37 How Tourism Can Transform Women's Lives With Alessandra Alonso & Florbela

Welcome back to The Tourism RESET with me, your host, Rebecca Woolford. My guests today are Alessandra Alonso, award-winning founder of Women in Travel CIC - named one of 50 most important women in travel by Wanderlust AND Florbela, a tour guide.

For two decades, Alessandra has been championing women in tourism. It started when she noticed she was always the only woman in the boardroom. Women are 54% of tourism's workforce, yet rarely are they in decision-making roles (even today). So, she built the Tour Guiding Academy to change that. It trains women like Florbela, who at almost 50 reinvented herself as a tour guide fuelled by passion, cultural heritage, and storytelling.

Here's what you'll discover in this episode:

🌍 "There is a lot of talent still totally invisible to industry" - where we're missing out

🌍 Alessandra's journey: from being the only woman in every boardroom to building an academy that transforms lives

🌍 Why curiosity matters: "Don't do things how they've always been done"

Enjoyed listening? Visit thetourismreset.com, on-demand video learning for tourism pros, covering the topics shaping your industry. A great place to begin is the 5 Minute Reset, one expert, one topic, less than five minutes!