Throughout October, Women in Travel (CIC), the social enterprise dedicated to empowering women through employability and entrepreneurship in the travel and hospitality industry, will be celebrating Black History Month by showcasing senior BAME talent and sharing ways to grow more BAME talent within the travel industry.

Throughout October, Women in Travel (CIC), the social enterprise dedicated to empowering women through employability and entrepreneurship in the travel and hospitality industry, will be celebrating Black History Month by showcasing senior BAME talent and sharing ways to grow more BAME talent within the travel industry.

Women in Travel is launching a podcast series in the first week of October, and the ‘Breakthrough to Excellence’ podcast series will highlight current exceptional female talent in the travel industry. During the month of October, spotlighted women from a BAME background in the travel industry will put their thoughts to audio and share their experiences and advice for the next generation of BAME talent. October’s line-up includes:

  • Ola Fadipe – Head of Recruitment, Google EMEA
  • Patrice Mantey – Head of Joint Ventures and Commercial Planning, Virgin
  • Mo Talukder – Sales Director, Geo Tourist
  • Dee Gibson – Hotelier and Interior Designer
  • Farina Azam – Partner and Travel Lead, Kemp Little
  • Laverne Walker – Managing Director, Sackville Travel

The podcast series is hosted on multiple platforms, including Spotify, SoundCloud and Apple Podcasts, and those who register here: http://eepurl.com/gdt7Tz and follow Women in Travel will be notified when each podcast is released. The introductory episode is now available to listen to here: https://soundcloud.com/user-542245800/introducing-the-breakthrough-to-excellence-podcast.

Jamie-Lee Abtar will also be hosting a panel at the ABTA Virtual Travel Convention on Thursday 14 October on workforces of the future. #MeToo and the BLM movement are just some of the areas that have recently dominated discussion around work in the future. Armed with a better awareness of inequality in the workplace and with lockdown forcing everyone to take a fresh look at ways of working, the session will tackle how travel employers can address these issues head-on in order to have a happy, productive and fairer workforce. Find out about attending the conference here: https://www.thetravelconvention.com/.

As well as this, as part of Women in Travel’s ongoing partnership with World Travel Market during October, the two organisations will be creating a list of ‘25 BAME Female Highfliers’ in the travel industry to showcase BAME talent.

Speaking about BAME Women in Travel’s October offering, Executive Director, Jamie-Lee Abtar, said: “BAME men and women are still underrepresented in the UK travel industry, and often young BAME talent overlooks the travel industry as they don’t see many who ‘look like them’ in positions of authority. This podcast series aims to address that. In a similar vein, we are calling on other BAME senior role models to get in touch and volunteer to become mentors. Help the next generation to see what they can be and can achieve. We urge you to contact [email protected], or visit our website to find out more or register – https://www.womenintravelcic.com/mentoring-form/.”

For more information about Women in Travel, visit www.womenintravelcic.com.

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS
Image Captions:
Image 1: Jamie-Lee Abtar, Executive Director of BAME Women in Travel.
Image 2: Women in Travel logo.
Image 3: BAME Women in Travel’s Breakthrough to Excellence podcast is launching this October.

About Women in Travel
Women in Travel (CIC) started life as a gender-focused platform at World Travel Market 2014 in London. Growing successfully from then onwards, in 2017 it was incorporated as a social enterprise dedicated to empowering women through employability and entrepreneurship in Travel Tourism and Hospitality. Its vision is to become a catalyst for sustainability by placing women at the heart of an industry which is inherently attractive to females and growing at a fast pace. It is the brain-child of Alessandra Alonso, who has been recognised as a trailblazer when it comes to gender diversity in the industry and who has supported women in maximising their opportunity in the travel, tourism and hospitality (TTH) industry for well over a decade. Women in Travel partners with employers and charities to provide the first Women Returners service through which the industry can access a pool of marginalised but often highly skilled women who are eager to get back to work. Women in Travel also runs entrepreneurship focused events, mentoring and networking supporting start up and early stage female entrepreneurs and those wanting to start a business, particularly of BAME background. In January 2020, Women in Travel hosted the first International Women in Travel & Tourism Forum in Iceland, where Iceland’s First Lady was the keynote speaker.

For further media information, images or interview opportunities please contact:
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