CONFERENCE REPORT


TECH ‘NEEDS GENDER BALANCE’


Travel businesses need to do a lot more to promote roles in tech and data science to ensure there is a more diverse workforce as the sector faces talent shortages. Axita Bhalsod, vice-president of data and


analytics at Egencia, estimated that just 15% of STEM graduates in the UK are women. She said more work needs to be done in


¸óæǝƥƿƢƿǝTďĒšǝĒšǝŨďóǝİóƈŨǑ ĉóİóśËŨĒĺİǝ¸óæǝƥƿƢǝƃóæǝ ŘËĉóƿǝ


schools to present jobs in data and analytics to the next generation of workers as they decide what to study at GCSE and A-level. Bhalsod said the scale of the gender


ŨŨËçďóíǝŨĺǝc=TšǝĒšǝ


the concept of Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (Dao), which potentially are going to become one of ƉĺŭśǝæĒĉĉóšŨǝçĺįŘóŨĒŨĺśšƿǙ Cooke added: “Every


industry is going to experience some sort of enormous disruption on the supply side, in the way people come together and çśóËŨóǝšĺįóŨďĒİĉƿǝ ǝ#Ëĺǝ and NFT and token-based economy will emerge to allow people to create value ËİíǝóƈçďËİĉóǞƂËĨŭóƿǙǝ ǝǞ


disparity hit her last year when she attended a graduation ceremony in the north of England where just 15 of 180 were female. Firms must make sure they have diversity


on their interview panels and produce gender-balanced job descriptions, she said. “There has to be more done through


early education systems,” she added. “There has to be more done through


mentoring as women enter the market. I was quite privileged and very lucky to ƛİíǝįóİŨĺśšDŽǝŨďóƉǝíĺİǛŨǝçĺįóǝŨĺǝƉĺŭƺǝƉĺŭǝ ďËƂóǝŨĺǝĉĺǝËİíǝƛİíǝŨďóįƿǝGǝďËƂóǝæóóİǝ very lucky with both male and female įóİŨĺśšǝĉĨĺæËĨĨƉƿǝcĺƃǝĒŨǛšǝËæĺŭŨǝďĺƃǝíĺǝƃóǝ foster that and continue to grow that?” Bhalsod added: “Data is in every


Axita Bhalsod


śĺĨóǝËİíǝĒŨǛšǝËæĺŭŨǝŭİíóśšŨËİíĒİĉǝďĺƃǝ to use that data to make decisions. ǘGİǝŨďóǝ¡XǝóíŭçËŨĒĺİǝšƉšŨóįƺǝƃóǝíĺİǛŨǝ


óįŘďËšĒšóǝŨďËŨǝóİĺŭĉďƿǝ¸óǝíĺİǛŨǝĨĺĺĥǝ at maths as being beyond GCSE. As consumers become more data-savvy, they want more understanding and maths is a big component of that.” She also spoke of her own career path,


which she described as “not linear”, and reiterated that businesses needed to do more to remove the hurdles facing women returning to work after having children.


replacing traditional banks. So, what does this all mean for the travel business?” asked Zand. WeTravel conducted a survey of 200


global tour operators in December last ƉóËśǝŨĺǝƛİíǝĺŭŨƿǝǘlƂóśƃďóĨįĒİĉĨƉƺǝƃóǝ saw the same theme of customisation in bookings and payment processes,” she said. “In travel, the more customisation a ŨĺŭśǝĺŘóśËŨĺśǝçËİǝĺƖóśǝĒŨšǝçŭšŨĺįóśšƺǝ ĈśĺįǝŨďóǝƛśšŨǝŨśĒŘǝŘËĉóǝĒİŨóśËçŨĒĺİǝŨĺǝ the follow-up email, marketing and payment options, the better the sales conversion and customer experience.


“In the same survey, when comparing


2023 to 2019, we found that an average of 10% of operators saw a decrease in total upfront payments for travel, with more than 80% saying travellers like to pay with at least one instalment, but ËçŨŭËĨĨƉǝŨďóǝįĺšŨǝçĺįįĺİǝƃËšǝĈĺŭśƿǞ ǘlƖóśĒİĉǝĈśĺİŨǑóİíǝĺŘŨĒĺİšǝĈĺśǝ


travellers for how and where they pay, ŨĺǞËííĒİĉǝįóËĨšǝËİíǝóƈçŭśšĒĺİšǝŨĺǝËİǝ existing tour, is no longer a nice to ďËƂóƺǞĒŨǛšǝİĺƃǝæóçĺįĒİĉǝËǝİóçóššĒŨƉƿǙ Adoption of automated technology æĺĺšŨšǝŘśĺíŭçŨĒƂĒŨƉǝËİíǝóƗçĒóİçƉƺǝ


reduces human error and allows business íĒƂĒšĒĺİšǝŨĺǝƃĺśĥǝįĺśóǝçĺĨĨËæĺśËŨĒƂóĨƉƿǝǞ “For customers, automation has


become mainstream and is expected ĒİǞĒŨšǝóİŨĒśóŨƉƺǙǝšËĒíǝÇËİíƿ “When you automate processes


ĨĒĥóǝæĒĨĨĒİĉǝËİíǝŘËƉįóİŨǝçĺİƛśįËŨĒĺİƺǝ emails for trip itineraries and pre-trip departure information, you increase the ĨĒĥóĨĒďĺĺíǝĺĈǝËǝšËŨĒšƛóíǝçŭšŨĺįóśƿǙǞ But Zand warned that businesses


need to ensure they use customisable formats in their communications to avoid appearing ”robotic and unattractive”.


TRAVOLUTION.COM — OCTOBER 2023 — 7


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