Research shows that women in hospitality leadership are still the minority, yet they account for more than half of the total workforce. In fact, the Women in Hospitality Leadership Report 2019 by Castell Project showed that only 11% of hotel company leadership positions such as general managers or Presidents are held by women
In order to encourage more women into senior leadership roles in the Middle East and Africa, Marriott has launched the Female Leadership Initiative (FLI) program in 2019, founded by five senior Marriott women in the region. A key focus of the initiative will be to overcome confidence gap, whilst helping women develop the necessary skills to take on senior roles.
The initiative’s hard KPI is to increase the number of females at Marriott in regional leadership to 30% by 2022, from the current 19%. FLI’s objectives complement Marriott’s global commitment to increasing spend with women-owned businesses, building on the 2020 global goal of $500m spend, whilst also increasing the number of women-owned hotels.
This year, the FLI platform has identified 20 high-potential females within the organisation. They organised networking events to provide a platform for female. In 2020, FLI will focus on launching a mentorship program for high potential female leaders.
