WORLD FIRST AT ITB BERLIN 2023: EQUALITY IN TOURISM AWARD
Equality in Tourism International is proud to launch the Equality in Tourism Award, the first of its kind.
The award, which recognises tourism organisations that display excellence in their commitment to gender equality, will be presented to the winners at ITB Berlin in March 2023, the world’s largest annual tourism trade fair.
Equality in Tourism is a non-profit organisation working to promote gender equality in tourism and hospitality industries around the world
The international award is designed to improve gender equality within tourism businesses around the world and to support them to integrate gender equality into their company policies and work practices. It will recognise tourism organisations that display excellence in their commitment to gender equality. We also feel that this award will help identify best practices, drive improvement, celebrate excellence, and reward leaders who are already doing excellent work in this field.
ITB Berlin provides a global reach to Equality in Tourism
The award will strategically be given out to the winner at the ITB Berlin show in 2023 in front of a multitude of companies that currently have no gender-protection policies in place. The global reach of ITB Berlin will give a wide exposure to the event. Back to 2019, ITB Berlin attracted around 10,000 exhibitors from 181 countries who displayed their tourism products and services to roughly 160,000 international visitors.
Applications for the Equality in Tourism Award are open to all organisations from around the world that operate within the travel industry. The Equality in Tourism Award ceremony will take place during the trade show on Wednesday, 8th March 2023: International Women’s Day. The deadline for applications is the 17th January 2023.
Equality in Tourism will be issuing a call for applications in the coming weeks so keep your eyes on our social media pages for more details.
Prestigious jury for the first ever award
The jury is currently composed of Dr. Stroma Cole, Director at Equality in Tourism and senior lecturer in tourism at the University of Westminster, London. She has done extensive research exploring tourism and water inequality in Labuan Bajo Indonesia; Tamarindo, Costa Rica; Kerala, India; and Bali, Indonesia;
Maud Masiyiwa, Founding Board member of the Meadowlands Tourism Development Centre and Ndofaya Cooking School in Soweto, South Africa. She also established one of the first wholly black female-owned and managed retail travel agencies in Sandton, post Apartheid South Africa;
Lucy Ferguson, an international specialist in gender issues in tourism, following her PhD on the topic in 2007. She has collaborated with UNWTO since 2010, and was the Lead Consultant for the Global Report in Women in Tourism, 2nd Edition. As part of the current UNWTO Centre Stage project, she has produced the “Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines for the Public Sector in Tourism” and the “Gender-inclusive Strategy for Tourism Businesses”;
Rika Jean Francois, Commissioner ITB Corporate Social Responsibility. She serves on the board of the IGLTA Foundation, of the Pacific Asian Travel Association (PATA) and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).
