Women in Tourism co-founder recognised by The International Alliance for Women

Tourism professional and business owner Holly Galbraith has been recognised by The International Alliance for Women (TIAW) with a 2020 World of Difference Award.

The Awards acknowledge extraordinary women and men from around the world who have contributed to the economic empowerment of women.  Ms Galbraith was selected for her ongoing work with Women in Tourism (Australia), an organisation that she started in 2015 with co-founder Emma Castle, former Editor of Spice Magazine, that advocates for gender balance and diversity at all levels of the tourism industry.

“Women in Tourism has been a passion project and came together after sitting in too many tourism meetings where the audience was full of women and the stage was full of men.”

“The perception is that because so many women work in tourism we don’t have a gender issue but when you start looking at who is on the tourism boards and in the leadership positions, it is far from gender-equal or diverse. Women in Tourism (Australia) aims to change this.”

“We have run more than twenty events over the past five years, covering topics such as mentorship, gender diversity in the workplace, career pathways, the role men play in women’s careers, pivotal leadership moments and more. Our robust Facebook Group keeps the group of more than 2,400 tourism industry professionals connected in between events.”

The World of Difference Awards recognises up to 100 people from around the world each year across a range of categories including education, community, entrepreneurship, government, NGOs and more.

Two other Australians make up the impressive 2020 list of winners; Susan Coles, Australia’s Former Ambassador to Mauritius, Seychelles and Madagascar and Melanie Gleeson, Founder and CEO of the endota Group.

A virtual awards ceremony will be held on 2 October 2020 including a series of inspiring speakers from around the world.