Public Relations
Women Leading Tourism (WLT) is formed by a group of professional women who possess a long and successful track record, are currently active, and have developed expertise in various areas of the travel and tourism sector.
What can we contribute?
From our positions, we wish to contribute all our experience and knowledge to developing such policies as may increase access of women to quality employment, as well as promote women’s education in leadership, reduce wage inequality and break the glass ceiling whereby only 5% of senior management positions in the Travel & Tourism sector are held by women.
Why now?
Now is the time! Many studies have shown that the companies with greatest female participation in decision-making posts achieve better results, and because we believe there is a new generation of feminine talent in Spain which is ready to offer something a lot more to society.
Tourism is a fundamental industry that creates new jobs; however, women are under-represented in senior management positions and decision-making bodies. WLT aims to become a driver of change within the tourism sector and foster an inclusive model, ensuring the promotion of female talent. Gender diversity and inclusion in organizations is clearly a critical factor for success and improves corporate governance.
Regrettably, there is still a deficit of women in senior management positions in the travel & tourism sector. More than 54% of jobs in travel & tourism are held by women, but less than 5% are senior management positions. Although the push for gender equality in the industry has grown significantly in recent years, diversity and inclusion should not be stopped after the hiring process. According to a recent BCG study, while 91% of companies in tourism and other sectors have a gender diversity program in place, only 27% of women say they actually benefitted from it. It is not enough for companies to hire a diverse workforce. Companies must take more proactive approaches to ensure that diversity and inclusion are given the same degree of importance and attention as other business objectives.
To this end, WLT advocates for woman and diversity to feature prominently in discussions at all kinds of decision-making venues. By encouraging mainstreaming WLT will widen its influence in the travel & tourism industry.
Right now, Covid-19 is impacting the industry more than ever. More than 175 million jobs around the globe are going to be lost by the end of 2020, affecting millions of women. WLT wishes to have an influence on decision-making so that the policies that are implemented are favorable to the employability and leadership of women in the travel & tourism sector in Spain.
