Anita Mendiratta: The Leadership We Need for Tourism

About our Guest:

Anita Mendiratta is the Founder and President of ANITA MENDIRATTA & Associates, a firm which services governments, multinational corporations, and global NGO’s. Anita has over two decades of tourism and economic development experience gleaned on almost every continent and possesses an enviable grasp of the economic, social, political, and environmental dynamics impacting nations grappling with change. Anita is globally trusted and respected as a strategic advisor and is called upon to be the bridge between government and business, assisting leaders to address conflict and find common ground to enable advancement of common agendas, breaking through areas of contrast and/or conflict to realise shared aspirations. She is currently a Strategic Advisor to CNN International, a Board Member for the Thebe Group, a Strategic Resource to the World Bank and a Partner to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). 

 Anita joins us to converse about the leadership challenges in the tourism industry and the leaders that we need to create flourishing communities, respect for the ecological ecosystem and for fostering global unity. As a global leader, Anita believes in the humility to receive guidance and the generosity to give unconditionally to those who reach out to us, because we were all there once. Hear more about her brilliant initiative RISE, the global webshow that showcases leaders who make sense of each ‘next normal’ of our COVID-19 world. 

 Find out more about Anita Mendiratta and her work by visiting her website https://anitamendiratta.com. Anita is the author of 6 books centring on tourism, available on  https://anitamendiratta.com/books.

Key Learning Points:

1.     Work for the people you genuinely love, respect, and want to help as the numbers will follow if they are done right. 

 2.     We are hit by an invisible crisis and no one in a crisis should deal with it alone. We have a call of duty now. We cannot just sit, watch and do nothing. 

 3.     Value of travel and values of travel have shifted in the current crisis. 

 4.     There has been an awakening, to relook at tourism, and we need to see tourism as conscious of the impact of everything we do to the visitor and the visited. 

 5.     The crisis has demonstrated the power of humanity which is a critical part (DNA) of leadership.

 6.     Women were more natural in demonstrating EQ and SQ and the crisis has given men permission to show their emotional sides without being deemed as weak. 

 7.     Everyone has ‘guardian angels’ who help to mentor, protect, guide and champion us. We need to show humility and gratitude for this opportunity. As leaders, we need carry this on by helping and supporting people around us. 

 8.     ‘Rise Weekly’ has given a sense of purpose, source of intelligence, and insights to tourism students and professionals, separating news from noise. 

 9.     Women in power never push power as they come from a place of intense respect and wonder that they generate with people around them. 

 10.  We cannot lose the ‘humanity’ verb that we adopted in the beginning of the crisis, and we need continue to do work that keep people connected to the core. 

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Stay tuned for your next episode on the 26th July 2021!