WeTravel, an integrated-payment platform for multi-day travel businesses used by 3,000 trip organizers and businesses, is hosting a free, global webinar, "Women In Travel: Empowering Your Community," on March 22, at noon EST.
Putting equity at the heart of travel's recovery in 2022, the one-hour webinar will host four influential women-in-travel panelists to discuss how to support better representation in your business, operations, and communities, and what’s ahead the travel industry—as the collective industry recovers, with equity and inclusivity underpinning its growth.
"Over the past two years, we've grappled with the discouraging data that women—and many BIPOC-owned businesses—in the hospitality and tourism industries have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic," said Keri Pfeiffer, WeTravel's head of account management and webinar host, in a press release. "As an industry, it's our duty to do more than simply encourage equity in tourism's recovery, but to do all we can to better represent the businesses and communities that need travelers most through our business models, strategies and operations."
Traditionally an under-represented industry for women, the past two years have been disproportionately dire for women in the travel industry; in the pandemic’s first year, nearly 50 percent of job loss was experienced by women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to a U.S. survey reported by Bloomberg, nearly 75 percent of BIPOC-owned small businesses that were surveyed noted that the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on operations. Of those respondents, nearly 50 percent were in the leisure and hospitality sectors. Now, in the industry’s recovery, it’s imperative we continue to support equal representation for a more equitable, sustainable industry.
The panelists for the webinar include Beth Santos, founder of Wanderful; Intrepid Travel’s managing director in EMEA, Zina Bencheikh; Maryam Sidiqqi, former lifestyle editor of The Globe and Mail and founder of Provenance travel; and Dr. Kim Walker, founder of Abundant Life Adventure Club.
To register, visit resources.wetravel.com; all registrants can ask open-forum questions and will be provided with the recording after the webinar.
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