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We are a group of passionate and driven women who are dedicated to promoting gender equality and empowering women across the globe. Each of us brings unique skills, expertise, and experiences to the table, all of which are essential in helping us achieve our mission.
Director
Tricia Barnett initiated and co-created Equality in Tourism with Stroma Cole in 2013, the first organisation working to ensure women’s equality within the tourism industry and to facilitate women’s opportunities within it. She is involved in the organisation’s development, project management and external consultancy.
As director of Tourism Concern from 1991 to 2011, Tricia helped build the organisation into a key player for advocacy and change in sustainable tourism both in the UK and globally. At Tourism Concern, she worked with a wide range of stakeholders, forming the pioneering Ethical Tour Operators’ Group, working as an advisor to the UK’s leading operators and with the UK government to include sustainable tourism development in their policies and programmes. Tricia has been a key player in international dialogue to establish global codes of practice for sustainable tourism as well as working with grass-roots groups. She has researched and written on community-based tourism, fair trade tourism, water and tourism, labour conditions in hotels, tourism as trade and human rights.
Tricia’s contribution to the industry has been recognised by a number of awards and accolades over the years, among them a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 from the British Guild of Travel Writers and being named a runner-up in the Observer Awards as the Green Campaigner of the Year and one of the 50 Most Influential Women in the UK Industry by the Travel Trade Gazette. In 2013, she received an honorary doctorate for her work from The University of Brighton.
Director
Dr. Stroma Cole is a senior lecturer in tourism at the University of Westminster, London. Stroma combines her academic career with action research and consultancy. She has done extensive research exploring tourism and water inequality in Labuan Bajo Indonesia; Tamarindo, Costa Rica; Kerala, India; and Bali, Indonesia. She is holder of a British Academy Knowledge Frontiers Award exploring the links between water insecurity and Gender Based Violence in Indonesia and Peru. She has undertaken gender and empowerment work for UNCTAD, a qualitative evaluation of post Tsunami work in Sumatra for the UNDP, and community-based tourism research and training for the FCO in Mexico and for the EU in Rwanda. She was the Chair of Tourism Concern (2007-2011), a charity promoting ethical tourism. She is now a director of Equality in Tourism International.
Digital Marketing and Communications Officer
Rebecca is the internal and external communications and marketing specialist for Equality in Tourism and is dedicated to sharing the organization’s research and work with the wider industry to advance its goals. With a focus on marketing and communications, Rebecca received a MSc Distinction in Business and Management from Northumbria University and a First Class BA Hons in Photography from Coventry University.
During her studies, she focused her projects on gender equality and its importance to the future of sustainability, as well as gender equality in organisational behaviour and workplace cultures. Her work allowed her to complete extensive research on the subject matter, furthering her passion and driving her desire to help support those working at the forefront of creating a more just and sustainable future.
As an avid traveller, Rebecca’s experiences in the tourism sector have deepened her understanding of this dynamic industry. She now uses her knowledge and skills to support and promote the work of Equality in Tourism, helping them to advocate and push for a more gender-equal industry that prioritises care and compassion to create a just and sustainable future.
Programme Development Specialist
As a dynamic force within our team, Burçe leads our proposal development efforts with a focus on women’s empowerment in the tourism sector. Her extensive experience extends to pivotal roles within governmental bodies in Turkey, alongside a commendable portfolio of EU-funded projects encompassing human rights, civil society development, gender equality and rural development. With profound insights into project management and a deep understanding of funding mechanisms, Burçe contributes valuable perspectives to our global initiatives.
With a strong academic foundation, Burçe holds a degree in International Relations from Turkey and pursued further studies, earning a master’s degree in European Integration. Committed to expanding her expertise, she obtained another master’s degree in International Development and Management from Lund University as a recipient of a Swedish Institute scholarship.
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Copyright © 2023 Equality in Tourism International. All Rights Reserved. Equality in Tourism International is a registered charity in England and Wales (charity number 1178375).