New GBTA data reveals women’s expanding influence as business travelers and industry professionals, but with a persistent gender gap in senior leadership roles
Women professionals are prominent throughout the business travel industry, but GBTA research suggests there are still gaps in gender equity as they are still less likely to be in senior executive positions than men. When it comes to women as business travelers, they highly value traveling for work to achieve their goals. Although they travel less frequently for work than men, women continue to take advantage of opportunities to blend business and leisure travel when they do travel, and also report prioritizing business travel for training and seminars.
This is according to new data from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and the GBTA Foundation which sheds light on the growing influence of women in the business travel sector while also underscoring the global impact of women as business travelers. The insights were released today at the 10th annual GBTA WINiT Summit held at the TWA Hotel in Queens, New York. GBTA WINiT (“Women in Travel”) is a program of the GBTA Foundation dedicated to helping women develop and advance in their travel industry careers.
“The impact of women on business travel and the industry is undeniable. Not only are women critical to driving the growth of business travel, but they are also shaping its future as business travelers themselves,” said Delphine Millot, GBTA Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Sustainability and Managing Director for the GBTA Foundation. “Looking ahead, addressing the challenges and opportunities that women face will be key. We are committed to supporting the advancement of talented women whose leadership is paramount in creating an inclusive and innovative industry.”
Women Professionals in the Business Travel Industry: Representation and Leadership Development
The new data reflects that women make up the majority of professionals on both the buyer and supplier sides of the industry. In a GBTA global survey of over 600 global business travel professionals, women represented 67% of travel managers and buyers, and accounted for 57% of GBTA-affiliated travel supplier and travel management company (TMC) professionals.
According to the survey findings, significant gender disparities remain in the most senior executive roles in the industry while representation is strong at mid-management levels.
- Only 39% of Vice Presidents or Executives at travel suppliers and TMCs are women, versus 61% who are men.
- Women are also underrepresented as senior-level travel buyers. A solid majority of travel buyers (67%) are women. However, among the buyers who reported that they hold the title of Vice President or above, a larger number are men (50%) than women (46%). Of the buyers who hold a title of Director, most (59%) are women − but this still lags the overall percentage of buyers (67%) who are women.
- The data reflects that women are becoming well-represented, comprising the majority of many mid-level roles in the industry.
- For travel buyers, 59% of Director-level buyers are women compared to 39% who are men. Of Managers/Senior Managers, 68% are women while 29% are men.
- One significant challenge is the lack of leadership development programs for women.
- Only 37% of travel supplier companies surveyed reported having these in place, but they are crucial for executive progression.
The survey reflects there is also a notable divide in the types of roles women occupy within at travel supplier companies in business travel industry. While women occupy most account management positions, they are significantly underrepresented in technical and product-oriented roles among those surveyed.
- More than one-fifth (22%) of female travel supplier/TMC professionals surveyed said they hold an account management role. This is substantially higher than the share of men (8%) who hold such a role.
- Women (2%) are less likely than men (7%) to hold a product development, management, or engineering role.
“Like the mission behind GBTA WINiT, many companies have launched programs to support the development of women leaders. However, there is a clear opportunity for more robust initiatives that focus on promoting women to the executive levels and for further investment in mentorship, development programs, and gender diversity initiatives in leadership and technical roles,” said Millot.
Women as Business Travelers: Differences in Frequency, Purpose and Bleisure
Women also play a crucial role as business travelers themselves, shaping key trends and driving growth in important areas, as represented in new global traveler data taken from the 2024 GBTA Business Travel Index.
- According to respondents, half of female business travelers (53%) took only one or two trips in the past year, compared to 43% of men. Meanwhile, a larger proportion of men (24%) are classified as high-frequency travelers, taking six or more trips a year, compared to 16% of women.
- When asked about their frequency of business travel, almost one-quarter of female travelers (23%) say they are traveling less frequently today than they did pre-pandemic. This is similar to the share who are traveling more frequently (27%). The story is different with men. A larger number of male business travelers (29%) are traveling more frequently than are traveling less frequently (17%).
- Additionally, over half (57%) of women said they are including a leisure element when they travel for business as often or more often than they did pre-COVID, reflecting the ongoing interest in blended travel among women.Looking globally and broadly across industries, the GBTA BTI research identified that women are more likely than men to work part-time.
- 15% of women report working part-time compared to 7% of men. This discrepancy suggests that flexible working arrangements may also limit women’s opportunities for business travel.
Both male and female business travelers report similar perceptions of the success of their trips.
- 78% of women and 83% of men said traveling for work helps them achieve their business objectives. This indicates that women, despite traveling less often, see business travel as valuable as their male counterparts.
The motivations for travel, however, may differ slightly between genders.
- When asked about their last trip, women were more likely than men to travel for seminars and training sessions (26% compared to 20%) whereas men are more likely to travel for technical, hands-on work like on-site construction or repair.
“Our research reveals that women play a crucial role as business travelers. Women are shaping key trends and driving growth in important areas, such as blended travel,” said Millot. “This trend has gained momentum in recent years and women travelers are part of the ongoing desire to combine trips for both business and leisure.”
Methodology
The industry professional data was collected in an online global survey of 609 travel professionals from August 29 through to September 17, 2024. (Note: a small percentage of survey respondents did not provide their gender so data may not total 100%.)
The female business traveler data was taken from the 2024 GBTA Business Travel Index Outlook – Annual Global Report and Forecast (GBTA BTI™), made possible by Visa, representing global insights from employee travelers regarding their business travel preferences, behaviors and spending.
