How Women’s Roles in Travel Have Evolved

The travel industry as we know it is only about 200-some years old, give or take. It began to flourish as modern transportation methods began changing not only the ways in which people traveled but also the time it took to get from one part of the world — or even between two parts of a country.

Trains, then automobiles, then planes fundamentally created a wider access to travel, not only for goods and people heading to permanent destinations but also for people heading to places for fun. Generally, people agree that travel as we know it began in the 1840s with the advent of the train in England.

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Prior to these inventions, the majority of the people who traveled were usually from two different classes: the wealthy and titled, who had the money and means to travel for months on end, and the merchant class (which yes, can include pirates upon occasion), whose livelihoods directly depended upon safely moving goods from one corner of the world to another.

Throughout it all, women have played central roles within the travel industry, usually in face-to-face roles, which we’d today call “essential.” Innkeepers, hoteliers, maids and flight attendants are only just a few of the roles in which women participated in this industry.

Today, we continue to see a remarkable reliance upon women in the industry; in fact, around 54 percent of the entire industry’s workforce is women — if all the women decided to take a day off, the entire industry would likely collapse (especially in key roles such as travel advising, of which women comprise around 84 percent).

Part of the reason for the attraction towards certain roles within this industry is because of job flexibility: travel advising, for example, was able to be conducted at home even twenty years ago, giving women ways to make money while also retaining the flexibility in their schedules to raise children.

While gender equality within the upper echelons of our industry is still not a reality as of yet — in the leisure sector, only about seven percent of leadership roles are held by women — it is slowly improving.

One of these women who has been paving the way in our industry for over thirty years is Julie Coker, President and CEO of San Diego Tourism Authority.

“When I began my career in 1989 the number of female GMs in the industry I was able to count on one hand; now we have a multitude of female GMs across the country, in addition to regional VPs, SVPs and some CEOs of major brands,” said Coker. “You now see women sitting on for-profit and nonprofit travel industry boards…However, what is more exciting to me is the funnel is being filled…We also now see women entrepreneurs in the restaurant space, hotels, hotel design companies, etc.”

“The travel industry over the years has taken several intentional steps to provide women the opportunity to excel – mentorship programs, executive leadership programs, but most importantly the industry realizes this is a business case and not a ‘nice to do.’”

Women have faced and continue to face several challenges in their careers. Coker has seen this first-hand with two big ones: that she’s often been considered too young or inexperienced, even in her own mind, to step into leadership roles and the challenge to balance both home life and work life.

“Challenges women face are both internal and external. From an internal standpoint, often women second-guess their capabilities or skill sets to move to this next level,” she explains. “We often feel we need to hit every rung on the ladder when in fact we are more than prepared for the next opportunity. We must believe that and seize every opportunity that is presented to us.”

“The external challenges are real and women still face them today – can I have it all? – can I balance my home life and have a thriving career?” Coker continued. “Societal norms in some cases still expect Mom to make every soccer game but also not miss one board meeting. That is not the same expectation and or question a man faces. In my own career, often I was seen as being too young of a woman for a certain role. My first GM position [was when] I was 30 years old. I recall an owner asking me what I would do when I had children. How could I balance operating a hotel which is open 24 hours a day with a family?

“I’m sure that was not asked of the male whom I replaced. The good news is the challenges you face only inspire you to do better. It fuels you to learn faster, show up more prepared and hopefully inspire other women to step into leadership roles.”

The good news about women in this industry is that there are more of them: mentorship opportunities abound, and it’s often these relationships that inspire more women to seek out leadership roles when they might have otherwise been too afraid or think they’re not experienced enough for it.

This mentorship trend is expected to be integral to more women filling key leadership roles in the future and is one of the biggest methods by which women’s roles are evolving in the industry.

One of the women in these key leadership roles who was inspired by a mentor herself is Senior Vice President of Integrated Marketing for Brand USA, Staci Mellman. She’s the highest-ranking female leader in the nation’s DMO, which she says gives her a “very interesting perspective” on marketing the U.S. to travelers since the vast majority of those making the travel decisions are women.

“I think what we’ve seen historically is that women have played and continue to play a very dominant role within the industry: they make up the majority of the tourism workforce, but those jobs are mostly presented in service and clerical roles,” said Mellman. “What I have seen over my thirteen-plus years within the travel sector is that while women have dominated these roles, we are seeing an increase in leadership positions, and that makes me feel very optimistic about what the future is for the travel and tourism industry.”

So what are the biggest challenges women in the travel industry face today? Coker believes it’s two-fold: equal pay and the ever-present work-life balance.

“Ensuring they are receiving equitable pay,” she said. “Women across this country and in all industries are still being underpaid for doing the same role as a male. Women must sharpen their negotiating skills, ask for what they are worth and be prepared to walk away if they are not being paid equitably.”

“Also some women are still struggling with having it all – having enough time for their personal lives, whether it be husband, partner or children vs. work. We need to give ourselves some grace. We can’t always do it all and that’s okay.”