One thing’s for sure about the Australian travel industry – it’s made up of SO many fantastic women!

But despite our industry being majority female, there’s still a long way to go in getting more women in the decision making seats and making travel and the workplace a safer space for women.

Luckily, there are LOADs of travel companies championing the cause and promoting a level playing field.

Here’s a roundup of how the industry is celebrating this important day.

On International Women’s Day, An Historic Cruise Industry Achievement: Captain Serena Melani Will Be First Woman Captain To Launch A Brand-New Cruise Ship

Regent Seven Seas Cruises, the leading luxury ocean cruise line, today announced that Captain Serena Melani will helm the cruise line’s newest ship, Seven Seas Splendor, making her the first woman in cruise industry history to captain a new cruise ship at launch.

Captain Melani, 45, has progressed quickly in her nearly 30-year career to roles of cruise ship leadership.  She began her nautical career at age 16 as a cadet while attending school working on cargo ships in her hometown of Livorno, Italy, along the Tirrenian Sea in the Tuscany region.

After graduating from Nautical College in 1993, she was one of only a few females to hold roles of increasing responsibilities on oil tankers, cargo and container vessels. Captain Melani joined Regent in 2010 as a Bridge Officer, then served as Navigation Officer, Safety Officer and Staff Captain on Seven Seas Voyager.

She became the company’s first female Master Captain in 2016 and has led Seven Seas Explorer, Seven Seas Mariner and Seven Seas Navigator during her tenure.

Trafalgar celebrates resetting the balance for women around the world

Trafalgar is celebrating International Women’s Day by supporting the official #BalanceforBetter movement and raising awareness for women’s empowerment in local communities across the world.

With a growing number of over 80 JoinTrafalgar initiatives exclusive to their itineraries, with many experiences directly supporting female-focused organisations or communities, the global leader in guided holidays shows no signs of slowing when it comes to creating travel experiences that strive for gender parity.

By encouraging more women to host and interact with foreign visitors through Trafalgar’s carefully curated range of Be My Guest, Dive into Culture and Stays with Stories experiences, we have helped women regain a stronger foothold in their communities and revive their culture and traditions which they delight in sharing with our guests. Many of these elements of their guided holidays are completely organised and run by women, who have been encouraged to take full ownership of their skills and knowledge.

Supporting the #BalanceforBetter movement, Trafalgar’s initiatives with women have been successfully enhanced by the framework of their parent foundation, TreadRight. This is to ensure that female artisans and entrepreneurs are supported long-term, in an ethical and sustainable way.

Emirates salutes its female employees on International Women’s Day

Across the world every day, Emirates’ flights connect people and businesses, enabling travel, tourism and trade. Whether from the cockpit, or inside the aircraft cabin, on the ramp or at the hangar, at service desks across the world or from headquarters in Dubai, Emirates’ female employees make an important contribution to the successful operation of every one of the airline’s flights, every day.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day Emirates has released a video that celebrates the diversity of its female staff and highlights the varied roles held by women across the company.

In addition to roles such as cabin crew and pilots, women also work in a number of technical positions spanning aircraft maintenance and aircraft appearance in engineering as well as in ramp, flight, crew and cargo operations. This includes specialised roles such as aircraft licensed engineers, cargo load masters, ramp operations team leader, turnaround coordinators and flight dispatchers.

Women form over 40 per cent of the workforce at the Emirates Group and come from around 160 nationalities, including over 1100 U.A.E. nationals. Female employees are also represented in all seniority levels within the Group including in mid and senior management positions. Over one fifth of the women working in Emirates have also been with the airline for 10 years or longer.

You can watch the video here.

Women unite to celebrate international women’s day with FCM Travel Solutions

Over 300 guests tomorrow will join FCM Travel Solutions and Corporate Traveller in Melbourne to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of females for International Women’s Day.

“As both companies boast a workforce that is approximately 75 per cent female, we are committed to supporting female development within our organisations and across industries,” Melissa Elf, General Manager of FCM Australia said.

“For FCM and the broader Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), there is a lot of work underway to strengthen our support networks, career development and mentoring opportunities to help women achieve their goals.”

Elf is part of a growing group of senior female leaders across FCTG, where there is a concerted effort to encourage more women to apply for leadership roles, to connect with and learn from mentors and to upskill.

Intrepid Travel Offers New Women’s Tours

Intrepid Travel, the world’s largest experiential travel company, has introduced four new Women’s Expeditions to mark International Women’s Day, giving female travellers an opportunity to learn about the everyday lives and challenges facing women around the world.

The women-only tours led by female guides provide a unique insight into the lives of women in Kenya, India, Nepal and Turkey. Travellers will meet people from all walks of life and hear their inspiring stories, from Becky, the first female overland truck driver in East Africa, to Syrian refugees forging a new life in Istanbul.

These trips include experiences that would otherwise be off-limits on regular departures, such as swimming on a female-only beach in Antalya or celebrating the female-only Gangur Festival in Rajasthan.

The new tours build on the success of the original Women’s Expeditions in the Middle East, launched on International Women’s Day 2018. The range has proven one of the most popular in Intrepid’s 30-year history, growing from just four departures to 36 in the space of a few months.

Introducing the Goldwoman Group…

This International Women’s Day, Australia’s premier luxury travel advisory group, the Goldman Group will celebrate all its leading women by temporarily rebranding to

the ‘Goldwoman Group’. On Friday, 8 March, Goldman Group offices around the country will also display a Goldwoman Group logo to honour all influential women in the company and travel industry.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is #BalanceforBetter, which opens the conversation about a balanced world, calling to celebrate women’s achievements while enforcing change to create a gender-balanced world in 2019 and beyond.

G Adventures celebrates International Women’s Day and welcomes four new ‘G For Good’ projects

This International Women’s Day, Friday 8th March 2019, purpose-led adventure travel company and social enterprise, G Adventures welcomes four new ‘G For Good’ projects, dedicated to supporting women and youth across Africa.

Joining the existing 70 G For Good projects supported by G Adventures and their non-profit partner, Planeterra, the new projects were selected based on the impact potential of G Adventures’ traveller market on communities in each of the destinations involved, and are a reflection of the increase in travellers seen by G Adventures across Africa over the past 12 months.

With 20 G For Good projects solely committed to empowering women, and 2,043 women having been employed or trained through G For Good projects around the world, Kelly Galaski, Director of Global Programmes for Planeterra, says the new projects will continue G Adventures’ mission to empower and support women and youth in the communities travellers visit.

Cunard celebrates the contribution of women in the maritime sector ahead of International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is this Friday (8 March 2019) and celebrating the role of women in the maritime sector has already begun, with a special event on board Cunard’s Queen Victoria over the weekend.

On Saturday (2 March 2019), iconic cruise line Cunard and Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd (PBPL) combined to invite 120 guests, predominantly women from across the Port of Brisbane precinct as well as others working in the industry, for a special ship tour and morning tea to celebrate the valuable contribution of women in the sector.

Ann Sherry AO, Carnival Australia Chairman, and Jerry Maycock, Port of Brisbane Chairman, hosted Queensland Premier, Hon Annastacia Palaszczuk MP on board Queen Victoria in Brisbane.