The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day focuses on the celebrating women’s achievements and challenging the status quo to make a more inclusive world. As part of the travel industry, I have to admire the strides we’ve taken to elevate women in the workplace. From ARC to the travel agencies, airlines and other partners we work with, there are countless examples of women taking on challenging roles and projects that should be celebrated.

I was recently honored as one of the Top 50 Women in Travel by WINiT by GBTA, a group dedicated to driving positive change for the career mobility of women in travel-related industries. I was thrilled to be included in this list that includes female founders, executives and people leaders from some of the world’s leading airlines, hotels, technology providers, travel agencies and suppliers, many of whom I know on a personal and professional level. This list is proof of the great work women across the travel industry are doing to help our industry recover from the challenges of 2020 and push ahead as we look to future innovations in travel. As an industry, it’s important that we continue to recognize the great work being done by these women alongside our male colleagues, who are just as committed to improving the travel industry for everyone.

The accomplishments of women in the air travel industry can also be seen throughout ARC. I’m proud to represent women in executive roles as the president and CEO of ARC, but I’m even more proud of the accomplishments of the women within our company. At almost every level of ARC there are women leading projects or taking on increased responsibilities to help ARC contribute to the positive evolution of air travel. We have women leading the transformation of ARC’s core business, our investment in omnichannel retailing solutions for airlines, our prominent employee resource groups, and other areas of innovation. Women’s contributions can also be seen in finance, creative, human resources, digital marketing and as developers of our website. It makes me proud to know I can’t attempt to name all of the women contributing to ARC’s success for fear of forgetting some of them. It’s ingrained in ARC’s culture to be inclusive and provide opportunities for everyone interested in furthering their careers.

As the travel industry continues to recover in 2021, it will depend on both men and women to make decisions that ensure travel comes back with inclusivity and equality in mind. With the contributions from women I’ve experienced on our leadership councils, within our Board of Directors, and throughout the leadership of the thousands of travel agencies, I am truly in awe of the progress we’ve made and will continue to make going forward. I challenge my colleagues and peers to make the effort to celebrate the resiliency of the travel industry and the contributions women make to it every day.