Senior leaders in travel are being contacted by TTG and PwC in the coming weeks in a survey which will ask this question and more.

The first TTG Diversity & Inclusion in Travel conference, taking place at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, London on Wednesday, July 3, will seek to provide some of the answers.

You might think that with the political shambles that is Brexit engulfing this country, there are other things to worry about at the present time. But with so many uncertainties in 2019, presenting your business as open and welcoming both to employees and to customers – and ensuring your senior management team is representative of modern society – has never been more vital.

I’ve talked to a number of senior people inside and outside of travel on this topic in recent weeks. Not one thinks this industry is the open and all-embracing sector – welcoming people from different ethnic backgrounds, genders, sexualities, ages and physical abilities – that it should be.

And all agree travel, a sector which brings people from so many different cultures together across the globe, should be leading the way on this. The business case is obvious.

It’s four years since TTG Media launched our TTG LGBT network, hosting four sell-out conferences and countless networking events along the way. But we realise that’s just one step on the road to helping travel become the truly open sector it should be.

And we know TTG Media still has work to do too. We’re looking forward to taking this particular journey with the industry ourselves, taking a long, hard look at our own practices, and improving our own diversity and inclusion policies along the way. We hope travel businesses, large and small, will come with us on the ride.