10/24/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/24/2024 06:12
New GBTA data reveals women's expanding influence as business travelers and industry professionals, but with a persistent gender gap in senior leadership roles
Women professionals are prominent throughout the business travel industry, but GBTA research suggests there are still gaps in gender equity as they are still less likely to be in senior executive positions than men. When it comes to women as business travelers, they highly value traveling for work to achieve their goals. Although they travel less frequently for work than men, women continue to take advantage of opportunities to blend business and leisure travel when they do travel, and also report prioritizing business travel for training and seminars.
This is according to new data from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and the GBTA Foundation which sheds light on the growing influence of women in the business travel sector while also underscoring the global impact of women as business travelers. The insights were released today at the 10th annual GBTA WINiT Summit held at the TWA Hotel in Queens, New York. GBTA WINiT ("Women in Travel") is a program of the GBTA Foundation dedicated to helping women develop and advance in their travel industry careers.
"The impact of women on business travel and the industry is undeniable. Not only are women critical to driving the growth of business travel, but they are also shaping its future as business travelers themselves," said Delphine Millot, GBTA Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Sustainability and Managing Director for the GBTA Foundation. "Looking ahead, addressing the challenges and opportunities that women face will be key. We are committed to supporting the advancement of talented women whose leadership is paramount in creating an inclusive and innovative industry."
Women Professionals in the Business Travel Industry: Representation and Leadership Development
The new data reflects that women make up the majority of professionals on both the buyer and supplier sides of the industry. In a GBTA global survey of over 600 global business travel professionals, women represented 67% of travel managers and buyers, and accounted for 57% of GBTA-affiliated travel supplier and travel management company (TMC) professionals.
According to the survey findings, significant gender disparities remain in the most senior executive roles in the industry while representation is strong at mid-management levels.
The data reflects that women are becoming well-represented, comprising the majority of many mid-level roles in the industry.
One significant challenge is the lack of leadership development programs for women.
The survey reflects there is also a notable divide in the types of roles women occupy within at travel supplier companies in business travel industry. While women occupy most account management positions, they are significantly underrepresented in technical and product-oriented roles among those surveyed.
"Like the mission behind GBTA WINiT, many companies have launched programs to support the development of women leaders. However, there is a clear opportunity for more robust initiatives that focus on promoting women to the executive levels and for further investment in mentorship, development programs, and gender diversity initiatives in leadership and technical roles," said Millot.
Women as Business Travelers: Differences in Frequency, Purpose and Bleisure
Women also play a crucial role as business travelers themselves, shaping key trends and driving growth in important areas, as represented in new global traveler data taken from the 2024 GBTA Business Travel Index.
Both male and female business travelers report similar perceptions of the success of their trips.
The motivations fortravel, however, may differ slightly between genders.
"Our research reveals that women play a crucial role as business travelers. Women are shaping key trends and driving growth in important areas, such as blended travel," said Millot. "This trend has gained momentum in recent years and women travelers are part of the ongoing desire to combine trips for both business and leisure."
Methodology
The industry professional data was collected in an online global survey of 609 travel professionals from August 29 through to September 17, 2024. (Note: a small percentage of survey respondents did not provide their gender so data may not total 100%.)
The female business traveler data was taken from the 2024 GBTA Business Travel Index Outlook - Annual Global Report and Forecast(GBTA BTI™), made possible by Visa, representing global insights from employee travelers regarding their business travel preferences, behaviors and spending.