Francis’s determination to break down barriers and encourage young women to work in data as well as her spectacular career progression are some of the reasons why judges chose her to join the 2024 class of TTG 30 Under 30.

“In my line of work, I am always trying to encourage the next generation of girls to enter careers in data,” the 30-year-old says.

For the last two years, Francis has run a series of workshops in her old school in Amphill, Bedfordshire, inspiring Year 9 students to think about a career in data and travel. 

Working together with charity Girls in Data, Francis and a few of her Tui colleagues have shared all the different routes to get into working in data while engaging the girls with interactive activities such as puzzle solving and videogame development.

“We also run a sort of Dragon’s Den pitching competition, where the girls have to think about creating a new piece of technology and then present it to us,” she explains.

In 2022, she convinced Tui to offer the Data Science MSc + Lvl7 Apprenticeship again after the travel company stopped enrolling people onto the course because of the pandemic. 

Developed in partnership with the University of Exeter, the three-year programme allows employees to get 20% of their time off work to study for the master’s degree.

“At the end of it, you work on a project on something related to Tui and then you obtain your master’s,” she explains. “It’s helpful for Tui because they’re investing in your continuous learning and, obviously, it’s great to get another qualification.”

Francis tells TTG her final project was heavily influenced by her role as senior consultant data science and analytics, as it was based on price elasticity in the German market – her current focus area.

Starting from an entry-level job as a yield support analyst, she has risen through the ranks, working with different markets including the UK, the Nordics and, more recently, Germany.

“Even though I’m still working on the yield system, each month is quite different, as it’s all about responding to stakeholder needs while also planning for the future,” she adds.

Francis explains that the geographical exposure she gets from working at Tui is one of the best things about her job.

“I like working with people from different cultures, especially when it comes to understanding how other markets work and what they have to take into consideration when selling holidays,” she continues.

Despite the confidence she exudes now, Francis reveals to TTG that she wasn’t always sure of what she wanted out of life.

“I did Maths at the University of Leeds but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, so after I graduated, I went and did some solo travelling around South America for seven months and then I applied at Tui,” she explains.

So when asked about what kind of advice she would give to young people trying to break into the industry, she has no doubts: apply for apprenticeships in large companies like Tui.

“Lots of the programmes rotate around different areas of the business, so you can end up with a really good overview of what each does and how everyone works together to achieve the end result,” she says.

Another suggestion she would give is to think broadly. “Your opinion isn’t representative of the whole customer base so try to think of what people from different backgrounds would be interested in and make things accessible for them,” she concludes.