Theresa Christine Contributor
When Zina Bencheikh became the general manager at Morocco’s PEAK DMC office in 2017, the company had 50 tour leaders and not a single one of them was female. Morocco is a heavily patriarchal society, Zina noted, with women representing only a quarter of the workforce (compared to nearly half in the United States). Furthermore, eighty percent of females in rural areas cannot read or write, making it difficult to improve those statistics.
Ultimately, though, the lack of female tour guides was a fault of society than the company, which is a part of Intrepid Travel’s network of destination management companies. Simply put, tour leading wasn’t seen as a suitable job for women in the country.
“The nature of the job means you are traveling away from home and in the company of foreign tourists,” she explained. “[At that time] only four percent of tour leaders in Morocco were female and, of these, very few spoke English.”Today In: Lifestyle
Born in Morocco, Zina has also lived in Canada, the United Kingdom and France, fueling a lifelong passion for travel. So as the Regional General Manager of Europe, North Africa, and Middle East for PEAK DMC—and more importantly, as a Moroccan woman—Zina decided it was time to create change in 2018. She took on the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism to alter their attitudes about women working in the travel industry, hoping to get more women tour leaders in the country.
The issue was a matter of financial equality as well. Zina pointed out, “The industry in Morocco is well regulated with the number of guides limited by the number of licenses issued by the government. This means demand often exceeds supply and, therefore, guides are well paid, compared to many other jobs.” Not only could women earn an excellent living wage, but working as a tour guide can also act as a starting point for any career in the tour operating industry. To have those options, though, the opportunity needed to be made accessible to women.
As a result of Zina’s fight—which involved months of lobbying—the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism began issuing new tour guide licenses in 2018 to women for the first time in a decade.
“We wanted to get as many women to apply as we could, so I encouraged all the women in the office and from my network to apply and even helped them with their paperwork. We had five women pass the test,” Zina added, mentioning it’s a record number of female tour guides in the country. They have since grown to have 13 female leaders in their network.
Aside from bringing a bit more equality into Morocco, this has also opened more possibilities for unique female-only tours as the country has some establishments where men aren’t allowed. “These trips focus on immersion and creating connection between female hosts and travelers,” Zina said. Intrepid isn’t merely latching onto the rising global trend of group trips for women, either; they want to provide opportunities for the people involved which they may not have had before. The local women they work with can develop and hone skill sets, giving them more job options and ways to support themselves financially.
It’s an exciting time for women in Morocco. Although the country may be conservative, the government has shown they want to change and be better for the good of everyone. And Zina thinks that’s what travel is all about.
“I strongly believe that travel opens people’s minds and creates tolerance among people from different cultures.”
Theresa Christine is a freelance travel writer based in Los Angeles, CA. You can follow along with her adventures by subscribing to her newsletter Delve here.
As a freelance travel writer based in Los Angeles, I often write about lesser-known experiences, offbeat or design-focused destinations, and interesting locals doing ex… Read More
