Founder Alessandra Alonso worked with UN gender consultant Lucy Ferguson to create the LeadHer programme, the launch of which coincides with the International Women in Travel and Tourism Forum (IWTTF) and Awards later this week (26-27 June).
The initiative also aims to address the pay gap and gender disparity in senior roles within the sector through a three-way approach – looking firstly at individual leadership skills, as well as leadership within teams and organisation and leadership across the wider industry.
"The number of women in senior leadership roles actually dropped by 10% in 2023 to 32.2%, and in our industry specifically, women typically earn 15% less than their male counterparts,” said Alonso.
“Yet we know women often have the emotional intelligence, self-awareness and communication skills to make excellent leaders. We hope travel businesses will see the opportunity in unlocking the potential of their women, and stand ready to facilitate with a tailored, engaging and informative programme.”
LeadHer can be tailored to each company’s needs; it features interactive sessions and group mentoring, and aims to develop individual objectives as well as company manifestos to increase female leadership. Businesses can integrate the initiative into their training and development strategies.
"We’re always looking for ways to improve on practical application, so we worked with Women in Travel to help us put together a clear vision and specific training for the women in our business looking to take the next career step,” said Intrepid Travel EMEA managing director Zina Bencheikh.
Intrepid piloted the programme at a recent event in Valencia, where women shared their “stories, challenges and learnings”.
“Listening to their amazing stories, challenges and learnings helped me realise that I have an incredible support network within Intrepid," said general manager for western Europe Florencia Allo Moreno.
"I absolutely felt the programme brought us all together as colleagues but, most importantly, as friends. Knowing I have amazing women in this team that I can count on meant the world to me."
More information on the LeadHer programme will be revealed at the forum on Thursday (27 June), ahead of which Alonso wrote for TTG with a plea for more male allies to come forward to support women in travel and tourism.
