Women in Travel has released its first ever Social Impact Report, a deep dive into the impact of the life-changing initiatives and programmes it has delivered since its inception in 2018.
The release also marks the fifth anniversary or the organisation and International Women’s Day.
Women in Travel is a UK-based, award-winning social enterprise dedicated to empowering all women using travel, tourism and hospitality as a ‘force for good,’ with the founding principle that empowered women thrive and in turn foster thriving communities.
It partners with employers and charities to provide women – especially those who are marginalised, vulnerable and under-represented – with visibility, confidence, access to training and mentoring, and eventually employment and enterprise.
Conceived in support of a number of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, Women in Travel’s three core programmes are: Employability Programme (often referred to as the Women Returners programme); Entrepreneurship and Mentoring (including one-to-one, group, mentoring circles and a Male Allyship Programme), all operated under the values of integrity, honesty and respect.
Many of its beneficiaries, particularly those on its Employability Programme, are referred from domestic abuse, refugee or modern slavery charities such as Refuge, the
Refugee Council and the Sophia Hayes Foundation amongst others.
In the last five years, and in particular in the last two years since the start of the pandemic, Women in Travel has supported over 1,207 women across all programmes.
At the same time, the body has helped 154 women with over 1,200 hours of guided support through its Employability (Women Returners) Programme.
Woman in Travel founder, Alessandra Alonso, said: “We knew we had been busy, and we knew we had made a significant impact in providing life-changing training, mentoring and opportunity.
“With the fallout of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, our mission has become increasingly important, and more and more companies are seeing the benefits of having access to the often hidden and invisible talent that Women in Travel affords – it’s a win-win for both business and individual.
“We have exciting plans to further develop and deliver our vital work, but as with every social enterprise, we need investors to understand the value and support us.”
Woman in Travel has also successfully supported 80 women – who had lost their income as a result of the collapse of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry during the Covid-19 pandemic – into training or employment, following a four-fold increase in referrals.
The body also trained the first three women micro-entrepreneurs as tour guides in its Entrepreneurship Programme.
With the release of the report, Women in Travel is urging more partners and investors to recognise and support its important work.
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics reported nationwide job vacancies hit 1.3 million in January – with travel firms highlighting recruitment as one of the most pressing issues facing the sector – and there are currently 400,000 vacancies in hospitality alone, according to UKHospitality.
Women in Travel seeks to bridge this employment gap to the benefit of both individual and industry, encouraging businesses to look at potential versus qualification as they seek to fill vacancies and rebuild post pandemic, and highlighting they can offer access to an incredible pool of untapped talent.
More Information
A full copy of the report can be downloaded here.
