All praise for tour guides

Hina Sheeraz, Director of Marketing at Sheeraz Tours, talks about her experience in travel business and what she expects from government in terms of promoting women in the industry.

Janice Alyosius

Nothing beats seeing women take on the role of tour guides or operators because they are naturally more involved in the journey and can explain the destination more narratively in their own way, which captivates the clients, shared Hina Sheeraz, Director of Marketing, Sheeraz Tours.

“Among the programmes for women, I am aware of only WICCI and its purpose of empowering women in the business,” said Sheeraz, when asked about women-focused initiatives in the tourist and hospitality industry.

“More groups like this should exist to help us connect and grow. Despite accounting for 10 per cent of GDP, the tourist and hospitality industry is consistently disregarded by the government when it comes to government welfare programmes. We believe that the tourism sector should be given the same respect and benefits as other industries, hence we want to put more emphasis on Incredible India campaigns,” she added.

“Sheeraz Tours has been able to establish an impact both worldwide and nationally with the support of my staff,” she said. “Because I believe that ladies are more committed to their goals, about 60 per cent of my employees are female. We offer unique packages for married females since we have established a culture of extending maternity leave to ladies. We allowed women to work from home when it was convenient for them, and we provided a drop-off service to ensure that they arrived safely when they were late. We also provided a hybrid style of working when medical problems arose at home. We arrange for a female guide and women-centric properties for female travellers who are travelling alone to make them feel protected.”

Hina suggested that state and federal governments set aside funds for women in the travel and tourist business to train them in their field.