, she wanted to contribute to women's empowerment, provide equal opportunities for men and women and improve the working conditions of their employees. Through her passion and hard work, she reduced inequalities and involved women in decision making processes making the hotel successful. Many women finally got the chance to apply their knowledge and experience and receive opportunities to create a career. Fair wages and equal opportunities highly increased motivation of the hotel employees. Women in the company are no longer afraid to go on maternity leave and lose their job. They still can be a part of the workforce even after having a child. Rita and her hotel are one of the best examples of women empowerment in tourism and implementing gender equality on national and global levels.