Women are increasingly filling top roles at large travel agencies: Travel Weekly

Women have long been well represented in the travel agency community: Travel Weekly’s 2024 Travel Industry Survey found that 80% of travel advisors identify as female. 

Despite that, leadership at travel agencies has historically been imbalanced, with men holding most of the high-level roles.

Times are changing. 

More women than ever are heading the country’s largest agencies, and efforts underway from major industry players may accelerate the path to equity at the top for many more.

“It’s about time,” said Anita Salvatore, who last September became North America CEO of Corporate Travel Management, No. 9 on Travel Weekly’s 2024 Power List. “We’re breaking through the glass ceiling.”

Anita Salvatore

Her appointment marked an important milestone for women in leadership. When Salvatore stepped into her role, it meant that five of the 10 largest agencies in the country had women as either CEO or president.

“Over time, as women have risen through the ranks, it’s now our opportunity to go into these leadership roles,” Salvatore said in an interview last summer. “I think it’s a very exciting time for women in the industry. I mean, this is a complete sea change.”

Those breakthroughs are important, said another one of those women, Audrey Hendley, president of American Express Travel (No. 8 on the Power List). She said it ensures that the diversity at the top better reflects the traveling public. 

Audrey Hendley

“It is up to leaders to make it clear that female perspectives are crucial to this industry and ensure these voices have a seat at the table at every level and at every conversation,” Hendley said. “No two travelers are the same, which means that having different points of view at the table when making decisions about everything from marketing to product development to consumer experiences and beyond is so important.”

Leadership gender gap persists

Despite the new balance at the very top, data from the Global Business Travel Association illustrates that an overall gender gap still exists. A GBTA survey last fall found that only 39% of vice presidents or executives at GBTA-affiliated travel suppliers and travel management companies are women, versus 61% who are men. And while 67% of corporate travel buyers are women, among buyers holding the roles of vice president or higher, 50% are men while 46% are women.

In October, GBTA WINiT (Women in Travel) launched Path to Gender Parity: Advocating for 50/50 Leadership by 2035, an initiative with the goal of ensuring leadership is split equally between men and women in the next decade. WINiT, founded in 2014, was acquired by GBTA in 2018 and became part of its nonprofit arm, the GBTA Foundation, in 2022.

Beverly Heinritz

“We need to have a goal, and our mission does say we advocate for gender equality,” said Beverly Heinritz, director of foundation programs at the GBTA Foundation. “So, if that’s a true statement, what are we going to do about it?”

The Path to Gender Parity was the answer to that question. That path includes programs like developing future leaders at every level so opportunities exist at all points in a woman’s career, Heinritz said. WINiT will also continue to research the number of women in executive roles to provide benchmarks and track progress.

“There is research that shows that companies with gender-diverse leadership perform better,” Heinritz said. “Their results are better. They’re stronger. They’re more innovative. We also see that gender-diverse teams are more likely to understand their customer base. They’re more reflective of the people they serve.”

Simply put, she said, “This is smart business.”

Hendley said she anticipates that more women will take on leadership roles going forward, simply because they perform well in those positions.

“We deliver remarkable shareholder value while leading with high-performing teams,” Hendley said.

Paula Twidale

Paula Twidale saw a lot of firsts in her career as a woman in travel. She worked in the airline industry when there weren’t many women in the field. She was Collette’s first female executive. She was the first woman board chair of the USTOA.

Just before she retired at the end of last year, Twidale was senior vice president of AAA Travel. She said it is “heartwarming and enlightening” that the industry is elevating more and more women into executive roles. Still, she offered a cautionary note.

“Hopefully, as they take over those C-suite roles, or any leadership role, pay equity goes along with it,” Twidale said.