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Alessandra Alonso with Eulanda Shead Osagiede the Executive Director of BAME Women in Travel CIC

Women in Travel and Odgers Berndston host networking breakfast

Women in Travel (CIC) has hosted a networking breakfast in collaboration with the executive search firm Odgers Berndtson.

Held at Odgers Berndtson?s offices on London?s Cannon Street, the breakfast was well-attended by female travel industry professionals from tour operators and travel companies, along with entrepreneurs, activists and influencers.

The morning event began with a welcome talk from the social enterprise's founder, Alessandra Alonso, who updated attendees on its most recent initiatives, such as the successful schedule of events run by BAME Women in Travel. The BAME Women in Travel initiative, officially launched earlier this year, assists black, Asian and minority ethnic women in the travel and tourism industry to fulfil their economic and individual potential through customised training and mentoring services aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and employment.

Alessandra discussed the forthcoming first International Women in Travel & Tourism Forum, which will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland on January 23-24, 2020. Registration is now open for the event. The speaker line-up was developed by the social enterprise in partnership with Promote Iceland, Carnival UK and PEAK DMC.

Iceland?s First Lady, Eliza Reid, has confirmed she will be sharing her experience and views on gender equality in Iceland and within the tourism sector at the Forum, and attendees already confirmed include a mix of global private and public sector travel, hospitality and tourism industry trailblazers. Unlike other events tackling gender imbalance in the workplace, delegates must commit to attending in a duo: to qualify, an executive-level senior leader must pledge to attend with and host a next-generation female colleague.

Attendees at the breakfast also had the chance to network and take part in a raffle, in which Rosanna Neophytou from Tucan Travel won a necklace from Shimansky.

Speaking at the breakfast, Alessandra, said: ?In 2017 I decided that my call for women empowerment was too strong to be ignored, so I set up Women in Travel as a social enterprise. Our aim today is to amplify the voices of the women who are not in their desired positions in the travel industry and we are looking forward to further cementing this aim when we host our first International Women in Travel & Tourism Forum in January.?

Eulanda Shead Osagiede, executive director of BAME Women in Travel, added: ?We were delighted to meet with so many travel industry professionals during Women in Travel?s networking breakfast at Odgers Berndtson and talk about the ongoing success of the BAME Women in Travel initiative, which was launched earlier this year. We feel it is vital for travel companies to consider women of colour when talking about female development, so our aim is to play a key role in providing resources, networking opportunities, training, and events focused on making advancement within the travel and tourism industry more accessible.?

To register for the forum, go to iwttf.com



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