The tourism entrepreneur podcast officially launched in August 2020 and the first season was filled with amazing guests and insights. Our listeners also had the opportunity to discover and listen to some of the world’s leading female innovators, women who are working tirelessly to move the tourism industry forward.

While we are getting ready to launch the second season of the podcast in February next year, we invite you to revisit the interviews of the leading female leaders below and be inspired by their stories:

Natalia Rosa: She is the founder of Big Ambitions, a specialist content, communications and marketing company, with a special focus on association communications and the travel and tourism industry. Natalia is also the woman behind #IamTourism, an online campaign which took social media by storm this year and which was aimed at highlighting the important role that women play in South Africa’s tourism industry and the extent to which their livelihoods had been impacted by the pandemic. In this episode, she also gave travel brands useful tips on how to communicate effectively in times of crisis.

Nelly O. Gedeon: She is an experienced engineer who later embraced tourism and used her skills to tackle climate change. After a trip to Togo, in West Africa, Nelly who is also a seasoned traveller realised the devastating impact of global warming on our planet and created Wayaj, an ecotravel app designed to explore and book sustainable and socially responsible destinations around the world. In this episode, she also talks about practical ways our industry can help reduce pollution and greenhouse gases emission.

Valerie Lopez: She is a professional photographer and the woman behind Shoot My Travel, a company that connects travellers and users with professional photographers in over 500 cities worldwide. Valerie is also one of the few Latina female founders who managed to access VC funding for a startup in a creative industry. In this episode, she gives us fellow founders valuable on how to survive and succeed in the travel photography industry.

Ella Paradis: She is a solo female traveler who also used to work as a consultant for one of UK’s biggest tour operators. She later realised Black content creators in the travel industry were not given enough credit and created the Black Explorer Magazine to give them a voice. In this episode, she tells us more about her experience in the publishing industry and what it takes to change the narrative around black travellers and black content creators.

Martinique Lewis: She is an award-winning diversity in travel consultant and the president of the Black Travel Alliance. She also recently published the ABC Travel Greenbook, the #1 resource for Black travellers to connect with the African Diaspora globally. In this episode she talks about ways to make the travel industry more inclusive and tools entrepreneurs can use to stimulate diversity.

Sarah Groen is the host of the Luxury Travel podcast and the owner of Bell & Bly, a top travel advising firm working with executives and entrepreneurs. She has traveled to over 100 countries and all 7 continents and is a contributing travel columnist for CEO World Magazine. In this episode, she talks about the current state of luxury tourism and the trends that are likely to emerge in the future.

Venicia Guinot is the founder the Tropics Business Summit, one of the most important business events in Africa, aimed at bridging the funding gap between Anglophone and Francophone markets. In this episode, she talks about the rise of virtual events amidst the covid19 pandemic and how this trend might influence the MICE sector in the future.

In the next season, our listeners can expect even more stories from women in tourism and hospitality. Subscribe to the podcast here and fill in this form to nominate tourism entrepreneurs you would like us to have on the podcast.