Women in Travel Retail (WiTR) opens membership and announces new website

Over 500 women in the duty free and travel retail industry are now linked through WiTR which initially started some ten years ago when a small group of women met to form a female-only social network within the industry.

Over that period, WiTR has held networking sessions at most of the industry's key events, allowing women working in travel retail all over the world to exchange ideas, learn from the success of others and access opportunities through new contacts.   In addition to this, with generous contributions from many companies and individuals, the group has raised close to £250,000 for children's charities nominated by women from the industry.

In response to the network’s growth, along with increasing interest in the opportunities and challenges for women in the duty free and travel retail industry, WiTR is launching its own website and is inviting all women in the industry to become members.

The WiTR network extends across the globe and includes those entering the industry through to those at the top. The modest membership fee reflects WiTR's desire to make it affordable for all, using the fees to cover annual administrative costs. The website also offers advertising and branding opportunities. It is planned to donate any surplus income to WiTR's chosen charity each year.

The website http://www.womenintr.com developed by the founding group of women working with FILTR, which has generously sponsored its development, will launch on  Monday November 27. Members will be encouraged to contribute to enriching its content, making it a real reflection of issues and interests of the membership.

To become a member you will need a PayPal account, which you can set up easily as part of the registration process if you do not already have one.

Continuing on from its hugely popular interviews with key women in the duty free and travel retail industry last year, Desigual invited women from the WiTR network to feature in a calendar for 2018 which will be available through the website (payments by PayPal only please).

A wider led group of women has been established with a view to creating local meetings and events.

"WiTR now has a platform for growth; we hope that women in duty free and travel retail across the globe will see it as a valuable resource and 'meeting' point, and a way of reaching out and encouraging women to reach their potential as future industry leaders," say Sarah Branquinho (Dufry), Chair, and Geraldine Munday (Furla), Vice Chair.