Last years Women in Travel winners spill their secrets

Last years Women in Travel winners spill their secrets

Attention women in travel! There’s only a couple of days left to enter the Women in Travel Awards!

But if you’re lacking inspiration/are on your third hour of procrastinating/literally have no idea about any of this, don’t worry – Travel Weekly is here to help.

The second annual Women in Travel Awards are being held mere weeks away – on November 27 to be exact – and are all about women inspiring women inspiring women. Last years event was a killer.

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And that’s where this article comes in. We’ve rounded up a few of the absolute guns who won awards at last years event – and picked their brains on entering the awards, being women in the travel industry and everything in between.

Well, maybe not everything in between (we don’t know what they had for dinner last night) – but all the answers you need to enter the awards with confidence.

To recap; the winners of last years awards included women of all different seniority levels, from companies like Flight Centre to Intrepid to Destination Melbourne. And they have some killer advice for women looking to enter this year.

“Dont be afraid to spruik yourself on your entry. I am a quiet humble person so I have found it hard to enter something like this so I had someone to go over it and highlight my achievements and abilities more because I feel uncomfortable being boastful,” one winner said.

Another followed the same theme of advice.

“Take the time to reflect and feel OK about bragging about your achievements. You deserve it!” she said.

And as for why women should enter the awards in the first place? Let us (or them) enlighten those of you who may be on the fence.

“Women typically do not reflect on their own achievements. These awards are a great way to gain recognition and take the time to congratulate yourself on a job well done,” Michelle Beveridge from Intrepid said.

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“Personally I found the awards to be a really positive experience. Its not often we have time to be self reflective in our busy world so to take time and recognise your own accomplishments was humbling,” another winner agreed.

“The night itself was almost like a mini Oscars too – and who doesn’t like to network in our industry!”

Aside from being a hell of a good time (see above) there’s a ton of reasons to attend (and enter) the inspirational event.

Enter the inaugural forum this year – where women in the industry can nab direct mentoring with leading ladies in the travel industry, plus take various masterclasses. Valuable insights guaranteed.

To attend this event, grab early bird tickets right here.

But really, what’s even better than attending is winning an award. And you can’t win if you don’t enter.

So, we repeat. Only a couple of days left to submit your entries! There’s 18 categories (you can enter in more than one) and entries close at 5pm sharp on Thursday October 12, with shortlisted candidates announced on October 30.

Beveridge, who won in the Technology category last year, said the event was super important for the industry.

“It is important to recognise the current and upcoming leaders of the travel industry regardless of gender.

“Unfortunately while we have a gender imbalance at the top, we need Women in Travel awards to encourage diversity and showcase the contribution of our fabulous women. I look forward to a time when gender specific awards are no longer needed,” she said.

Breeanna Perez, winner of the Rising Star category last year, said the awards were important for recognising less senior women in the industry.

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“To recognise the women you may not see in the forefront of our industry. Its not uncommon to only see a man as the leader of the company so its important to recognise the hard work that can be achieved by us and who is up and coming in the industry.”

If you want to be one of these recognised women in travel, hop, skip and jump on over here to get your entry started.

But why enter in the first place? Another winner said she entered the awards not for herself, but for all women in the travel industry – and encourages other women to either enter themselves or nominate colleagues.

“I felt the awards were a great way to celebrate the brilliant women in our industry. I was asked to enter the Women in Travel awards not for personal recognition but to put a spotlight on the accomplishments of women in travel every day of every week.

“A saying I love – ‘individuals doing great things day in day out can significantly change the face of the world’,” she said.

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For all other event info, head to the Women in Travel website

And a quick shoutout to our loving sponsors!

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