'I'm proud to be changing women's lives in my country'
Former MemberI’ve been working as a tour leader for five years and recently joined G Adventures’ new team of female chief experience officers across the Middle East and North Africa region.
When I was growing up, I would watch groups of tourists visiting my hometown of Meknes, which is one of the imperial cities and a popular destination for travellers. This sparked my curiosity about foreign cultures and led me to start thinking about a career in guiding.
Here in Morocco, there is definitely a stigma attached to women who are working as a tour guide, which comes from the traditional preconceived ideas about what a woman’s role is in our patriarchal society. Rather than deterring me, this made me more determined to stand up to these misconceptions about what women can and should do, and work to impose myself in a sector that is still considered "a man’s field".
People jump to conclusions quickly about what women in Morocco are capable of, but this is starting to be challenged as more women show there is no difference between a male and a female tour leader when it comes to knowledge and performance. I’m incredibly proud to stand among those women.
I remember the day I led my first round trip – the most empowering day of my career to date. I had to deal with numerous different men throughout the trip, including drivers, hotel staff and waiters, act as a translator for my guests and as a cultural mediator between the group and a Berber community living in rural regions of Morocco.
It was a baptism by fire and definitely a challenge, but I remember the huge sense of pride I felt throughout the trip to be there, at the front, leading and helping to support change and understanding.
Things in Morocco are starting to change. Over the years, there has been a big step forward in women being included in businesses decision making processes, and this is evident in the tourism industry as well. As tourism has grown, especially with the rise in responsible tourism, we can see the positive effects of tourism among local communities in Morocco.
The income from travel has helped many women in local communities to improve their living conditions and sell more goods, all while working at home. The government has allowed women to set up Argan oil and rug co-operatives, which they have autonomy to run without any male input. Women grabbed the opportunity to run their own businesses with both hands, and many have grown very successful operations as a result.
I’m proud to work for a company like G Adventures, which is really focused on supporting local people, particularly women, in my country. Not only do they focus on employing and working with locally-owned businesses wherever possible as a part of their supply chain, they also support amazing projects which help to empower local women.
A great example of this is the AFER Women’s Association in M’Haya, a rural region close to Fes. Planeterra, G Adventures’ non-profit partner, supported the community training needed to set up a hospitality programme where they could host travellers for meals. They helped the local women to acquire skills, provided essentials such as cooking equipment and set them up to be able to receive travellers.
Now groups pass through the village and enjoy a delicious home-cooked lunch. The money raised helps to support community initiatives such as a local ambulance service, providing assistance to differently abled individuals in the M’Haya region, and support literacy groups teaching French and Arabic, as well as five sewing co-operatives for rural women.
And that is just one project. It really does show the amazing power of travel. I am so incredibly proud to stand among a whole team of female chief experience officers helping to change lives across the Middle East, North Africa and the rest of the world. I wish all the incredible, brave and inspiring women around the world a very happy International Women’s Day.
Latifa Benaissa is one of G Adventures’ chief experience officers, based in Morocco.
International Women's Day 2022
- Lindsay Garvey-Jones: 'Why travel firms must do more to support women'
- Women in Travel urges industry to 'recognise and support important work'
- Lydia Amoah: 'Travel needs more inclusive recruitment of women'
- Celebrity Cruises' bridge team now one-third female
- Latifa Benaissa: 'I'm proud to be changing women's lives in my country'
- Insight Vacations launches women's-only Iceland tour
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