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Manchester, United Kingdom — 22-25 September 2009

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Women in travel and Hospitality (WITH) convene at WYSTC and outline plan for mentoring platform

Sep 27, 2018

Women from around the globe gathered at the World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC) in Edinburgh last Friday, to discuss the barriers to women reaching senior leadership positions in the travel industry.

Organised by WITH (Women in Travel and Hospitality), with hosting and support from WYSE Travel Confederation, topics such as facilitating mentoring partnerships and networking opportunities were discussed by the group, as well as plans to develop the profiles of more women in the industry through public speaking training, and workshops for developing skills such as a self-advocacy and negotiation tactics.  Participants came from as far afield as North and South America, China, India, Africa, Russia and Australia, as well as from across Europe, and each woman was given an opportunity to discuss her personal circumstances, and her own beliefs as to why relatively few women make it to the senior levels of the industry.

“We’re incredibly grateful to WYSE Travel Confederation for their support of this group, which was in fact founded at WYSTC 2017 in Montreal,” said WITH co-founders Anne Dolan, Kim Whitaker, Marie-Louise Henny and Stephanie Taylor-Carrillo. “Aside from their generous hosting of this networking event at WYSTC in Edinburgh, we are also grateful for the many networking connections WYSE has facilitated for the group, and for their hard work in seeking a gender balance with the speakers at WYSE events.”

Over the next few months, WITH will launch their new website, with sections for networking, mentoring and helping conference organisers to find female speakers, while a survey will also be rolled out to build a more up-to-date picture of how many senior positions in the travel industry are currently held by women (current estimates suggest around 20% for GMs and 5-8% for board positions, despite women making up a total of 60-70% of the global tourism workforce).  WITH will also begin looking for sponsors, and will be actively recruiting established and up-and-coming women to enter into mentoring partnerships.

WYSE Travel Confederation encourages women in the travel industry to submit proposals to speak at WYSTC 2019 in Lisbon.

To learn more about WITH and their next networking event at WTM London, contact Stephanie Taylor-Carrillo:

Email: Stephanie.Taylor_Carrillo@edu.escpeurope.eu