Hotels Open Doors to Women for Ownership and Leadership

Gender diversity in hotel leadership was boosted this week when Wyndham said its year-old program “Women Own the Room” had signed more than 30 hotels, with 10 already open. But the effort is an exception, not the rule — and efforts have faltered in the past few years.

Women make 85 percent of all travel decisions and 54 percent of travel and tourism employment worldwide. Yet, they only account for 30 percent of leaders in hospitality, say researchers at the Castell Project, a diversity, equity, and inclusion program funded by a hotel lobby.

“While there is parity for women at the director level, gains for women in higher level hotel company leadership are minimal,” researchers said.

When it comes to hotel ownership, those numbers are even lower. Women hold less than 10 percent of hotel development and development leadership roles.

Last week, Choice Hotels kicked off its inaugural HERtels by Choice development seminar, connecting women owners with industry veterans and Choice executives. Jyoti Sarolia, president & CEO of Ellis Hospitality, says that such programs go a long way in encouraging her and others like her. "One of the most significant barriers to hotel ownership is a lack of industry connections, and as a program built f