Celestine Afatsawo and Mary Oluonye are the co-owners and directors of Celmar Travel and Tours, a travel and destination management company based in Ghana and the United States. Celestine is Ghanaian and lives in Ghana; Mary is Nigerian-American and divides her time between the U.S. and Ghana. Our main office is located in Greater Accra of Ghana, we work primarily in West Africa.
We’re the Managing Directors of Celmar Travel and Tours. We love Africa and we’re passionate about promoting all that Africa has to offer. Travel opens up the world and leads to greater understanding between people. We work hard to dispel misperceptions about Africa and Africans by providing high-quality professional, memorable, exciting and impactful travel experiences and services.
Working with our clients has been wonderful. We started by arranging and executing tours for solo and group travelers to Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria. Soon after, everything stopped due to the pandemic. Somehow, we hung in there. Today, we’ve established strategic partnerships with travel partners in West, East and South Africa.
Celestine Afatsawo
Interestingly, all these collaborations are with male partners. Ironically and unfortunately, it has been our experience (more in Ghana than the U.S.) that women in the travel industry can sometimes be our own worst enemies. We believe that women can do a better job of sharing ideas and collaborating with each other. How can we expect the men in the industry to support us when we don’t support ourselves?
We don’t work together to push an agenda that will elevate and empower women in the industry. Instead, we steal each other’s ideas and fight among ourselves. This needs to change. We can do better
In the U.S., women may not be equally represented at the highest levels in some sectors such as hotel, transportation, and restaurant ownership. But, women-owned travel advisor, travel agent, travel consultant businesses are well represented. At travel conferences and events that we’ve attended, women presenters and attendees are in the majority.
In Ghana, however, we don’t feel that women are supported or represented at the highest leadership levels. Few women are appointed to leadership positions with regional and international travel organizations. This undermines the ability to present, address and eliminate the barriers women business owners face.
Mary Oluonye
In Ghana, we have definitely not felt empowered by either men or women. The most empowering feeling we’ve experienced comes from our clients. They value who we are and what we do. We must mention that our tour managers are both men. They have been our strongest advocates and supporters. They are loyal mentors and have taught us numerous invaluable lessons and find ways to bring our company to the attention of other travel industry organizations and businesses.
We firmly believe that as women in the travel business, we should want everyone to succeed. To reach our common goal of empowerment in this industry, we have to come together, collaborate and empower the one, and empower the many.
When it comes to the travel industry, men still dominate at the managerial and leadership level. Women face several barriers to achieving this level including cultural gender roles, stereotyping and lack of capital. One way to empower women in the industry is for travel stakeholders, such as tourism boards, allied businesses and financial institutions, to invest in women owned businesses. Lack of access is a major problem and subsequently, lack of access in terms of capital, marketing, mentorship and training. Strategic partnerships with stakeholders would be a good start. Travelers can also help by working with women-owned travel businesses.
Women’s History Month is more than a month. It’s every day. It’s a time to reflect and celebrate the lives we live today, paved by the women who led the way, encouraging others to follow, and empowering millions to come. It’s about where we’ve been, what we’ve accomplished and what we know we can do. It’s about Past, Present and Future.
It’s about looking back to learn.; living what we’ve learned; and passing on what we are learning to future generations of girls and women. The 2023 Theme for Women’s History Month is: “Celebrating the Women Who Tell Our Stories.” We at Celmar Travel and Tours would like to think that we are doing our small part by sharing the stories of Africa’s land, people, culture and traditions through the creation of amazing travel experiences.
“Travel leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller,” ~ Ibn Battuta
