Beyond Intentions: Making Gender Equality Real in Tourism
Summary
This panel session, moderated by Charlotte Lamp Davies, concludes the Diversity and Inclusion track at ITB Berlin 2026. It introduces the LEAD3 project — a publicly funded, three-year gender equality initiative for the German tourism industry, led by Professor Claudia Brözel of Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development. The project is co-funded by the European Social Fund and the German government, and launched formally in January 2026 with a baseline report. It partners with 12 tourism companies, each contributing three women at different career stages plus a designated 'key person' from HR or leadership. The core methodology is a 'co-creative action research approach' that bridges the well-documented gap between gender equality declarations and actual implementation, targeting four impact areas: female empowerment (individual coaching), skill development, organizational development (working with key persons and management), and annual open 'Gender Equality Labs' events hosted with BTV (Bundesverband der Deutschen Tourismuswirtschaft) and DRV. The next Gender Equality Lab is planned for around October 2026.
Panel guests include Sabine Wendt, General Manager of Visit Berlin; Irmela Preissner, CEO of Biblische Reisen (Biblesch Ryzen); and Sven Liebert, Secretary General of the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry (BTW), which represents 70,000 organizations and 2.7 million workers in Germany.
A central data point surfaced by Preissner: approximately 70% of all university tourism graduates in Germany are female, yet only 20–25% of leadership positions in the industry are held by women — a stark pipeline paradox. Visit Berlin offers a contrasting example: 53% of its leadership positions are held by women. BTV's executive body currently has only 2 women out of 14 members — a deficit Liebert openly acknowledges. Liebert also references a female leaders network of 350 members built under the association's umbrella as an active step.
The panel examines specific structural barriers: subtle age and gender prejudice, limited access to strategic decision-making projects, and the persistent assumption that part-time leadership signals low ambition. Preissner recounts a concrete recent hiring challenge: for an IT head role, only 2 of approximately 20 applicants were women, and a man was ultimately hired — illustrating how pipeline inequity limits even well-intentioned hiring processes.
The discussion emphasizes that gender equality is an organizational issue, not just an individual one. The LEAD3 model deliberately avoids isolating women by creating 'synergy rounds' that bring women, their coaches, and organizational key persons together, so women are not left to 'fight for their rights alone.' The panelists also address the need for policy support and potentially quotas as a transitional mechanism. Concrete next steps shared by panelists: Preissner will target female leader networks for job postings; Liebert will aim for gender-equal speaker representation at the German Tourism Summit on May 19, 2026; Wendt will deepen structural change work internally at Visit Berlin.
Key Takeaways
- •The LEAD3 project, launched January 2026, is a three-year EU Social Fund and German government-funded initiative working with 12 tourism industry partners, each contributing three women at different career/life stages plus a key HR or leadership contact — totaling around 36 women plus organizational leaders in the program cohort.
- •The core problem LEAD3 addresses: gender equality is frequently present in sustainability strategies as declarations but almost never implemented with concrete tools or measurable KPIs. Professor Brözel states: 'We have a lot of research but what we implemented with the project is research creates knowledge normally... but what we really need is implementation.'
- •The gender leadership pipeline gap in German tourism is stark: approximately 70% of university tourism graduates are female, yet only 20–25% of industry leadership positions are held by women — a figure cited by Irmela Preissner of Biblische Reisen.
- •Visit Berlin presents as a positive benchmark: 53% of its leadership positions are held by women, and the General Manager role is shared with a male colleague — a deliberate structural choice reflecting Berlin's diversity DNA, according to Sabine Wendt.
- •BTW (Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry), representing 70,000 organizations and 2.7 million workers, currently has only 2 women out of 14 members on its executive body. Secretary General Sven Liebert acknowledges this openly: 'My association was a bit late to the party... it was driven by men, decisions were made by men.'
- •BTW has built a female leaders network with 350 members as a platform for visibility and networking — described by Liebert as the association's role: 'not being the role model but giving the role models the space to be the role model.'
- •A concrete hiring case from Preissner: for a recent head of IT opening, only 2 of approximately 20 applicants were female. A man was ultimately hired. Preissner's observation: 'If there's not an even pool to choose from, then sometimes we end up not having maybe the right representation.'
Transcript
And we are ready for our last session on the uh diversity and inclusion track this year. Um I think everybody is is ready. I uh yeah I can see some and uh yeah we will go. Um it's our last section session and I am very excited to have uh my dear friend Cla the uh Claudia Bisel who is professor at Ebles Vald University back on stage with an absolute wonderful panel. She's asked me to do a little bit of moderating which I'm also looking forward to and ah there she is. I will invite Claudia to the ...
