Chauvinism in travel, conference fatigue and matching socks….

Event moderator Jeremy Skidmore gives an overview of the main issues discussed at this week’s Barclays Travel Forum…

Men generally possess more confident characteristics in the workplace than women and ask for pay rises more readily, according to Celebrity Cruises UK and Ireland managing director Jo Rzymowska.

Speaking in a panel debate on women in travel at the Barclays Travel Forum in central London, Rzymowska said equality in the industry had improved significantly during her time in the industry, but there was not pay parity among the sexes.

She also added there were high levels of chauvinism in the baby boomer generation of males currently in their 50s and 60s, but far less among the younger X and Y generation.

Affordable Car Hire founder and chief executive Angela Day, who employs a high percentage of women, was also on the panel.

She said she did not consider an applicant’s sex when hiring, but simply chose the best person for the job. The company has just appointed a female managing director.

The Forum kicked off with an overview from Barclays director, head of travel, Chris Lee and managing director of hospitality and leisure Mike Saul, who both said the market was buoyant and that the recent election result could lead to more deals in the sector.

The optimism was reflected in the interactive survey, conducted throughout the session, where members of the audience were generally very positive about the prospects for their businesses over the next few years.

At this year’s Forum, I was for the first time able to monitor, and refer to, comments and questions from the audience on twitter via an ipad on the stage. They came in thick and fast, pushing #travelforum15 to become the eighth biggest trending topic on the social media site on Tuesday morning.

A debate on the future of media saw Andy Charlton, head of travel for Express Newspapers, defending the group’s strategy of collaboration between editorial and advertising.

He admitted it was possible for clients to secure editorial as part of a commercial package at the Northern and Shell Group, which also includes the Daily Star and OK! magazine.

Meanwhile, Institute of Travel and Tourism chairman Steven Freudmann warned of conference fatigue, saying there were too many travel industry events and executives were now becoming far more selective in the number they attended.

In other sessions, Ginger Juice founder Bruce Martin urged companies to consider Facebook for their advertising, while Chris Roche, the commercial director of Love Holidays, questioned the strategy of pouring money into apps to attract young people, when most travel was bought by the older generation.

Gold medal managing director Steve Barrass, shortly off to Dubai in an expanded role, and JAC Travel chief executive Terry Williamson gave an interesting insight into getting a business ready for sale and adapting to new owners.

Barrass said its new owners, dnata, planned for the future and wanted to keep Travel 2 and Gold Medal because they were both good businesses. If you put one and one together, you don’t always make two, he said.

"I can think of 15 travel businesses that had great business models that have gone now due to bad management," he said.

Meanwhile, Audley Travel chairman Richard Prosser, in a session on business expansion and contraction, said it was vital for a company to retain its culture as it grew.

The last comment of the morning came, via Twitter, from TravelMole, who pointed out that Martin’s hair matched the moderator’s socks.

Colourful socks can, I find, be a useful distraction if things don’t go quite according to plan on stage!