Breaking The Bias On International Women’s Day 2022
Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), Air Canada, G Adventures, Trafalgar, Contiki, Intrepid and Skål International are among just a few of the companies and organizations in the travel and tourism industry stepping up to break the bias on International Women’s Day 2022.
Read on to find out what they’re doing:
Nicola Madden-Greig, president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), observes that the United Nations theme for International Women’s Day 2022 was particularly apt as COVID-19 wanes in the region because of the special role played by women in guiding Caribbean hospitality and tourism through the pandemic.
Madden-Greig observed that: “Tourism is by far the most dynamic economic driver in the Caribbean and we should recognize the contribution of women to safeguarding and returning our destinations to full economic health.”
Madden-Greig, who runs the sales and marketing department of a large tourism company in Jamaica, continued: “It is time to recognize Caribbean women for their tremendous contributions not only with our appreciation but also with our commitment to ensure our women achieve true equality in terms of employment opportunities, compensation, as well as in leadership.”
She pointed out that: “Many women were at the frontlines of the fight to contain the economic ravages of COVID-19, working tirelessly and innovatively, with vastly reduced resources to ensure our tourism and hospitality sectors were able to function, and were resilient enough to immediately retool as the pandemic subsided.”
And she said that: “Today, we also challenge owners and decision makers throughout the region to look at providing gender balance at both the C-suite level and throughout their organizations with equity in compensation and respect for the ideas and contributions of the women in tourism.”
For more, go to www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com .
Air Canada Fostering The Next Generation
Air Canada has announced the 2022 recipients of the Captain Judy Cameron Scholarship to mark International Women’s Day and as its continues to foster the next generation of women in non-traditional aviation careers.
The scholarship, named in honour of Air Canada’s trailblazing first female pilot, recognizes high-potential young women pursuing aviation and aerospace careers as commercial pilots or aircraft maintenance engineers and who may not have the financial means to do so.
The winners of the Captain Judy Cameron Scholarship, awarded in partnership with the Northern Lights Aero Foundation, each receive $5,000 toward their studies in aviation. The 2022 recipients include Tanisha Galway, Winnie Ho, Alissa Stirling and Madeline Ungurain.
Check out the video:
For more, go to www.aircanada.com .
G Adventures Celebrates IWD 2022
G Adventures is committed to building back better as global tourism recovers, and is today (March 8) celebrating the appointment of 10 new female Chief Experience Officers (CEOs) in the Middle East and North Africa this International Women’s Day.
The new CEOs are based in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Oman, marking the first time the global operator and community tourism pioneer has female tour leaders in all destinations in the MENA region.
The new Chief Experience Officers include Maryam Hafez, Amira Majid, Mirna El-Rayyan and Sofia Benbrahim.
Go to www.gadventures.com for more.
Trafalgar Launches Women’s Only Tours
Trafalgar is unveiling its Women’s Only travel tours with a range of itineraries created by women, for women. Female clients will travel with ease led by their expert, all-women team of Travel Directors and and Wellbeing Directors by their side, every step of the way. Trafalgar will be offering 13 new guided tours and exclusive departures which were created by female team members with itineraries across Europe, the United Kingdom and the Middle East including Egypt and Jordan.
In the past 12 months based on data and women’s travel trends, the brand has seen a significant interest in women’s only tours as international destinations are ready to welcome back travellers.
Go to https://www.trafalgar.com/en-ca for more.
Empowering Women To #BREAKTHEBIAS
The President of the Commission on Human Rights, Charles Malik, once said, “The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world.” But women face many disadvantages, globally: biases that stop them from accessing education and opportunities, while leaving them vulnerable to violence and oppression. That’s why this year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias – imagining a gender-equal world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that is diverse, equitable and inclusive.
In tourism, women are often concentrated in the lowest paid and lowest status jobs. But it doesn’t have to be like this. By opting to support female-led tourism experiences when we travel, the industry can give women opportunities they have genuine ownership over and amplify their voices. This can empower communities to #BreakTheBias, and have a lasting impact on societies – particularly in developing countries. In this sense, travel has a genuine ability – and responsibility – to level the playing field.
