Just 13.5% of travel tech leaders are ‘non-white’ finds study of top organisations
"Let’s face it, the industry is dominated by white, Anglo-Saxon people at the top and that simply has to change for so many reasons..."
An analysis of CEOs of the top companies and most visible individuals in the B2B travel technology space has shown that only 13.5 percent of these are ‘non-white’.
This research was carried out recently by B2B travel tech public relations agency Belvera Partners, basing the companies and individuals selected on its Belvera B2B Travel Tech Map as the universe for the study. Using LinkedIn profiles the company identified if someone was ‘white’ or ‘non-white’.
The metro-style Belvera B2B Travel Tech Map of the industry includes lines for aviation tech, accommodation distribution tech, TMCs, car rental tech, in-destination experiences tech, short-term rental tech and more as well as lines for top personalities, lobby groups and journalists. In total the map features over 400 ‘stops’ and is updated most months.
When breaking down these results by business vertical, the worst performing were lobby groups, vacation rentals and hospitality schools with each having zero ‘non-white’ leaders. Meanwhile the highest performing was Hotel distribution & sales, with 20 percent.
This follows data published by Belvera Partners recently – using the exact same criteria – that showed that just 15.6 percent of travel technology leaders were female.
Roman Townsend, Managing Director of Belvera Partners comments: “Obviously labelling people ‘white’ and ‘non-white’ – and at that just on one photo from someone’s LinkedIn profile – is a very limiting and crude definition for measuring diversity. We recognise that this doesn’t capture many groups that could be considered, for example people who might identify as Latino or Jewish or Muslim, if we could know more details about them.
“So certainly the real ‘minority’ figure is above 13.5 percent. But much higher? I personally know many of these leaders and can tell you that it wouldn’t be a whole lot higher even if we could capture more detailed information.
“Let’s face it, the industry is dominated by white, Anglo-Saxon people at the top and that simply has to change for so many reasons.
“But perhaps what surprised me most was that when I approached ‘non-white’ leaders in the sector and asked them to provide some comment on this that we could give to media, the majority of them excused themselves on the basis that they felt the topic too contentious. When we did the same research about female leaders only one declined, so I think this really shows that there’s even more work to be done in this part of diversity.”
To gain reactions on this data and understand what might be causing this imbalance and lack of ‘non-white’ representation, Belvera spoke with some leaders in the travel technology space who would identify as being in that category.
Roopak Pati, Managing Director & Head of Global Travel Technology Investment Banking at Oppenheimer & Co., who is an American of Indian decent, comments: “This data is probably not surprising to those who are deep in the travel technology sector. I feel collecting and highlighting it is important because it enables a meaningful conversation.
“Travel inherently allows people to expand their perspectives by exploring the world and meeting people of all different backgrounds. Of course, travel spend also comes from people of all different backgrounds and perhaps the strongest demographic shifts enabling more spend are currently being seen in Asia.
“In order to best serve travellers and continue to push the industry forward, the leadership of travel technology companies should reflect a diversity of backgrounds as well.
“It will likely result in the best economic outcome for these companies, but perhaps even more importantly, it will allow them to create products and experiences that best serve the future of the industry.
“I urge Belvera to repeat this analysis in a few years. It will be interesting to see how leadership in the industry changes and whether the most successful companies are those that prioritise diverse perspectives.”
Adding to this Chris Ogboke, Founder of F&B app Squeez that lets consumers bid for last minute tables at exclusive restaurants, who identifies as being a black man of Scottish nationality, says: “I’m new to the travel technology sector but I believe there are bigger opportunities since COVID for developing minority leaders. There’s still some who claim this barrier is non-existent or exaggerated, when truthfully, we’re all heads down trying to securely or insecurely justify our own existence.
“There’s multiple layers of opportunity: executive teams, hiring and developing talent, strategic sourcing, which all play a role within the investment ecosystem. A goal of any business is to create value. Sadly this means that if this value is maximised by not being diverse, then its accomplishing its goal.
As consumers, we’re not there yet enough to care, we have bigger personal battles – time, convenience and inflation – though stock prices can take a dive when things come up that impact brand perception, especially if we preach diversity on our corporate statements when our facts fall short.
“Knowing the facts for any of these aren’t great and results really come from CEOs or COOs, I’m grateful for the leaders and partners I come across who typically value innovation, are commercially focused on tangible profit yet see strategic value in collaboration and reflecting the general consumer population.”
In summary, the 13.5% figure is based on Belvera Partners’ specific study and methodology. Although the exact percentage may vary due to methodological constraints, the broader issue of underrepresentation of racial minorities in leadership positions is well-documented across multiple sectors.
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