December 16 - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has launched its new high-level guidelines for inclusion and diversity in the Travel & Tourism sector, which have been compiled to support businesses of all sizes and provide an inclusive work environment for all employees.

 

Research has shown that supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace companies experience benefits such as greater profitability, increased creativity and innovation, and a happier workforce.

 

The ‘Inclusion & Diversity Guidelines’ were compiled from insights and frameworks developed by private sector leaders in Travel & Tourism including Hilton, Accessible Travel Solutions and JTB Corp, leading DMOs, such as IC Bellagio and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, and industry organisations, including Travel Unity, a non-profit organisation focused on increasing diversity in the world of travel, along with major associations from other key sectors.

 

The guidelines are divided into four pillars:

1. Developing a Supportive System 2. Creating Safe Spaces 3. Supporting an Agile System 4. Exemplifying Inclusion & Diversity

 

Examples of the guidelines include:

• Having a clear, transparent, and bias-free framework that determines how staff are remunerated and how increases are calculated • Integrating diversity and inclusion goals within regional and department objectives • Incorporating diversity and inclusion into organisational values and in all aspects of the business. Celebrate commitment to diversity and inclusion, provide frameworks to guide behaviour/champion fairness, reward successful demonstration of diversity and inclusion values, and create accountability, among others • Providing a safe space for employees to share their feedback, over time, on the organisation and their experience of it • Creating an environment that facilitates difficult but respectful conversation about diversity and inclusion • Ensuring that decisions made about a certain demographic have members of that demographic in the room, wherever possible, empowering these individuals to share honest feedback and experiences • Having inclusive marketing, media and communication standards to dignify representation of all people, elevate authentic voice, avoid cultural appropriation and recognise dynamic diversity and intersectionality • Engaging regularly, where possible, with industry bodies and local governments to share visitor feedback on diversity and inclusion, thus enabling the destination to enhance customer experiences in the future • Collaborating with pertinent groups and communities around products that relate to local indigenous cultures

 

To read the Inclusion & Diversity Guidelines in full, please click here.

 

 

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