Tui charity joins Google to support Women in Travel guides project

Social enterprise Women in Travel CIC is training five women to become London tour guides with the support of the Tui Care Foundation and Google.

 

Women in Travel CIC’s tour guiding academy teaches women – many of whom have been disconnected from the workforce – to design and deliver a day tour based on their own narrative and background, giving voice to different heritages and communities.

 

The focus is on personal storytelling and immersive experiences, exploring each destination through the eyes, lives and cultures of the guides.

 

The programme for the latest cohort is being supported by Google and the Tui Care Foundation through finance, logistics and shared expertise.

 

It is being led by experts including Women in Travel CIC’s managing director and founder Alessandra LoTufo Alonso; Klaudia Janzelj, head of city experiences at Tui; and Elisa Spampinato, travel writer and community storyteller, all of whom have collaborated on the academy since its inception in 2021.

 

The initiative started with 15 women, who studied the travel and tourism sector; how to tell an engaging story and turn it into a tour; customer service; and marketing and selling a tour.

 

The programme is now entering a third phase in which the final selection of five students will receive one-to-one mentoring and tailored guidance to help them implement their tours.

 

All the tours in this series will be in London, including a tour of Syrian culture and community in the Shepherds Bush area, and another exploring Greek heritage.

 

LoTufo Alonso said: “Google has been a great partner over the years, and through their valued support we have given numerous women the confidence and skillset to enter the workforce.

 

“With the Tui Care Foundation now on board, we can further elevate the package for our current cohort to include additional one-to-one mentoring, marketing, a graduation ceremony and more, and we are hugely grateful to both for their commitment to this life-changing programme.

 

“Not only does it offer opportunity and revenue to the graduates, but we know that the resulting tours will help break down barriers and foster better understanding and inclusion across cultural divides, opening up areas that are often overlooked and giving voice to communities that are under-represented.

 

“We also know consumers have an appetite for more personal and authentic storytelling, and to go beyond the obvious tourist sites, so we are excited to bring these tours to market.”

 

Amelie Matuschka, Google’s industry manager for travel, commented: “This programme uncovers untapped talent, empowering a diverse pool of women to tell their stories. It will also provide the industry and consumer with engaging tourism experiences, and we’re excited to be a part of it.”

 

Alexander Panczuk, Tui Care Foundation managing director, added: “We recognise the huge positive impact of the programme to tour guiding – to the women delivering them, the consumers experiencing them and the communities that they explore. So it’s a natural fit for Tui Care Foundation to be involved.”

 

The tours will be bookable through www.womenintravelcic.com and will launch in June. Women in Travel is also seeking domestic tour operators, online travel agents and London hotels to include these tours in their offering.

 

Plans are in place to offer the academy training in other destinations in the UK and beyond.

 

Pictured: Tour guiding students experiencing an existing Women in Travel CIC tour