Berhan Teklay Teka’s story – guiding tourists in Ethiopia
The below is a contribution by Ethiopian tour guide Berhan Teklay Teka – she’s passionate about showing visitors the sights of her country and one of the few women to be able to do so in a profession that is still predominantly male. My name is Berhan Teklay Teka. I was born in 1989 in […]
Evolvin’ Women: A Social Enterprise with a Focus on Hospitality
Assia Riccio is the founder of the Evolvin’ Women, an idea that occurred to her in 2011 when after winning the prestigious Olive Barnet award she could take up courses at Cornell. It was at Cornell that she met Wilma, a Ghanaian who asked why she was there – Assia was one of the youngest […]
Posadas in Paraguay – turning homes into homestays
This effort in Paraguay felt like a perfect fit for our International Women’s Day focus series. A public-private partnership between household goods company Inverfin and SENATUR, the Paraguayan tourism department, has provided investment to women who wish to turn their private homes into ‘posadas’ – tourist lodges. The program has been a huge success, with […]
“Beyond the Rings” – a shortfilm about the Kayan women
A while back we were approached by filmmaker Marko Randelovic, who shared with us his film Beyond The Rings, which takes viewers on a journey to meet the Kayan women, also known as “the long necked women”. It’s a beautifully shot film which approaches its subjects with sensitivity and is narrated by one of the […]
TripaSista – a travel directory for women
This post is a contribution by Kim Burgess, co-founder of TripaSista, an Australian travel directory dedicated to catering for women travelers. Growing up on the east coast of Australia during the 1970’s and 80’s was idyllic and beautiful albeit quiet and isolated – and very “white”. The only way to experience life beyond the mind-numbing […]
Maram Kokani, first female General Manager in Saudi Arabia
The below was reproduced with permission from Inge Huijbrechts, Global Vice President Responsible Business for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. In it, Maram Kokani tells of her professional life as the first female General Manager in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Worldwide Hospitality Award winner 2017. I have been very fortunate that my career in […]
Pottering about in Crete – one woman’s solution to beating business seasonality in Greece
Frosso Bora is a great example of a female tourism entrepreneur – one who has created a successful and profitable business in a traditionally patriarchal country. Despite having the additional disadvantage of being a non-local in a ‘closed’ island community (Rethymno, Crete), Frosso’s determination, business acumen, and artistic talent have seen her establish a successful […]
Kellys Confederadas – mobilising for the rights of hotel cleaners
The ‘Kellys Confederadas’ movement started in the summer of 2014. Having read an article about hotel cleaners, friends Eulalia (Lali) and Ana contacted the journalist who’d written the piece, Ernest Cañada, and offered to share their own experiences as cleaners. Ernest was keen to hear more, so for the first interview they brought together 20 […]
Focus on women – a new way to travel
Alice Fauveau is the founder of ‘Focus on Women’, a travel agency created in 2009 in order to empower and increase the visibility of women around the world through travel. A passionate traveller, Alice saw the need to create a new kind of tourism, one that was focused on the global culture of womankind. At […]
Meet the women farming for their future
Elizabeth Ludovic is one of the #FarmForTheFuture project participants. After consulting with local hotels about their required produce, Elizabeth chose to grow tomatoes and beetroots – and now has the seeds to plant them! Prior to joining the project, she couldn’t afford to buy the necessary pesticide and had such low tomato yields that she […]
Misi – tourism projects driven by local women
Misi, a small Turkish village about a two hours’ drive south of Istanbul, was losing much of its local population, heritage and future due to a variety of factors common to modern times. The traditional sericulture and silk making activities which made their village prosperous during the Ottoman era came to an end with globalization […]
Maud Masiyiwa – training and development advisor
Maud was raised in Zambia, the child of Zimbabweans who had left their native country to seek opportunities elsewhere. The family’s children were all raised to be entrepreneurial and hard-working, qualities to which Maud attributes a lot of her success. After returning to Zimbabwe in the 1980’s, Maud started to work odd jobs at a […]
Sari – scuba diving guide in Indonesia
The youngest of four children from a remote village on the island of Rinca, Indonesia, Sari always thought she would be a police officer. During middle school, she saw how tourism was growing in the nearest town and around her island and decided on a tour and travel course at the vocational high school. During […]
Evelyn’s story – tour guiding as a woman in Kenya
Evelyn is a tour guide in Kenya, a rare job for a woman in a country that despite years of progress continues to pay little more than lip service to gender equality and equal opportunities in the work place. In fact, Evelyn puts it quite bluntly when she says, “Looking at the tourist industry in […]
Neusa Goncales – owner of first woman-led tour operator in Cape Verde
Neusa was born on Sal island in Cape Verde and spent her younger years working in a variety of roles both inside and outside the tourism industry. A career which even includes a stint as a football player in the Madaira national team is exemplary of the many roles women take on to progress in […]
