‘It’s vital that women see empowerment is possible’: Gillian Tans on driving change at Booking.com

The chair of the travel accommodation website tells Zlata Rodionova how she is tackling the travel industry’s diversity issue

Tans’ entrepreneurial spirit was stronger than her fear of failure (Booking.com)

For many of us, booking a trip begins and ends in front of our laptop with almost every aspect of the holiday – from flight tickets to accommodation and even car rental – planned and paid for online while high street travel agents are becoming a thing of the past.

One of the companies driving this change is Booking.com – Europe’s leading travel accommodation website, which was founded in 1996 and is now offering more than 29 million total reported listings, including everything from cosy country homes, funky city apartments and elegant villas to world-class hotels in more than 155,000 destinations in 227 countries and territories across the globe.

Gillian Tans, the former CEO and current chair of the company, is often credited for taking it to new heights.