The times when women were not allowed to go anywhere by themselves have, thankfully, long been gone, in most parts of the world at least. However, despite women representing 64% of global leisure travellers and 52% of business travellers, hotels seem to have lagged behind on adapting their services to what female guests need.
To respond address this gap, the SHe Travel Club has created the “she label”, certifying hotels around the world for being better equipped to cater to women’s necessities. SHe Travel Club is the first and only hotel label which leverages technology and women’s individual feedback to create a label specifically designed around meeting their expectations and requirements.
“SHe, Safe & happy everywhere” is SHe Travel Club’s promise to all women who travel for personal or professional purposes. The company was born from Valérie Hoffenberg’s observation and her commitment to parity: although women occupy a major place among the clientele frequenting hotels, their needs are not fully satisfied.
This mission is in line with my commitment to equality. I surrounded myself with a team of professionals in the sector in order to develop the hotel and tourism industry.
Valérie Hoffenberg, President of the SHe Travel Club
According to SHe’s survey of 5,000 women from 5 countries, 85% consider their needs are not fully met by the industry. The survey identified four key pillars: Safety, Comfort, Service and Dining & Entertainment. As such, the labelling process assesses hotels against these four categories and provides three levels (Silver, Gold and Platinum) catering for all hotel segments.
For each of the categories, there are specific criteria an establishment has to meet. Faced with the feminization of travel, the label is a real added value for hotel and tourism professionals. It allows them to identify concrete criteria to meet the expectations of women, to adapt their offer, to attract and retain new customers.
For safety, fully secured rooms, with double door locks and peepholes, lit up corridors and 24 hour front desk presence are the main conditions. Emergency kits including sanitary pads, makeup and nail polish removers, hand-held shower heads, full length mirror and separate products for shampoo and conditioner are key for the comfort section.
For services and amenities, hotels must train employees on women’s needs, have beauty and fitness services on demand with flexible hours, provide yoga mats on demand and have the concierge knowledgeable on recommendations for local activities adapted to women. Lastly, for dining and entertainment, establishments must offer diverse and healthy menu options at breakfast and other meals, diverse and healthy menus at bars, restaurants and in-room dining, table d’hôtes, as well as specially train bar employees towards women.
“For me, this label is obvious. It helps to dust off the traditional codes of the hotel industry, but also to measure the positive feedback from our female and male customers. Following our certification and on the advice of the SHe Travel Club, I decided in particular to review the welcome gifts that we used to offer and which were rarely used by women, such as a bottle of alcohol and chocolates. Our customers now receive kits made up of products selected by us and adapted to their expectations”, explained Laetitia ElMaleh, General Manager of Kimpton St Honoré Paris.
In the first year of its conception, the label won over more than 200 hotels from major chains like Accor and IHG and independent hotels, counting 34 brands in 26 countries. The label is also acclaimed by many women’s associations and has become of interest to search engines which are studying how these criteria could be integrated into their choice.
