Next Tuesday’s launch event in London for the Inclusive Travel Forum is sold out. In partnership with the Spanish Tourist Office, which has launched its “Spain for All” initiative, the Inclusive Travel Forum is “dedicated to helping travel businesses embed equity, accessibility, and inclusivity across all aspects of their operations.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the multinational professional services network based in London, recently reported that the UK travel industry is lagging behind other sectors in terms of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). PwC reported that only 16% of travel companies have a dedicated DEI strategy, and only 30% have set targets for improving DEI in their workforce.
The Inclusive Travel Forum argues that the lack of diversity in the travel and tourism sector constrains innovation and creativity, increases staff turnover and absenteeism, as more employees from “underrepresented groups are more likely to leave their jobs or be absent due to a lack of inclusion or discrimination”, and reputational damage impacting sales. Lack of diversity in the sector limits choice, may cause ‘consumers from underrepresented groups’ to ‘feel unwelcome or uncomfortable in certain travel destinations or businesses’ and have negative experiences of ‘discrimination or harassment.’ The Inclusive Travel Forum points to the negative impact on sales of the “lack of representation in marketing, of some customer groups, can make consumers feel excluded.”
The Inclusive Travel Forum is a membership organisation assisting businesses to address the negative consequences of the absence of DEI by raising awareness, providing resources, and addressing unconscious bias, ‘leading to discrimination against people from underrepresented groups.’ Their ‘collaborative approach to creating positive change, inviting businesses to ‘become part of the movement towards a more inclusive future of travel.’
The Responsible Tourism movement champions ‘inclusive employment for the differently abled and people of diverse ethnicities, gender and sexual orientation’ and ‘offers culturally sensitive experiences engendering respect between tourists and hosts, and building local pride and confidence.’ Debbie Hindle of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism.global, will share her reflections at the launch event on the vital role of sustained collaboration in advancing inclusion and offer a glimpse into the exciting future initiatives of the Inclusive Travel Forum.
The Spain for All campaign of the Spanish Tourist Office (UK) is promoting Spain’s ambition to become a global leader in accessible tourism, an “inclusive tourism destination where everyone can experience, explore and enjoy the country’s rich culture, landscape and hospitality with autonomy, dignity and confidence.”
The UN Tourism Executive Council has nominated Ms Shaikha Al Nowais, from the UAE, to be confirmed by the UN Tourism General Assembly as the new Secretary-General from 2026. She will be the first woman to head this UN agency.
Progress continues to be made in addressing the diversity, equality and inclusive agenda across the sector, battling strong and intensifying headwinds. In his address at the World Economic Forum, Trump said his administration is moving to “abolish all discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion nonsense” in both the government and the private sector. The US government is working to reverse progress on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and has banned citizens from 12 countries from travelling to the US, with another seven countries facing partial travel restrictions. US Attorney General Pam Bondi has urged the Justice Department to enforce federal civil rights laws to push private companies to roll back DEI, and cited the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard June 2023 Supreme Court case, which ended affirmative action, as cause for eliminating DEI at universities.
