Barbados tourism chief hails power of women leaders

The chief operations officer at the Barbados tourist board has hailed the influential role of women leaders in the travel industry, during a Travel Weekly retreat.

 

More than 30 female leaders from across the industry attended Travel Weekly’s second Inspiring Women Retreat on the Caribbean island last week.

 

Cheryl Carter, chief operations officer at Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), told attendees: “Barbados is proud to host you not only because you are influential executives, but because you are role models for the next generation of women who will one day sit where you sit, lead as you lead, and build on the foundations you are laying today.

 

“Your presence here signals to them that there is space for women at the highest tables in travel, and that those tables are stronger because of you.”

 

In her speech, she said the attendees have “enriched a space designed to honour women who lead, innovate and reshape the future of travel”.

 

“In an industry as dynamic and demanding as ours, the travel media and travel trade, progress is rarely accidental. It is repeatedly driven by women who choose to show up with courage,” she said.

 

“Women who choose collaboration over competition. Women who choose to step forward even when the world suggests they should step back. That is what unites each of us in this room.”

She said Travel Weekly’s decision to bring the retreat to Barbados recognises the “power of convening women who are shaping one of the world’s most influential industries”.

 

“When leaders of your calibre gather, something extraordinary happens – ideas widen, ceilings shift and the future expands,” she said, noting “that future depends on us, on you, continuing to champion one another”.

 

“Every woman here knows the unique weight of leadership. We know what it means to be the only woman in the room. We know the silent negotiations, the unspoken expectations, the pressure to be exceptional simply to be considered equal,” she said.

 

“And yet, we rise, not because it is easy, but because we refuse to be anything less than be the architects of our own paths. That is why this retreat matters.

 

“Because when women come together, we exchange more than strategies: we exchange strength. We affirm possibility. We remind one another that leadership is not a lonely journey when we choose to walk it together.”

 

Earlier during the retreat, the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, was a surprise guest speaker at a special lunch featuring a speech by British-Barbadian businesswoman Karen Blackett CBE.

 

Carter highlighted how Barbados is in an era of “bold” development and investments, adding: “Amidst all this transformation, one belief remains constant: women must be central to progress.

 

“Barbados champions women in leadership not as a slogan, but as a lived national value.”

She said it had been an honour to be joined by the prime minister and Karen Blackett because “here, women’s leadership is not merely acknowledged; it is celebrated”.

 

Carter also thanked Lucy Huxley, editor-in-chief of Travel Weekly for being an “inspiring woman” and for choosing Barbados to host the retreat.

 

She also acknowledged the contributions of Huxley’s colleagues Jade Lewis and Sophie Lancaster and Carter’s UK-based BTMI colleagues Élan Mottley and Stacey Hutchinson for helping to organise the event.

 

The Inspiring Women Retreat took place in partnership with Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc, with the support of Virgin Atlantic, Accord Marketing, Gold Medal and Inspire Europe.

 

Guests were hosted at Colony Club, a Marriott Luxury Collection Resort on the island’s west coast.