WTTC campaigns for gender equality in...

“Companies that have 50% women in their leadership make more money" says WTTC CEO

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) reiterated the importance of women’s engagement in the sector to catapult its growth and achieve resilience at the Women Deliver Global Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.

The event served as a platform to address the challenges faced by women in the sector and explore strategies to overcome them, aiming to inspire change and promote equal opportunities for women.

The panel discussions during the event shed light on the challenges faced by women in the business, including barriers to entry, operational obstacles and ecosystem limitations. The event also underscored the vital role of mentorship in empowering young women.

WTTC president & CEO Julia Simpson said: “It is proven that companies that have 50% women in their leadership make more money. This makes even more sense in travel and tourism where women make the buying decisions on where to go on holiday. It also makes good sense to employ women in senior roles; why would you exclude access to 50% of global talent?”

According to the global tourism body, women constitute approximately 54% of the workforce, and while travel and tourism provides accessible opportunities for women, it also faces disparities, such as lower pay and job security.

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These disparities were reflected in the Covid-19 pandemic's impact, where a majority of the 62 million jobs lost in the travel and tourism sector were women's jobs.

WTTC recommended that governments should adopt policies that promote women in senior management, such as mandatory quotas for publicly listed companies and state-owned enterprises.

For more information, visit www.wttc.org