Let’s go back to the early noughties. Tony Blair was our PM, Girls Aloud were topping the UK charts and Peppa Pig first appeared on our TVs. Just over 65% of women were employed in the UK and I was working for Thomas Cook.
Today just over 72% of women are employed in the UK and 55% of jobs in the tourism sector are held by women, which is an impressive figure. However, only 20% hold management positions. This doesn’t make sense when you know that women are the decision makers in 70% of cases when booking a holiday. We have made huge strides in this area but I think we can agree there’s still a way to go to.
Having worked in travel during my entire career (bar one year during the pandemic) I’ve had the opportunity to work for some great companies with talented people, including my current role as head of sales at TProfile. Many of these businesses and people helped me to build my foundations from a process and work ethic perspective.
That said, even though I’ve held senior positions, there have been times when clients have clearly expected to be dealing with a male figure in certain situations. In any role I have done I’ve always ensured I’m well prepared and follow up in a timely manner.
Working in tech is no different, TProfile approached me to define their sales strategy. We have an extremely talented technical team but the missing cog in the wheel was someone to manage existing relationships, build new ones, and implement a sales and commercial strategy. If you have a supportive team, as well as being prepared and knowledgeable I find that people’s perceptions change. I believe that if you are confident in what you do and passionate, you gain people’s respect.
So, always accept challenges head on and try to learn something new every day. Similarly, I’ve learned to be more confident in my ability to broaden my skills within different sectors in the travel industry (e.g tour operations, distribution, cruise and more lately traveltech) and not look for reasons why I can’t or why I’m not ready.
A major priority for me in the travel sector is continuously building my networks and looking for likeminded businesses and people that can help me as well as TProfile.
Above all, I’ve found that by being true to my values and not trying to be someone I’m not I can define and reach strategic deliverables. The travel space is vibrant and diverse – always changing and evolving – which comes with many challenges. You can spend months planning before having to change due to new trends and business priorities. So, never be afraid of change.
The travel industry is embracing flexibility and remote work at levels that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago – and many employees, including my own, are fully on board.
This is an opportunity to change the workplace in travel for good, including pushing for bigger gains in representation of women, recognising and rewarding women’s contributions as people-focused leaders.