Clare Balding unveiled as guest speaker for second Inspiring Women Rising Stars lunch

Award-winning broadcaster and author Clare Balding CBE will be the special guest speaker at Travel Weekly’s second Inspiring Women Rising Stars lunch in September.

 

The event for 30 senior women leaders in travel, each bringing with them a female rising star from within their organisation, has been expanded this year to include a session before the lunch.

 

It will begin with a talk from industry stalwart and Jovolution founder, Jo Rzymowska MBE, on the importance of diversity and representation in businesses.

 

That will be followed by an interview with Zina Bencheikh, EMEA managing director at Intrepid and Giuseppina Bavasso, vice-president of human resources for the EAME region at Hyatt, about their experiences of rising through the ranks and how two very different sized businesses approach representation and empowerment of women.

 

Vicki Sanders, director of travel at News UK, will then discuss the importance of the female demographic as a business and how the organisation has approached representation to respond to that and improve performance.

 

Attendees will then enjoy an interactive lunch, followed by a talk from Balding, who is one of the UK’s most recognised and respected sporting broadcasters.

 

The former amateur jockey has presented at eight Summer Olympic Games and seven Paralympics, as well as Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

 

She is the BBC’s lead presenter of Wimbledon, as well as a host of other events including Trooping the Colour and Crufts, and has presented Ramblings on Radio 4 for 25 years.  

 

For more than a decade she has been a major campaigner for improved coverage of women’s sport.

 

Balding is also the author of nine books, with her next to be published in September. 

 

Travel Weekly editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley said: “We are excited to be welcoming the brilliant Clare Balding to our second Inspiring Women Rising Stars event, following double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, who inspired our group last year. 

 

“We’re also thrilled to be extending the event in order to hear first from some of the industry’s own inspirational leaders and hope the aspiring young women who attend will gain much from the day.

 

“Travel Weekly’s Inspiring Women programme has grown from strength to strength as it strives to connect, support and inspire women at all stages of their travel careers.”

 

Huxley added: “I am hugely grateful to Hyatt, Intrepid, Avis, Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines, Celebrity Cruises, News UK and Jovolution for their support of the Rising Stars event.” 

 

The Inspiring Women Rising Stars lunch will take place at Hyatt London – The Churchill in Portman Square, London, on September 26.

 

If you’re interested in partnering with Travel Weekly for future events, please get in touch with lucy.huxley@travelweekly.co.uk