Creating Inclusive Opportunities for Women in Tourism
Exciting highlights from Sri Lanka's 'Women in Tourism: Advocate, Engage, Achieve’ event.
This week, Australia’s MDF #SriLanka and the Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance (SLTA) teamed up to co-host the ‘Women in Tourism’ event. It aimed to identify strategies for enhancing women's #employment within Sri Lanka's #tourism sector, urging businesses to invest in the development of #inclusive opportunities.
Joining the event, Dr. Paul Zeccola, First Secretary (Political and Economic) to the Australian High Commission, Sri Lanka, shared Australia’s commitment to supporting the recovery of Sri Lanka's tourism industry, focusing on fostering inclusive business models that #empower women economically.
The MDF team presented the findings from a collaborative study with the Tourism Alliance, highlighting barriers to women's employment in tourism. Key insights from the study, including provincial-level differences in factors influencing women’s decisions, were also shared.
The event featured a panel discussion examining challenges and solutions for integrating more women into the industry. The panel comprised Shiromal Cooray, Chairman and Managing Director Jetwing Travels; Manesh Fernando, Area General Manager of Hilton Sri Lanka and General Manager Hilton Colombo; Chandi H Dharmaratne, Chief People Officer Dialog of Axiata Digital Labs and Mathi Thayanan, Tourism Country Team Coordinator, MDF Sri Lanka. The industry-leading panel shed light on pressing issues faced by the industry, followed by suggested strategies for fostering an #inclusiveworkplace that led to an invigorating discussion amongst all attendees on unlocking the full potential of the diverse talent available in Sri Lanka.
MDF and the Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance are dedicated to boosting Sri Lanka's tourism sector during its recovery phase. We invite businesses to invest in creating inclusive opportunities that provide diverse tourism services, aligning with evolving global travel trends!
