The line-up of Mentors for the third Women in Travel Meetup at World Travel Market London (WTM London) 2016 has been announced. Group mentoring sessions will take place over one hour on the second day of WTM London, Tuesday 8th November 2016, in the context of the Women in Travel Meetup, the international event for women in travel by women in travel. Dedicated space and up to 5 mentoring tables will be made available between 2.45 and 3.45 pm in Platinum Suite 4.
Alessandra Alonso, Founder of the Women in Travel Meetup said “I am delighted and grateful that so many, inspirational and knowledgeable industry professionals are giving up their time to mentor women at the event. Mentoring women (and men) is critically important if we wish them to succeed and achieve their potential in this industry.' She added: Last year, Women in Travel was overwhelmed with requests for one to one mentoring and all places were snapped up in 48 hours. This year I am hoping that through group mentoring we will be able to support many more mentees but I strongly advise anyone interested to book as soon as possible not to be disappointed”.
Jo Rzymowska, UK and Ireland Managing Director for Celebrity Cruises and a mentor on the initiative said “I have agreed to support the Women in Travel meetup at WTM 2016 because I am passionate about supporting women in the work place and giving them the confidence that they can 'be or do' whatever they want to 'be or do'.”
The Women in Travel initiative, which was launched by Alessandra Alonso in 2014, aims to engage with, reach out to and create a community of thousands of female professionals, current and future entrepreneurs and suppliers working in and around the travel industry looking for inspiration, motivation, mentoring support and all-round learning. The event aims to become the premier, international travel event platform encouraging women in the travel industry to come together and support each other.
The Women in Travel Meetup will host two debates with a panel of renowned industry figures on the topics of leadership and entrepreneurship as well as group mentoring and networking sessions.
Confirmed mentors from the industry include:
| 1. Zoe Adjey | Lecturer in Hospitality, Westminster Kingsway College |
| 2. Andrea Clayton | Director of Sales, Citybond Suretravel |
| 3. Brian Frankel | Entrepreneur, WASTA Tickets and Mentormatchmaker |
| 4. Claire Hazle | Director of Marketing and E-Commerce, Cosmos |
| 5. James Brooke | Managing Director, Rooster PR |
| 6. Jo Rzymowska | MD UK and Ireland, Celebrity Cruises |
| 7. Julia Feuell | Entrepreneur, Online Travel Training and New Frontiers Travel Recruitment |
| 8. Lamia Walker | Entrepreneur, HousesitMatch.com |
| 9. Lindsay Garvey Jones | National Partnership Manager, Holiday Extras |
| 10. Rachel O'Reilly | Head of Communications, Kuoni |
| 11. Sarah Clayton Turner | Director, Travel Trade Marketing |
| 12. Sylvia Weiler | VP, Audience, Strategy & Development, Sojern |
Group mentoring sessions will be bookable in advance. Each session will last 30 minutes and those wanting to be mentored will be able to book up to two sessions. Every table will be set up with 2 or 3 mentors and up to 8 mentees. Pre-arranged topics such as entrepreneurship, leadership, professional/professional development and career will be assigned to each table in advance so mentees will be assigned to tables according to their own needs.