Inclusive recruitment in the travel industry
How thoughtful hiring practices can help address inequity and build stronger teams.
For an international industry that works across countries and cultures, the travel sector isn’t very diverse. You might be surprised to hear this; you might even disagree. While it’s true that the sector employs a vast array of people from various national backgrounds, there’s a clear gap between entry and mid-level roles and positions of leadership.
A 2021 review of 120 travel companies found that ethnic diversity at board level was just 6 per cent, with women accounting for 29.9 per cent of board representation. Find out more.
A 2020 study by The Castell Project found that Black executives made up just 1.5 per cent of hospitality leaders at director level or above, a figure 12.5 times lower than their share of the industry workforce. Find out more.
35% of hotel employees are from diverse backgrounds, but only 15% are in senior leadership roles. Find out more.
While comprehensive data is still lacking, the figures we do have suggest that leadership across the travel and tourism industry remains largely white and male. To understand why this matters, it helps to look at how work is structured across the industry.
Where inequality shows up in the travel industry
Consider entry-level and frontline roles within the travel industry, such as housekeeping teams, excursion leaders or tour guides, resort staff, beach vendors, etc. These jobs can often be seasonal, low-paid, offer little chance for development and provide little to no safety nets. They are also more likely to be filled by women and people from minoritised backgrounds.
While mid-level roles tend to be more stable, better paid, and come with access to benefits, training and longer-term contracts, they still sit on the outside of real power. And that’s where the issue lies.
Alongside offering higher pay and stronger safety nets, leadership controls decision-making. These roles shape company strategy, set priorities, decide where money is spent, and influence who gets hired, promoted or pushed out. When access to those roles is limited, the same patterns repeat, no matter how diverse the wider workforce appears to be. It creates a power imbalance that mirrors wider social inequalities - even in an industry built on global connection.
At the Inclusive Travel Forum, we work with many companies that recognise this and want to make the necessary changes, but face similar challenges:
We want to diversify leadership, but our industry pipeline is limited.
We are worried about getting it wrong or being seen as tokenistic.
Our senior roles require very specific experience, and the same candidates keep coming up.
This feels like a long-term issue, but we are under pressure to show quick results.
These are all statements we’ve heard before, and we understand that there are no ‘quick fixes’ in making real change. Leadership, culture, pay structures, progression and recruitment all play a part. For this post, we’ve chosen to focus on recruitment as it’s one of the most practical places to intervene. While changing leadership demographics takes time, recruitment is a point where organisations can act now.
So what does inclusive travel recruitment really mean?
Inclusive recruitment is about making sure more people from all walks of life actually get a fair chance to apply and be considered. Think of it like this. A leadership role opens up in a travel company, but it’s shared mainly through internal networks and word of mouth. If you aren’t already connected to the right people, you never hear about it. No matter how strong your experience is, you are not in the room because you were never invited in. Inclusive recruitment pays attention to that gap. It looks at who hears about opportunities, how roles are circulated, and whether hiring relies too heavily on familiar names and networks.
Most importantly, it’s not about simply including a brief section about diversity and inclusion in your job descriptions. It shows up in how candidates are assessed, who feels comfortable in the process and whose potential is recognised. Here are some steps to get you started.
Five practical ways to make recruitment more inclusive
1. Expand where and how you source candidates
We always recommend taking a moment to look at where roles are advertised and who that reaches. Many travel companies rely on the same job boards, internal referrals, or familiar industry networks, which can unintentionally limit who sees an opportunity. Exploring partnerships with community groups, diversity-focused organisations, or alternative platforms can help roles reach people who might not otherwise come across them.
2. Review job design and adverts
Job descriptions can send signals about who a role is for. Phrases that suggest constant availability, long hours, or a particular personality type can put people off before they apply. The same is true for unnecessary degree requirements or overly long lists of “essential” criteria. A helpful question to ask is: what does someone truly need to succeed in this role, and what could be learned along the way? Ditch jargon and focus on skills and achievements needed for success. Use inclusive language that appeals to a broad audience (e.g., "recent graduate" can be replaced with "candidate with less than 5 years of experience").
For the role itself, you could also consider hours, seasonality, physical expectations, travel requirements, and on-site presence. Could a role be split, shared or partially remote? Could return-to-work options or childcare partnerships be signposted? Small design choices often determine who can realistically apply, long before skills come into play.
3. Rethink your interview process
Unstructured interviews reward confidence and familiarity. Neurodivergent candidates, or those who experience social anxiety, may be very capable in the role but find traditional interviews challenging. Sharing interview questions or an outline of the process in advance helps candidates prepare and lowers anxiety, allowing them to demonstrate their capability rather than perform under pressure.
Who is in the interviewing room matters too. Diverse interview panels help counter individual bias and signal that different perspectives are valued. Even where panels cannot be fully diverse, involving more than one interviewer and discussing decisions collectively can lead to more balanced outcomes.
4. Normalise reasonable adjustments from the start
In the UK, reasonable adjustments are about removing unnecessary barriers in recruitment, so disabled candidates or those with health conditions are not put at a disadvantage during the hiring process. While candidates can request adjustments, being upfront with clear examples from the beginning can remove uncertainty and pressure. That might include offering interviews in a quieter space, offering options to turn cameras off for virtual interviews, allowing breaks, or providing tasks in advance. It could also mean sharing materials in accessible formats, using assistive technology, or offering alternatives to group interviews or timed tasks.
5. Be intentional
Inclusive recruitment works best when it’s done with purpose. Avoid vague promises to make a change, and make a plan where you are clear about what you are trying to shift. This makes it something that can be reviewed, measured and adjusted over time, plus it provides something tangible that you can get the whole team on board with.
We also recommend that you look beyond the hiring process itself. Once you’ve made your hire, how are you going to support this person? Your recruitment process might be inclusive, but your workplace needs to be too. If you’re recruiting into roles that remain insecure, poorly paid, or offer no clear development pathways, it isn’t reducing inequity. What matters next is how people are supported once they join, how safe and valued they feel at work, and whether there are genuine opportunities to grow.
If your organisation is committed to progressing inclusion in travel, consider joining the Inclusive Travel Forum as a member. Membership gives you access to a supportive community of travel professionals working on the same issues, expert guidance and training, practical toolkits and templates, and workshops that help you turn ambition into action. Our Executive Level also includes an Annual DEI Audit (worth £3,000) - a great place to start if you want a clear picture of where you are now and how to move forward.