15 - 17 April 2024
São Paulo, Brasil

Diversity Committee

In favour of a more inclusive, diverse and responsible industry

About the Committee

Set up in 2022, WTM Latin America’s Diversity Committee brings together a number of professionals, with different experience in distinct sectors of the travel and tourism industry with the aim of:

  • An in-depth discussion of D&I in the Tourism sector;
  • To listen and ponder on the most up-to-date content in order to find new paths;
  • To discuss and understand the market’s real behavioural needs so that there is more assertiveness in the creation of strategies;
  • To expand the public's collective thinking in relation to the importance of this topic;
  • To keep broadening our minds in search of alternatives for a fairer world to live in.

Members

Adriana Cavalcanti

She worked for nearly 30 years as an executive in the commercial aviation industry and in 2017, she made a career transition becoming a board member on a number of investment committees and companies in a variety of industries. She believes in D&I as a performance booster in organizations and a driver of transformation and positive impact on society. She is co-founder of MUST – Women of the Tourism Sector, mentor of the Winning Women Program at EY Consulting and more recently an entrepreneur, as founding partner of Ginga Hair, the first synthetic hair factory in Brazil, whose mission is to leverage the business of hair stylists (specialists in the braiding of hair) who run small businesses on the outskirts of large urban centres, providing visibility, training and increased income, by means of a sustainable value chain.

Carolina Stolf

Turismologist, postgraduate in Sales Management by FAAP with international certification in Business Management, she has been active for 18 years in the hotel sector for Accor group, and is currently in charge of the international market area at Embratur. She believes in changing the status quo to transform the tourism sector, and is the co-founder of MUST – Women in Tourism, the first content and discussion platform created to enhance female leadership in the market.

Clovis Casemiro

Clovis Casemiro began his career in Tourism in 1979 and brought the International LGBTQ+ Tourism Association (IGLTA) to Brazil in 1998. He always believed that LGBTQ+ Tourism would generate a positive visibility for our community in terms of employability and business and for everyone involved in the Tourism Sector. He is currently in charge of the entity as its coordinator and is responsible for its members in Brazil, Portugal and Latin America, and for prospecting for companies interested in taking part, including seminars and training courses focused on raising awareness and making this audience feel welcome, conferences at congresses and participation in tourism shows and events. In 2020 he acquired the additional position of commercial executive of Brazil’s Chamber of LGBT Commerce and Tourism.

Gustavo Pinto

WTM Latin America’s advisor for responsible tourism. He has a Master’s Degree in Responsible Tourism from Manchester Metropolitan University, in the United Kingdom. He is the founder of Responsible Tourism, which is a consulting firm specializing in planning, promotion and support for tourism marketing in Latin America. He is one of the founding members of Muda! the Brazilian Collective for Responsible Tourism. He is a Member of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT). He is a Specialist in Social Project Management - PMD Pro and has been working as a consultant in tourism planning and marketing for 10 years for institutions such as the Ministry of Tourism, Brazil’s SEBRAE (the Brazilian Micro and Small Enterprises' Support Service) as well as both State and Municipal Tourism Departments.

Mariana Aldrigui

Mariana Aldrigui is a professor and researcher linked to the University of São Paulo. Since Dec/17 she has chaired FecomercioSP’s Tourism Board and coordinates the actions of the NGO Global Travel & Tourism Partnership in Brazil and in the expansion actions for Latin America.

Her research is focused on understanding tourism’s role in Brazil, combining political, economic and social aspects. She works under the logic of the map of municipal opportunities, understanding that no two municipalities are the same and, therefore, each one demands a different strategy to succeed in developing tourism and in improving the quality of life of its population.

Ricardo Gomes

Ricardo Gomes, a 51-year-old from the State of Paraná, who has a degree in Social Communication - Journalism and a post-graduate qualification from the University of Londrina, has 20 years’ experience in the events sector in a number of segments. In September 2016, he relaunched Brazil’s Chamber of LGBT Commerce and Tourism, an entity over which he presides. In 2017 he was elected São Paulo’s 5th most influential LGBT personality and in 2019 he was listed by Panrotas Magazine as being one of the important drivers of domestic tourism.

Rogéria Pinheiro

Mentor, expert in luxury travel and travel agency management. With 20 years’ experience in the luxury travel market, Rogeria has travelled the world learning and gaining hands-on experience of service excellence experiences, which for the last 10 years she has shared as the head of RP Travel Education, an education company that already has hundreds of students and mentored agencies. Always in tune and connected with the needs of the tourism market, she realized that she could help travel agencies increase their sales by using her unique consultative service method and her extensive experience in management and business strategy.

Wellington Melo

Wellington Melo is the latest general manager of Unique, a hotel located in the city of São Paulo. He studied hospitality at Universidade Anhembi Morumbi and achieved first place in the Brazilian Association of Sommeliers’ professional sommelier course, which he concluded in 2006. Wellington entered the hotel as a busboy, but never stopped studying and investing in himself. In the space of 19 years, he has moved through a number of positions including waiter, captain, A&B supervisor (hotel sommelier), A&B coordinator, A&B manager and director of operations until he reached the position of general manager.

Manifest for Diversity

In defense of a more inclusive, diverse, and responsible industry

Presentation

One of the sectors most affected by the pandemic, tourism had in 2022 the opportunity to consolidate itself as a force for peace, collective well-being and sustainable development in different regions of the world. If, historically, tourism has been driven by an interest in differences, it is urgent and necessary that these differences also manifest themselves in conducting business and sector decisions.

There are numerous evidences that the greater the team’s diversity, and the more society nuances are represented, the better results obtained in terms of performance, cooperation, creativity and financial return.

In addition to the necessary historical reparation, it is a commitment to build a more tolerant, less unequal society, fundamentally based on respect for all individuals, and dedicated to eliminate prejudice in all its forms.

It takes more than will, it takes commitment. And on behalf of WTM Latin America, we express our commitment to the ideals of a world in which we are all free, happy and respected in our entirety.

Commitments

  1. The industry that depends on peace and tolerance among people must be a model in adopting diversity policies.
  2. We are a real portrait of a diverse world. We aim to be inclusive and welcoming to people. All people. With no distinction.
  3. We work to increase the participation of companies committed to social and environmental responsibility actions.
  4. We will expand actions to recognize, value and publicize successful and inspiring initiatives for tourism.
  5. Through studies, we will map inequality and barriers to access jobs and opportunities in the sector, sharing information that can lead us to better indicators.
  6. Prejudice is incompatible with tourism. Anywhere.

You are a part too!

Do you have any suggestions for topics that should be discussed by our committee and dealt with at WTM Latin America? We want your contribution in order to make the travel industry more inclusive and diverse!