Among the most highly anticipated International Women’s Day (IWD) events within the travel industry, the Council of Australian Tour Operators’ (CATO) first IWD Luncheon was held in Sydney yesterday – with a two-course lunch and inspiring stories on the menu.
Held at L’Aqua at Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Harbour, the event was loudly billed as a sell-out – and indeed, the room was packed, with more than 170 travel industry luminaries present for a celebration of women in the industry and community as a whole.
And with the luncheon open to the entire travel trade, and not just CATO members and special guests, the industry was well represented across a raft of sectors including retail travel, cruising, aviation, destinations and more.
Emceed by Julia Zaetta, the event featured a two-course sit-down lunch, drinks and the opportunity to rub shoulders with fellow guests.
But the main purpose of the luncheon was to highlight the invaluable role women play in the travel industry, the challenges they have faced and indeed still face, and to provide insights and inspiration from and for women (and men) as the industry moves forward.
Evolving to Embrace Equity
Aligning itself with the official IWD theme “Embrace Equity”, the event included a panel discussion of female leaders from across the council’s membership.
Among those to share their story was APT Travel Group co-owner Lou Tandy (nee McGeary), who talked about the birth and rise of “the largest tour operator in Australia” and how its approach to women within the organisation had “evolved” dramatically.
“When I think about evolution and how we’ve changed … we’ve always been obsessed about product and about customer(s). But today we are also equally obsessed about staff engagement and living our values. And this feels to me like the evolution that we’re in,” Tandy remarked.
“When I was reflecting on what the business looked like when I first started … I looked around and I saw men mostly in management positions and women mostly in administrative positions. And I’m really proud and really happy that today, the business looks very different.”
Tandy added that for 10 years, she was the only female board member, whereas now 72 per cent of management roles within APT are held by women, 88 per cent of promotions over the past year have been for females, and there was no gender pay gap in like-for-like roles.
Education = respect
Evolution Travel Collective (ETC) joint CEO Ingrid Berthelsen spoke of the need for more education around respect for women.
“It’s unfortunate, but it does happen, and I think it’s just about persisting and about just speaking up and continuing to speak up and not being afraid and not backing down,” Berthelsen said when asked about prejudice within the industry and society more broadly.
Moderated by CATO vice-chair and Crooked Compass founder, Lisa Pagotto, the panel also included Globus Family of Brands managing director Australasia Gai Tyrell, The Travel Corporation (TTC) managing director touring brands Toni Ambler and World Expeditions CEO Sue Badyari, who spoke about the philanthropic work done by the World Expeditions Foundation.
In addition to this, keynote speaker, Hoda Alzubaidi gave an inspiring talk on her journey from young refugee to travel media executive.
The major sponsor of the event was Entire Travel Group.
For more information on CATO, click here.
This month, CATO also announced it would be launching its first accreditation scheme.
