TravTalk India Online Magazine
Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) has introduced Lady Entrepreneur Officer (LEO), a pioneering initiative with the vision to empower women and bring them forward in the field of tourism. Each LEO member takes initiatives according to her vision, interest and expertise for women empowerment.
Ekta Watts, Chairperson of Women Empowerment and CSR activities, ADTOI, in a recent virtual meet talked about their initiative to empower women in tourism industry with their Lady Entrepreneur Officer (LEO). It is a pioneering initiative of the Women Empowerment and CSR Wing ofADTOI. Each LEO member takes initiatives according to her vision, interest and expertise for women empowerment and CSR activities for each one of the 10 Chapters of the Association. Their profile is to work as a team on PAN India basis to meet their objectives.
Watts said “In the coming years, it is critical for us to ensure women in a different place, in a world of equality. I want to underline the importance of the empowerment of women. Effective policies backed by action to accord us our due rights, opportunities for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.
Watts informed that the LEO initiative aims to connect and provide a platform to the lady entrepreneurs of ADTOI in promoting the tourism industry, empower the women leaders within and work to increase lady members in ADTOI. A LEO would reach out to the lady executives working with the members and also non ADTOI members who are connected to tourism and allied services. Acknowledging the importance of connecting to the youth, a LEO would also reach out to the female students in colleges / universities who are pursuing tourism courses. It willincrease their potential through entrepreneurial education and training. They also target to work at the grass-root level, to encourage more women to be a part of the tourism industry.
For reaching out to female students, LEOsenvision to give lectures in colleges to encourage and acquaint them to the tourism industry with focus on dynamics of domestic tourism in India; tourism as a profession for women; encouraging economic empowerment in tourism for rural women; handloom; lady guides; cuisine specialist; sustainable tourism with focus on domestic sectors; responsible tourism; use of technology in tourism industry and other areas associated with tourism.
They plan to engage more women into the fold of Leo Women’s initiative through two major initiatives— one is the formation of Women Empowerment Cluster for ADTOI members and the other is formation of Women Entrepreneurs Network for Non ADTOI members. The Women Empowerment Cluster is an initiative to form a network of women tourism professionals who can benefit from events organised by ADTOI for women. In the long run, this will help the cluster members to enhance their knowledge, gain self-confidence and personal growth. The Women Entrepreneurs Network comprises of the initiatives taken to form a network of women entrepreneurs (non ADTOI Members) from the fields of handloom, handicraft, cuisine and tourism (tour guides, cuisine specialists etc.).
Few events have already been conducted, like the Breast Cancer Awareness Camp held in Delhi for ADTOI ladies and CSR activities like the full day excursion for blind children of AndhMahavidyalaya, New Delhi. To provide digital support to the lady members, an exclusive Facebook Page and Instagram Accounts for ADTOI lady entrepreneurs, were launched in May 2021.Through the Lady Entrepreneur Facebook Page, many ladies have expressed interest to be ADTOI members and the LEOs are in the process of welcoming them. Many Pilot Projects to work with local communities are being planned pan India.
