The awards ceremony will once again be hosted by Expedia at its office in London’s Angel on 26 June, with the forum’s business day taking place at Google’s London headquarters for a third consecutive year the following day.
Intrepid Travel will continue to sponsor the event, which will be chaired by Intrepid managing director EMEA Zina Bencheikh.
Launched in 2019, the IWTTF has seen participation treble over the past five years
At this year’s awards, brands including Contiki and TTG Media were honoured for their commitment to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
The forum, meanwhile, covered a range of topics, including the impact of the climate crisis on women, how to remove barriers to innovation by harnessing technology and DEI, and neurodiversity as talent’s final frontier.
Host, Women in Travel CIC, also presented insights into what it claimed was an industry-first exploration of attitudes towards allyship.
The 2023 conference featured a quiet room for neurodivergent delegates, which also offered a space and tools for meditation, mindfulness and relaxation, and was used by more than 40 people throughout the day.
All surplus funds raised from IWTTF are reinvested into Women in Travel CIC’s mission to create economic empowerment opportunities in travel and tourism for underserved female talent, often from diverse, vulnerable or marginalised communities.
“It was so exciting to meet so many inspiring people who are spearheading diversity and progress in the travel industry,” said Christina Lawford, chief executive of luxury concierge service DiamondAir, who attended this year’s conference.
TourRadar head of community Aizax Sheikh hailed the conference as a “magic” event, adding the community and movement it was creating was “very powerful”.
“We were delighted and grateful to hear all the positive feedback from this year’s event,” said IWTTF founder Alessandra Alonso. “It is incredibly motivating to be in a room where everyone present is clearly passionate about bringing positive disruption.”
Her words were echoed by Google industry sector leader for travel Finnbar Cornwall and Intrepid’s Bencheikh, who said they were both “very proud” to sponsor the event.