That’s why Contiki – the social travel operator for 18-35s – seeks out female-led community experiences for its clients.
“MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences give our guests the opportunity to make a positive social or environmental impact on the communities and places we visit,” said Contiki’s Sustainability officer Tasha Hayes. “Any opportunity to support or promote a female-led business or initiative is genuinely important alongside being an excellent learning opportunity for our travellers. We seek to demonstrate the great community benefits from travel and tourism while in turn educating our travellers on pressing global issues like women’s rights. Most importantly it’s about highlighting the actions being taken to address these issues and what they can do as advocates after finishing their Contiki trip,” Hayes concludes.
Go to www.contiki.com for more.
Intrepid Brings Back Women’s Expeditions
Intrepid Travel is reimagining its Women’s Expeditions tour range, which has been on hiatus since early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic ceased international travel, by launching several new and newly redesigned tours for travellers.
Not only will these trips include some of the signature experiences from past trips – they will also introduce new destinations, experiences, be led and hosted by new women, and seek to help support and empower communities that have been deeply affected by the pandemic.
Intrepid said that this was an important consideration as it worked to bring this tour range back.
Each Women’s Expedition trip will be guided by local female tour leaders and were created to break the barriers of traditional tourism, offering a deeper understanding of female culture in more conservative destinations that wouldn’t typically be feasible in mixed gender settings, and to challenge traditional gender boundaries in tourism, with the overall aim to encourage female empowerment and connect women from all walks of life.
After initially launching as a limited-edition range in 2018 with tours in Morocco, Jordan and Iran, the trips became some of the most popular in the company’s 30+ year history, prompting Intrepid to add tours in Turkey, Kenya, India and Nepal in 2019. Now in 2022, Intrepid will reintroduce them in countries that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Intrepid’s new Women’s Expeditions will include:
- India Women’s Expedition (12 days, from $1,060 USD per person)
- Iran Women’s Expedition (12 days, from $2,120 USD per person)
- Jordan Women’s Expedition (8 days, from $1390 USD per person)
- Morocco Women’s Expedition (8 days, from $1,040 USD per person)
- Peru Women’s Expedition (8 days, from $1,390 USD per person)
Erica Kritikides, General Manager of Global Product at Intrepid Travel, said that: “Relaunching Women’s Expeditions is a significant and exciting step forward for Intrepid Travel, enabling us to continue our support for some truly inspirational women who rely on tourism to support themselves, their families and their communities – many of whom suffered greatly because of the COVID-19 pandemic and are eager to welcome tourists back.”
Go to https://www.intrepidtravel.com/womens-expeditions for more.
Skål International Celebrates IWD 2022
It’s a journey from 2002, when the first woman president was elected by Skål International, to 2022. In the past 20 years, the evolution of women in the tourism industry from a majority of the workers to top leadership roles has been a long and significant one.
Things have changed quite a bit since 2002 when Mary Bennett from Galway, Ireland, was elected to be the first woman world president of Skål International.
Even though Skål International was formed in 1934, it was not until 2002 that a woman was able to reach its top leadership role, an unfortunately typical pattern in the earlier days of the travel industry.
Today, Burcin Turkkan, current world president of Skål International, is the seventh woman to occupy this position since 2002, a clear indication that women have finally been recognized for their talents and leadership ability, thereby penetrating tourism and corporate leadership on a global level successfully.
Other women to hold the position of Skål International president were Litsa Papathanassi, 2006-2007, Greece; Hulya Aslantas, 2009-2010, Turkey; Karine Coulanges, 2013-2014, France; Susanna Saari, 2017-2018, Finland and Lavonne Wittmann, 2018-2019, South Africa.
According to the second edition of the Global Report on Women in Tourism (2019) by UNWTO approximately 54% of people employed in the travel and tourism industry are women, compared to 39% in the broader economy.
Go to www.skal.org for more.
