Q: Can you tell us about your pathway to your current career in the tourism industry?
I feel like I was pretty much born into the hospitality and tourism world. I lived in a household where we were hosts to a lot of foreign students. Then I studied French, Italian, and Scottish tourism. I think a lot of people fall into this world of working for a DMO or in travel and tourism, but that’s been my route from the beginning.
Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges women face when pursuing leadership roles in travel and tourism, and how can these be overcome?
Reflecting on my career, there have been moments when I didn't feel bold enough to pursue opportunities, questioning whether I could truly succeed in certain roles. However, I believe there has been significant progress in workforce development and in addressing educational needs. It's crucial to understand your skills, passions, and where your natural strengths align. By doing so, you can recognise your true capabilities and identify how to leverage them in ways that bridge gaps and create value within any environment.
It's important to enable the environment in the country that you’re working in to make it possible to be part of the workforce. Supportive policies are hugely important; organisations are becoming more flexible, building trust with their employees, granting flexibility in how we work and where we work from. We need a lot of different voices; we need to look more broadly at what skills the industry needs and change the way we hire.
"Empowering women through supportive leadership policies, leveraging the soft power of tourism, and fostering essential power skills are crucial. These efforts will create a lasting impact and legacy for communities worldwide."
Q: What advice would you give to other women who aspire to lead in the travel industry?
At the end of a session that I was moderating at the inaugural Global Leaders Forum in Dublin, Petra Stušek, who is the CEO of Ljubljana Tourism, said, “We need courage.” I think, when you look up what courage means, that is exactly what we need.
We need to be going out there, facing difficult conversations, being at the heart of important conversations, and putting ourselves forward into the unknown. Because travel and tourism are at a very pivotal evolving point, and in the current geopolitical situation, we need collaborative approaches.
My advice is to build your network. I remember someone saying to me, “Show me your network, and I’ll show you your future.” I’d like to shout out Megan Meeres, a wonderful friend of mine, who, at one of the first exhibitions I went to, introduced me to everyone that I still know today.
There’s something special about building a network and lifting others up whilst supporting yourself. You give, you gain — and that’s hugely important. So, build a network, join an association, meet people, and make people aware of the things you want to do. If you want to speak at a conference or want to get better at certain skills, put your hand up.
Q: How important is mentorship and how have mentors or role models influenced your journey?
We have a mentor programme at Destinations International, and I would love to work on how we can connect the wonderful women leaders in North America and in Europe; I know everyone would gain. I’ve had a lot of people who have been my mentors or people that I’ve called upon when I’ve had questions. I was a mentor through CityDNA, and it was great because you can both learn — somebody who has been in the industry longer can certainly learn from someone who’s coming up, with fresh ideas, new thoughts, and vice versa.
Q: Looking ahead, what do you believe the future of women in leadership within travel and tourism will look like, and how can we make that vision a reality?
More female voices need to be included and heard to ensure social impact; it makes business sense that we have more female leaders. We need to shine a light on female leaders as well because if we are to engage more people, they need to see women in leadership roles.
Destinations International is dedicated to providing valuable professional development at all levels. I think the more we can build an environment of investing in education, the better. It is certainly the right direction when it comes to elevating individuals and the industry.
I’m also encouraged by a number of initiatives that I’m seeing where we’re getting into schools to build awareness of what tourism is all about and the broader social, environmental, and economic impacts that it has.
We need to promote the role of tourism and the visitor economy as being part of the solution. The alignment with government goals and the needs of the local community is how the destination can have the biggest impact. I’d love to see more around destination management and what it means in education, placemaking, and the visitor economy.
Destinations International recently launched its membership for European DMOs; I’m confident that we’ll continue to drive forward in a more balanced world. I don’t think we’re there yet, but I think because of the shifting nature of DMOs and their role in society, we are moving KPIs away from just measuring how many people are coming into a destination to how we’re really supporting and creating places that thrive because of tourism.
