On March 1, WeTravel – the leading integrated tech platform built to support multi-day travel booking and payments – is launching its We Travel For Women campaign through its Women+ in Travel Academy, celebrating the accomplishments and stories of 31 women in travel in honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.
Aligning with International Women’s Day’s mission to “get the world talking about why equal opportunities are no longer enough,” the We Travel For Women campaign will highlight 31 women in travel to further the business’s commitment through the Women+ in Travel Academy to use its educational platform to share women-created, women-written resources that champion better representation in travel.
Each woman – from founders of tour operators in Africa to office managers in Amsterdam and tour leaders in Latin America – will take to the Women+ in Travel Academy for one day during March to share their experiences as a woman in the industry, including celebrating their accomplishments.
“Last year, we launched within WeTravel’s newly-formed Academy a Women+ in Travel Academy with much-needed, often hard-to-find women-curated resources to support equity and representation in tourism,” said Shayna Zand, WeTravel’s head of partnerships. “While all year women share their stories in the Women in Travel Academy, this month our continued commitment to celebrate and support women in travel will include a feature a day of an inspiring woman, from tour leaders in Latin America to business owners in Africa, to celebrate their successes – and the broader impact these women are having on equity in travel.”
According to the World Tourism Organization, women account for 54% of employees in the tourism sector, but only 15% of women hold senior-management positions. Although women hold significantly fewer senior roles than men in tourism, the representation of women in senior-management roles in travel is higher than other global industries. This International Women’s Day, the focus on lessening the gender representation gap is attributed to focusing more on equity. Within every organization, intentional action must be taken to support females’ professional development.
As a business committed to equity within its organization and for its more than 3,000 global clients – including gender representation – WeTravel’s global business comprises 150 employees: more than 50% of whom identify as women, representing more than 40 nationalities, and 25% of whom are parents. In leadership, more than 50% of positions are held by identifying women, working from three continents.
The business’s platform supports hundreds of women-run, women-led tour operators and group travel organizers, which was the impetus to launch last year within its newly-created Women+ in Travel Academy. The Women+ in Travel Academy commissions pieces from identifying women in travel to publish as free resources to support better representation in travel. To date, the platform has provided free resources on subjects like: making travel safer for Black women, why free travel isn’t a perk for parents, supporting women entrepreneurs and tour leaders.
This Women’s History Month, support the 31 women sharing their stories in the Women+ in Travel Academy, here: https://resources.wetravel.com/women-in-travel. Each day, one article written by a woman in travel will go live on the site and WeTravel’s social media channels.
“We’re honored to be a vehicle for supporting these women and their ever-inspiring stories,” said Zand. “It’s our hope that reading these women’s stories will prove that, as an industry, more needs to be done for equity – and it needs to be done now.”