To mark International Women’s Day, Belvera Partners has brought together four female leaders to reflect on women’s leadership in the travel tech industry. Astrid Kastberg, Managing Director at RateHawk, Marianna Gelardi, VP of Sales at RateGain, May Hertonen, Senior Customer Success Manager at Valpas, and Amaia Marsà, VP of the Tech Tourism Cluster, have shared their vision about what it takes to support and promote female leadership in travel tech, as well as about the unique qualities that women leaders bring to the workplace.
Workplace structures matter
Safe spaces, supportive managers, inclusive company cultures and strong networks are key to drive female leadership in the travel tech ecosystem.
“At RateHawk, 63% of the employees are women, while 60 % of managers are female” – explains Astrid Kastberg, Managing Director of RateHawk, an online booking platform for travel professionals. “For me, this is the result of a supportive company culture and flexible work that enable women and men to do multiple roles both at work and at home. It also allows them to thrive in leadership.” In Kastberg’s opinion, initiatives that celebrate diverse personalities and encourage women to promote themselves can improve gender equality in travel tech companies. When these initiatives are organically integrated into the company culture as core values, they create safer access to leadership roles for women.
Apart from being Vice President of Sales at RateGain, a global provider of AI-powered SaaS solutions for travel and hospitality, Marianna Gelardi co-chairs the initiative SHE@RateGain. This focus group for women in the company fosters career growth and provides a safe workplace environment to champion diversity, equity and positive change within the organization. “For me, the most important thing within the group is to create a space where we feel safe, we can share our experiences and support one another.”- says Gelardi.
Different leadership styles and perceptions
There is broad agreement that gender differences influence leadership styles. “Women lead more through coaching and empathy. We understand people at a people level, we encourage them, lead them by setting example, and we grow together with them” – claims May Hertonen, Senior Customer Success Manager at Valpas, the platform for bed bug-safe certified hotels. Women learn how to lead through influence before their authority is recognised. “Influence is one of the skills that will bring you to the room and also keep you there” – she adds.
For Kastberg, women approach things differently. “Daring to lead differently from how things have been led before is good.” – she observes. “Small actions and leading by example are impactful”. One of the challenges that female leaders face is promoting themselves and highlighting their “unique selling propositions” better.
There is also a gap between how men and women perceive their social realities as a report by Turijobs, a job portal for the tourism and hospitality sector based in Barcelona and member of the Travel Tech Cluster, shows. “63 % of the women who participated in the survey think that gender has influenced their professional career, only 32% of the male respondents agree on that” – points out Amaia Marsà, Vice President of the Tech Tourism Cluster. Perceptions about gender inequality within the management level of tourism and travel businesses, gender pay gap and having suffered sexist attitudes in the workplace also differ between men and women.
Motherhood is another factor that shapes the career paths of many women. Twenty-two per cent of women have postponed motherhood for economic reasons or due to work pressure, compared to 12 per cent of their male peers. Fourteen per cent of women have a partner who takes care of the children, compared to 38 per cent of men. “As the metrics show, there is a gender gap in perceptions, and we need to work on it” – states Marsà. “We need to involve everybody in this so that they are aware of the inequality in our industry”.
Skills and career advice for future female leaders
“I recommend women to claim their success and do not downplay what they have achieved” – says Marianna Gelardi.
For Astrid Kastberg, it is important for female leaders to build a network of trusted people, as well as not being afraid of making mistakes and trusting their own instincts.
In Marsà’ opinion, learning to delegate responsibility is crucial for female leadership.
“Document and show what you do” – adds May Hertonen. “Don’t shrink yourself to fit into a role, so make sure that you find the role that needs exactly what you have to offer.”
To watch the full LinkedIn Live Women’s Day 2026 event, please, click here.
