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Featured in TTG, April 2020

Women still lag behind in the travel pay league, but are set to make up more of the industry’s top jobs in the next year, new research has concluded.

A report from Women in Hospitality, Travel & Leisure (WiHTL) concluded the nymber of women in top roles in the three sectors is set to pass the 33% mark in the next 12 months.

However, of the three sectors, travel lags behind in terms of the gender pay gap. Travel’s mean pay gap was 21.3%, compared with only 10% in the leisure industry.

The research also revealed that just 12.5% of companies had a number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (bame) staff equal to or greater than the propoertion in the UK working age population.

On the positive side, the percentage of women on executive committees has increased across 43% of companies year-on-year. At board level, that applied to almost half of companies.

WiHTL founder and chair Tea Colaianni said that despite some tangible results achieved, the report was a reminder that work had “only just begun”.

I’ve been talking to many colleagues in the travel industry over the last couple of weeks. Travel Weekly’s Lee Hayhurst spoke with myself, Chris Photi and Will Waggott about the fight for survival many firms are facing. Take a listen below

Some interesting, alarming and promising stats in the IOD magazine back in January led us to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report for 2020. Progress is being made in some areas, but there is always more that can be done. Read the full report here.

‘Shaping a gender inclusive industry to meet the talent and leadership needs of the 21st century’

We’re excited to learn more about the very first international forum in which senior leaders and up-and-coming female talent from across the industry are coming together to share, learn; challenge and progress their understanding of gender diversity and inclusion.

It is an innovative and collaborative forum, focussed on enhancing the full contribution of women to the workplace and jointly address current limitations.

Royal Bank of Scotland is set to name Alison Rose as its next chief executive, making her the first woman to lead one of Britain’s major lenders.

By Traci Mercer – Sabre Travel Network | August 20, 2019

As a little girl growing up in the ’80s, I imagined a future that included flying cars like in the Jetsons, having a personal computerized assistant like Max Headroom and the ability to push a button and get whatever I wanted, like food or toys.

The future was going to be so exciting! I was told I could be anything I wanted, even president of the United States. Just the thought of all the possibilities and opportunities would sometimes keep me up all night

As an idealistic young woman, I was confident that, after the decades of accomplishments from women, we had proved that gender has no bearing on intelligence; women are just as smart and capable as men. And that meant we would have a seat at the helm of businesses, in boardrooms and even in the Oval Office.

Frankly, I wasn’t even sure we still needed this “equality” conversation.

As recently seen in the Guardian and IoD round up….

Britain’s top businesses are still missing targets on gender diversity, states the latest Hampton-Alexander Review.

The Review – an annual report first commissioned by the Government in 2016 – found that the number of ‘one and done’ boards (with just a single female member) had roughly halved over the year across the FTSE350 from 74 to 39, with only two male-only boards.

However, the proportion of women in senior roles still sits under 30 per cent, and there are only six female chief execs in the FTSE100.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday previously, IoD Chair Charlotte Valeur said, ‘Progress has been made on gender diversity in the boardroom but many women in UK boardrooms are in non-executive roles with frightfully few female CEOs in the FTSE 350.

‘Companies need to take a long hard look at their recruitment processes and ask what barriers are being put up that prevent women and ethnic minorities from advancing both in executive roles and to the board. Women must be trusted not just to be part of the discussion, but also to lead it.’

The travel industry celebrated outstanding talent from the UK and beyond with the announcement of the 2019 Revolut everywoman in Travel Awards winners. The awards celebrate inspirational women whose attitude, work ethic and commitment to supporting other women are making a positive impact on this rapidly evolving industry.

Despite an ever increasing pool of female executives working in the travel industry, only 10% of C-Suite roles are currently occupied by women, and just 18% of board members are women. Whilst the recently published Women in Hospitality 2020 Report highlights a 2% increase in diversity since 2018, it cites a lack of senior role models and an exodus at middle management level as key barriers to achieving gender parity.

As a judge for the Everywoman in Travel three years running, Jeannette and her fellow judges have discussed long and hard the shortlisted finalists for 2019. Take a look at who’s in the running here and keep your eyes peeled for the results.