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As the celebrations of Women's History Month continue, an event to attend is the annual Women in Travel & Hospitality Conference by the Travel Industry Executive Women's Network (TIEWN). This year, the two-day event was held earlier this month at the Westlake Village Inn, a luxurious boutique hotel in the charming city of Westlake Village.
Who is TIEWN? And why are the Women in Travel & Hospitality Conferences so important?
I spoke with Ariela Kiradjian, the President of TIEWN, Co-Founder of StayBoutique, Partner and COO of the Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA), who runs everything with her mother, Frances Kiradjian, and the Founder and CEO of TIEWN and BLLA. The family team continues working well while building their community and year-round events. And as Ariela explains, they are a great team, as her mother brings in the traditional side, and she brings in a fresh perspective.
What I loved about this conference were all the details, details, details. So much information was provided before, during, and after the event — from the 2023 TIEWN Conference playlist on Spotify to the TIEWN event app — there was plenty of communication from the organizers.
This year's Women in Travel & Hospitality by TIEWN event combined professional and personal development topics with a powerful Keynote from Aradhana Khowala. She gave a powerful virtual Keynote titled "Gender Equality is a not a female fight. It's a fight for the future of our industry." And throughout her virtual keynote, Khowala shared slides from the recent study by her company, Aptamind Partners, and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
The attendees included women and men with backgrounds in different industries, including travel, hospitality, wellness, media, finances, and technology. Ariela moderated most of the panels along with several TIEWN Board Members.
From Attendee to Speaker
One of the other moderators and a TIEWN Board Member was Kim Marshall, the Co-Founder of S'Well The Agency, the Founder of The Marshall Plan, and the Host of the Global Wellness Conversations Podcast. Just several years ago, she was a first-time TIEWN attendee, and this year, Marshall returned and moderated the wellness panel: The Ingredient for Success.
As Ariela shares, this year, 2023, is the year of women, and more on why the focus is on boutique hotels. "We are huge advocates for independent boutique hotels; that's our world," says Ariela. "We are always advocating for the small businesses and the independent thinkers in hospitality."
Are you considering attending a TIEWN or Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association hospitality event in the future? If so, keep these dates on your radar: In June, there will be the Boutique Hotel Investment Conference in New York City, and in October, there will be the Boutique Hotel Owners Conference in Westlake Village.