Gillian Tans, chief executive of the travel website, said Government-enforced gender quotas could lead to fewer women reaching senior roles, as she urged the tech sector to help more women secure top-level positions.

Ms Tans said: "I think if you have political action where they ask for a certain percentage of women then the number really goes down.

"In my experience it is very complicated because you always need to make sure you have the best people for the job.

"I think companies need to take more ownership over the gender gap themselves because if everybody does that then overall it will improve. 

"That takes a lot of work and we have seen that at Booking as well.

"It's not as if you can do one thing and it will make a big improvement. 

"It's a number of things internally and externally that you need to focus on."

Ms Tans added: "As CEOs or board members, women are still underrepresented and that gap is actually growing.

"We know that companies which have more women in leadership positions have a better performance.

"It is also important because women need role models - they need to know that this career is possible."