Talent, capability, opportunity and success for women working in the travel industry will be discussed during a panel discussion sponsored by intimate health brand Intimina at the first International Women In Travel & Tourism Forum, taking place next month at the Radisson Blu Saga Hotel in Reykjavik in Iceland on 23-24 January 2020.
The talk, which will take place at 12:15pm on Friday 24th January at the Forum, will discuss how organisations must reconsider their existing definitions and assumptions about skills, career paths and critical success factors to achieve gender balance. The panel will also explore the reality of women’s aspirations, career phases and life cycles, both now and in the future.
The panel discussion will be moderated by Danela Zagar, Global Brand Manager at Intimina, a Swedish brand that offers the first and only range of products dedicated exclusively to all aspects of women’s intimate health. The company’s mission is to break taboos and make being a woman easier in today's world where period shame is a societal issue. Alongside producing a range of menstrual cups, Intimina promotes gender equality, female empowerment and female leadership in all capacities by destigmatising the conversation around female reproductive health and educating females of all ages about their bodies and lifetime possibilities.
Astonishingly, a recent survey of 2,000 women commissioned by Intimina found that nearly half (49%) of women have experienced ‘period poverty’, which implies a lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, hand washing facilities and/or waste management. Furthermore, 60% of respondents admitted to budgeting in order to afford sanitary items and 79% have made sacrifices or gone with less in order to afford these necessities. To combat this, 72% of respondents believed governments should mandate free menstrual products for all. Workplace environments (51%) topped the list of where women believe there should be access to free sanitary items.
Danela will be joined at the Forum by Sara Kranjcec Jukic, the Global PR Manager for LELO and Intimina, and at the panel discussion by four of the Forum’s speakers: Tess Mattisson, Senior Director European Marketing at Choice Hotels; Maja Hadziselimovic, Robotic Software Developer at MRK Systeme GmbH; Hannah Leach, Director, Employee Experience and Culture at Carnival UK; and Emily Firth, an Independent Consultant.
Jointly developed by industry leaders Carnival UK, Visit Iceland / Promote Iceland, PEAK DMC and gender focused social enterprise Women in Travel (CIC), the Forum will provide attendees with a full day of talks and mentoring sessions led by other international travel and tourism leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers. Attendance is limited to 60 industry chiefs and 60 next-generation female professionals from across the globe who are passionate about tackling gender imbalance in the workplace and sharing, learning, challenging and furthering their understanding of diversity and inclusion. Those interested are urged to register their interest as soon as possible as there are just a few remaining spaces left.
Speaking about her attendance at the upcoming Forum, Intimina’s Danela Zagar said: “I believe that female equality is the only way society can progress. This is why Intimina and I are supporting this Forum. Female leaders, present and future ones, should talk loudly about this issue and corporations should listen carefully about how new business approaches should be adapted to the woman’s aspirations and their natural life cycles. It is a real privilege to participate in the Forum where women can share the power to shape different professions and industries.”
