Unveiling the 2024 Women to Watch in Hospitality, Travel, Leisure and Retail
WiHTL & Diversity in Retail, the Collaboration Community devoted to increasing DE&I in the Hospitality, Travel, Leisure and Retail sectors have launched their annual Women to Watch Index, in partnership with The MBS Group, ahead of International Women’s Day.
Now in its 6th year, The ‘2024 Women to Watch in Hospitality, Travel, Leisure and Retail Index’ highlights an incredible line up of over 100 women role models and trailblazers. Throughout the Index, women demonstrate visionary leadership, commercial and operational excellence, and a dedication to raising the bar for women across the industry.
For the first time, the 2024 edition has an exciting new section, ‘Women to Watch in Technology & Engineering’, underlining the increasing presence of women in these traditionally male dominated roles and it is encouraging to see how many women feature in this inaugural section of the Index.
The women featured came together for a celebratory launch event, hosted by legal services firm DWF at their London office in the iconic Walkie Talkie building. With a bumper lineup of speakers including Tracey Groves, Partner and Head of Sustainable Business and ESG Advisory Practice, Kari Daniels, CEO, SSP and Stephen Cassidy, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, UK & Ireland, Hilton and Chair UKHospitality, attendees were celebrated for their achievements while being encouraged to pave the way for other women aspiring to be leaders in the industry and to achieve equity for all.
Women to Watch Chiho Sakumi, Director, Technology, Japan, QVC, Sarah Taitt, Property Director, Wickes, Juliett Cattermole, CPO, David Lloyd took part in a panel discussion where they discussed ways in which women can inspire other women, and opportunities to address the challenges such as being brave and courageous to call out sexist behaviour when you witness it..
Guests also received an exclusive first look at the headline findings of the WiHTL & DiR ‘Working Women: Breaking Barriers, Building Futures’ research. With responses from over 1000 women working across the industry, this seminal piece of research highlights the opportunities and challenges that women face in their careers. The research summarises recommendations for both organisations and individuals alike to ensure that barriers to women’s professional progress continue to be eroded and steps towards a more equitable future can be achieved.
Tea Colaianni, Founder and Chair of WiHTL & DiR said “We’re delighted to launch our 2024 Women to Watch in Hospitality, Travel, Leisure and Retail Index in partnership with The MBS Group. Each year I am inspired by all the women featured and the paths they are forging, both for themselves and other women to follow. I am particularly excited for our inaugural ‘Technology and Engineering’ focus, as we know this segment of our industry requires additional focus and nurturing. Well done to everyone featured this year.”
Elliott Goldstein, Managing Partner at The MBS Group said “For six consecutive years, it has been our privilege to work alongside WiHTL & DiR as we seek to move the dial on equity, diversity and inclusion across our sectors. As part of that, we have a responsibility to celebrate role models and to shine a light on the many different routes to the top, in order to pave the way for the next generation of diverse leaders in our industry. The 2024 Women to Watch in Hospitality, Travel, Leisure and Retail Index is an important and inspiring publication, highlighting the women leaders who are making a lasting impact in their organisations and our sectors.”
The full version of the 2024 Women to Watch in Hospitality, Travel, Leisure and Retail Index can be downloaded here.
