Flexibility, more funding and female role models needed to increase women leader numbers within travel tech

Research finds only 15.6% of the leaders in the B2B travel technology space are female

As people around the world get ready to celebrate International Women’s Day with this year's campaign theme 'For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.', B2B travel tech communications and public relations agency Belvera Partners has spoken to its clients about what is needed to promote women leadership in the travel and tourism sectors.

According to research carried out by Belvera Partners, only 15.6 % of the leaders in the B2B travel technology space are female, while women make up 54% of the tourism workforce as stated by UN Tourism. 

The UN agency promoting responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism says that women are concentrated in lower-skilled, lower-paid and often informal employment. 

At the same time, they have less opportunities for career progression, face more difficulties when opening a business and higher barriers to education and training.

“Female founders only get two percent of all funding in a general and then a fraction of that in the travel sector. Most of that investment is allocated to big companies at Series A and up”, says Sally Bunnell, founder and CEO at NaviSavi, the B2B platform dedicated to vertical, travel-only User Generated Content (UGC) short videos. 

“So, it is very difficult for a female founder within travel to get money pre-substantial revenue, where we could use this investment the most. It might be worth it to set up a hospitality fund for female entrepreneurs with young startups.”

While Laura Di Costanzo, head of product at Canadian travel tech start-up, Stay22, said: "Attracting more female leaders in any industry starts with visibility, having strong role models share their experiences to inspire others.

"Women and men bring different strengths, and embracing that diversity leads to better decision-making," she added.

It as different policies and initiatives for gender equality and work-life balance in place including unlimited sick and personal days, a flexible and hybrid work model, office closures for summer and winter holidays, and engagement with communities and organizations that support women in tech such as Women Who Code, Lesbians Who Tech and Girls in Tech.

For Judith Eyck, chief operating officer at HolidayPirates Group, women run the travel industry, though their impact at the leadership tables is small. 

She said: "Fair representation in leadership is what makes companies smarter, stronger and more connected to the people they serve."

Sixty-two percent of the employees at this travel search platform present in ten countries are women. In its executive team, men and women are equally represented.

 Vivien Schwarz-Elbelzai, chief people officer at HolidayPirates Group, reveals the secret behind the company’s success in attracting and retaining female talent actively supporting working mothers. 

“At our company, we believe that flexibility is key. Every role in every department is set up to be adaptable. This approach has enabled us to build a strong track record of retaining female leaders," said Schwarz-Elbelzai.

Increasing the number of female leaders in the travel tech industry is not only a matter of equality, but also of economics, as women are behind 70% of all travel-buying decisions. “Particularly in the family setting, the key decision maker and person planning the whole trip is a woman," said Ayşe Yaşar, VP of Sales at the B2B accommodation booking platform Bedsopia. 

“So, if you’ve no or few females in your top team in your company, how can you claim to understand that market?”