Travel firms must “consciously” adopt a diversity and inclusion policy in the workplace instead of doing so “by accident”, Cosmos and Avalon Waterways chief executive Giles Hawke has warned.
He told delegates at Travel Weekly’s People Summit on Monday (November 14) his employers had “spent years doing the right thing almost by accident”.
The senior leadership team at Cosmos and Avalon Waterways would receive diversity and inclusivity training next year, Hawke confirmed.
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Speaking at the day event, alongside Intrepid Travel marketing manager Jamie-Lee Abtar and Kuoni communications director Rachel O’Reilly, Hawke said: “We’ve got to a good place almost by accident in terms of diversity and inclusion.
“Small companies are probably late starters, while big companies have been doing this for some time.”
Hawke said treating staff well was “a good starting point”, adding: “If you make a mistake, you’ve not done it intentionally. People will forgive you.”
He explained that firms were often in a state of paralysis because they did not want to be seen to be doing the wrong thing.
Abtar highlighted the diversity and inclusion work of adventure travel firm Intrepid Travel in Morocco, saying: “We’ve been engaging with more female tour leaders in countries where it is not common for women to be in these roles.
“I am proud to say that today we’re the top employer of female tour leaders in Morocco.”
She added: “We’re supporting a group of them to go ahead and do their training. This is a perfect example of change in a destination and shows the trickle-down effect.”
O’Reilly noted the switch from operators who were now locally-sourced staff in destinations to greet customers, rather than sending UK-based employees.
“The local people are extensions of the team – that is really important,” she commented.
O’Reilly added how important it was to look back to understand the extent of the progress that had been made by travel firms across the world.
“All of our retail staff wore a uniform – thin tights and high heeled shoes,” she said. “Last year, we decided to set up a wear to work wardrobe.
“This is just an example of how the workplace has been thrown upside down over the last three years. It’s all about making people happy to work.”
Abtar said diversity and inclusion should not be used by travel companies to gain “a competitive advantage” before highlighting another internal target for Intrepid.
“We need to employ the number of female porters in Peru and Tanzania. By 2025, we want to have a 50:50 balance,” she said.
Abtar added that 16% of Intrepid Travel’s workforce was from an ethnic background and “the majority” of staff spoke English as a second language.
But she warned: “There is a still a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of diversity and inclusion.”
Hawke admitted there was not “a big representation” of non-white people in the travel industry.
“If you change the marketing material that will encourage change,” he said, adding: “I do not think that the travel sector is an unwelcome sector to any minority group but I do think that we need to be more conscious or more aware rather than it being accidental.”
Hawke said a lot of younger staff at Cosmos and Avalon Waterways had left during the pandemic and had been replaced by more experienced employees.
“We’re hiring older people,” he said. “[Older staff] are much more akin to the clients that we have.
“Somebody who is 18 years old thinks that spending £10,000 on a holiday is obscene.”