2023 Women in Hospitality: Sixth Annual Report Benchmarking Women in Hotel Industry Leadership

Summary The 2023 Sixth Annual Report on Women in Hotel Industry Leadership, conducted by Penn State's School of Hospitality Management and supported by the AHLA Foundation, highlights slow but steady progress in increasing women’s representation at the executive and leadership levels in the hotel industry. Women now occupy one in four chief-level positions, with notable gains in leadership roles and speaking spots at hotel investment conferences, though disparities remain, especially in higher organizational tiers like CEO, COO, and investment/development fields. Women are better represented at the director level and in fields such as HR, sales, and marketing, yet remain underrepresented in investment, analytics, and technology sectors. The report underscores ongoing gender gaps at senior levels, particularly in C-suite roles, and notes the growing pipeline of women entering hospitality, driven by educational trends and industry initiatives aimed at diversity and inclusion.