Maria Sellar, General Manager of Travel at TerraPay, spoke at the Babel Travel Summit.
Speaking at the Babel Travel Summit in Spain today, TerraPay general manager of travel Maria Serra pointed out sexism in the travel tech industry.
During his speech, titled “Breaking Down Barriers: Inclusion and Diversity in Travel Leadership,” Seller called for the travel tech industry to close the gap or risk falling behind.
Addressing more than 200 travel tech professionals at an event in Sitges, Sellar shared her own experience of discrimination and highlighted TerraPay research that demonstrates stark inequality between men and women in the sector.
Only 28% of technology employees are women, and even more alarmingly, only about 17% of tech CEOs are women. There is also evidence that the situation is going backwards: between 2020 and 2022, the representation of women in large technology companies fell by 2.1%. According to Startup Genome, 2023, between 2016 and 2022, on average only 15% of founders of technology startups were women.
“If you look at the attendee list for any travel tech event you can see how male dominated it is. There's not much statistical analysis to be done. And if you look at who's speaking on stage, who are the CEOs, the disparity is clear and worrying,” Seller said.
She added: “Anyone who doubts the value of gender equality should consider that it is not just a moral imperative, but a strategic advantage that fosters creativity and a broad range of perspectives, ultimately benefiting the industry.”
“If we don't bring about rapid change in travel tech, we risk falling behind. Other tech sectors will notice and take away our best and brightest female talent.”
As a starting point for change, Seller recommended four actions the industry should take to quickly close the gap.
Leadership buy-in and commitment to this process, including mentoring programs. Cultivating an inclusive culture through training initiatives targeting unconscious bias and fostering a work environment where all employees feel valued and respected. Providing opportunities for professional growth and development through access to education and training on new travel technologies such as AI, blockchain and data analytics. Equal pay is a non-negotiable fact, and data is publicly available and maintained by regular independent review.
She concluded: “As an industry, we must do more. The status quo is simply not acceptable or good enough.”
