Gender Equity in Travel–What Soul of Travel Guests Are Doing to Break Down Industry Barriers

According to UN Women, over 50% of the tourism workforce is female, yet women are vastly underrepresented in leadership positions. Although wage gaps are smaller in the travel industry than in others, women still face a number of barriers to gender equity. The Soul of Travel podcast is dedicated to raising up women in travel, speaking to guests who are breaking down those barriers and reshaping the tourism industry as they go. In honor of Women’s History Month, let’s explore the role Soul of Travel guests are playing in achieving gender equity in travel!

Women in Travel Industry Leadership Roles

Despite the fact that women have made a lot of progress toward equity in the workplace—especially since the #MeToo movement—there is still a ways to go. In the cruise industry, for instance, women make up 50% or more of mid-level positions but only a much smaller percentage of executive roles. Just 9% of airline CEOs are female, and there are similarly few tour operator directors or travel agency leaders who identify as women. So why is that and how can we shift those numbers? Several Soul of Travel podcast guests, many in leadership roles themselves, have weighed in.  

Image provided by Gabi Stowell, ATTA.

Gabi Stowell started her travel career as a guide and now works as the Vice President of Regional Development for the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA). “I think tourism has been always a very male-oriented industry, especially in decision-making and big corporations…”  she told Christine in an episode from Season 4, and this despite the fact that “women have a voice in communities.” 

Gabi’s situation is complicated by the fact that her husband, too, is in the industry, currently serving as President of ATTA. “I'm not just a wife,” she insisted, “I don't want to be defined by somebody else's life… Like, ‘okay, you’re the wife of so-and-so’ and people stop listening to you and just put you in that category. So sometimes I just introduce myself without saying [that] because it derails the conversation.”  

Eljesa Saciri from Season 4’s Episode 130, now working as General Manager of The Zetter Hotels, also felt left out of the travel and hospitality industry—at least at first: “I was quite young at the time, but I'd walk past these board meetings…and very, very rarely did you see a woman in that space.” Noticing the lack of women in leadership roles motivated Eljesa: “I wanted to be in one of those rooms. I wanted to be one of those people. I wanted to be a decision maker that was paving the way for a better industry and a better future.”

Photo provided by Alessandra Alonso, Women in Travel, CIC and IWTTF.

Alessandra Alonso is another Soul of Travel guest who also felt like “the only woman in the room.” That led her to a realization that: “the sector was rife with inequality and disparity,” which inspired her to start a gender-focused consultancy and the Shine Awards for Women’s Achievement in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality in 2004 and most recently the IWTTF Conference and Awards happening this June in London.

Zina Bencheikh from Season 4 recognized inequality from the inside looking out: “I realized I was quite young as a woman in a leadership position in the travel industry in Morocco. And it was challenging... There was always that question: ‘why is she here?’” But Zina came to believe that standing out also meant empowering other women: “I saw the shift in all the women's eyes looking at me like, ‘wow, if she can do it, then I could do it as well.’” 

These women are paving the way to gender equity, redefining traditional gender roles as they do so.

Defying Expectations

Traditional, and restrictive, gender roles are a major barrier to equality. As Eljesa told Christine: “People expect you to be very nurturing and very soft and very delicate… I love proving them wrong—it brings me great pleasure—but I still think that it's quite disappointing that we are still at a stage where this is a thing.” Eljesa feels strongly about her role as an equal to her male counterparts: “I'm not here to bring you coffee, I'm not here to hang your jackets… I'm here because I have the same power and the same voice as you.”

As Zina put it: “I think that Imposter Syndrome is always there, but still, I feel like I have a responsibility to shout about what I'm doing, shout about the successes I'm achieving, because other women will see it and other women will think that they can do it as well.”

Photo provided by Casey Hanisko.

Casey Hanisko from Season 4 echoed the same sentiment, saying: “I think that women as leaders have a really hard time advocating for themselves—there's always a feeling of, ‘I'm not good enough or I might not bring enough to the table.’” Among Casey’s desired outcomes for her leadership coaching, she said, is “for more women to really stand in their greatness.”

All Soul of Travel guests seem to agree that the first step toward welcoming more women into the travel industry is showing them they have a place there. Eljesa told Christine: “The more female leaders that are visible, the more we are encouraging other females to join us on this journey.”  

Creating Travel Businesses for Women

Another way Soul of Travel guests are leveling the playing field is building businesses that make travel more accessible to and safer for solo female travelers. This is important, as recent numbers say that solo female travel is on the rise, yet many women have apprehensions about traveling alone. 

Photo provided by Eyitemi Popo, Girls Trip Tours.

Eyitemi Popo’s path to a business for women travelers began with her experience in all-girls school: “Everyone says ‘it's a man's world,’ but living in an environment built for women for four years showed me how powerful women could be if the world catered more to them. That is really what planted the seed.” That seed eventually grew into Girls Trip Tours, a responsible tour company that takes women to Africa. “I created a business based on how much I loved working with women, how much I loved empowering, uplifting other women, and how much I really wanted to connect both Africa and the diaspora.” Eyitemi reflected.

Her business supports both the women travelers and local women in each destination: “With our trips, I create a space where Black women can exist and build community within another while all uplifting the next generation.”

Co-founders Linsey Sherman-Zekulin and Megan Ryder-Burbidge joined Christine in this episode from Season 5, talking about their social enterprise tour company, Sororal, that supports women-owned businesses on the ground in each destination and donates to organizations fighting gender-based violence. Linsey described Sororal’s mission, saying: “We are trying to create a company that connects women to be sisters and to share those experiences in different parts of the world.”

Photo provided by Vanessa Karel, Greether.

Vanessa Karel from Season 4 supports women through her app, Greether, which pairs solo female travelers with local female guides, helping create safer travel experiences while also providing opportunities to women around the world. She was partly inspired by her own solo travel experience, when she ended up in a foreign destination and felt unsafe: “I was just looking to connect with women, with someone local [who] would make me more comfortable… It's kind of scary, you know? To me that was really the breaking point, where it was like, ‘why isn't there a survey where you can find someone trustworthy and reliable?’ And I started doing more digging.”

What Can You Do?

So how can you support women in travel? Or, as a woman in travel yourself, how can you work your way up in the tourism industry? 

Gabi shared some of her self-talk that has helped her come into her own: “​​Just believe in yourself… Be patient, don't give up, and people will learn that you have your value and you have your voice and you have your knowledge.” 

Joining forces with other women is also essential to achieving gender equity. As Alessandra put it: “When women come together, there is this spark—this magic that is being created… It's always about supporting and helping others.” She went on, “Immediately there is this sisterhood. And it kind of provides a network, it provides support, and it provides a source of inspiration and belonging.”

Many Soul of Travel guests also encouraged listeners to support local women when they travel. Casey explained one reason why this is important: “There is clear evidence that the money that is created [in women-owned businesses] is more naturally reinvested in that community. It’s invested in the children, invested in local conservation efforts.” So she suggests hiring women guides, or looking for women-run restaurants and businesses ”to raise up more women in those destinations.”

Photo provided by Linsey Sherman-Zekulin and Megan Ryder-Burbidge.

Megan, cofounder of Sororal, had this call to action: “Seek out women-owned businesses, service providers, and hoteliers. Do your best to lift up women in the countries that you're traveling to.”  Because, as the Canadian Women’s Foundation motto states: “Until all of us have made it, none of us have made it.”