Women gain slight leadership ground in hotel companies

Women in leadership roles within hotel companies are increasing, according to a report.

Non-profit organization the Castell Project says that although leadership roles - CEO, president, founder - remain skewed toward men, women are now in one top position for every 10.3 that men occupy.

This compares to 2019 when it was one woman in a leadership role compared to 11.2 men, the 2022 Women in Hospitality Industry Leadership report found.

Peggy Berg, chair at the Castell Project, says: “As the hospitality industry rebuilds the jobs it has lost since the start of the pandemic, developing career opportunities for women and minorities is even more vital in the hotel sector.

"This report tracks progress and we are seeing more women in senior executive roles, successfully advancing every aspect of their companies.

“There are more women on the podium, building their own careers and inspiring others. There are more women owners, including women of color. Recognition of the value and importance of diverse leadership is now widespread, so we expect these trends to accelerate.”

Castell also says that its mission of seeing one-in-every three seats at the top occupied by women is getting closer to completion, with 3.4 male chiefs now for each woman in hotel companies.

While women mostly occupy human resources roles, there is now representation in chief marketing, chief revenue and chief sustainability roles.

Despite the slight gain for women representation in leadership, however, the report points to McKinsey & Company research that says about a third of women have considered leaving the workforce or taking a lesser role in the past year.

This compares with about 25% in the first few months of the pandemic.

The findings are supported by Phocuswright research revealing that the crisis disproportionately impacted women in the workforce , and the time taken to close the gender pay gap has increased by a generation.

The Phocuswright Gender Equity 2021 study also revealed that 46% of men rate the travel industry as good or excellent with respect to gender equity for career development and management opportunities compared to 26% of women.

A further report published recently revealed a gender diversity gap at the top of travel technology companies with only 12.5% of the top 350 companies led by a woman.