2021 Travel Unity Summit – Virtual Sessions

Danny Guerrero

MMGY Global

Greg DeShields

Tourism Diversity Matters // PHLDiversity

Building a DEI instrastructure in the tourism industry has received a great deal of attention recently and we have invited Greg DeShields from Tourism Diversity Matters to share his insights about the work that is being done and the work still left to do.

Catherine Prather

NTA

Roni Weiss

Travel Unity

This timely conversation will continue with Catherine Prather and Roni Weiss, as they discuss the mission and transformative work being done by the Travel Industry Association DEI Pledge signed by 10+ organizations, including ATTA, NTA, NYSTIA, and SYTA.

Vickie Ashford-Thompson

SATW DEAI Committee

Rob Gard

SATW DEAI Committee

Sylke Neal-Finnegan

SATW DEAI Committee

Megan Padilla

SATW DEAI Committee

Finally, representatives from SATW and its DEAI Committee, discuss their association’s initiatives.

Portia Conerly

NTA & Arlington Convention and Visitors Service

Courtney Cacatian

Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau

Renee Areng

Explore Brookhaven Georgia

Melissa Cherry

Miles Partnership

Karen Kuhl

Cayuga County Tourism

Roadmaps help organizations define strategic goals and the steps needed to reach them. This panel will take you through the thought process needed to create a DEI roadmap that will keep stakeholders and team members aligned and poised for success.

Lavanya Sunkara

Freelance Writer

Lebawit Lily Girma

Skift

Naureen Kazi

TURNER

Kelley Louise

Impact Travel Alliance // Fora

George Stone

National Geographic

Three important keys to constructing healthy communities are economy, ecology and equity. This workshop moderated by writer Lavanya Sunkara features travel media experts from Skift Media, SATW and ITA and will discuss how to leverage storytelling to bridge gaps and foster new perspectives and strategies.

Moderator: Lavanya Sunkara

Featuring: Kelley Louise, Lebawit Lily Girma, Naureen Kazi, and George Stone

David Holder

Clarify of Place

Tony Snell

City of Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission

Cynthia Eichler

Visit Fort Collins

Nerissa Okiye

Discover Martin County

Communities play an integral role in creating meaningful cultural experiences. How can tourism connect with local residents and tell the stories of underrepresented communities? This panel will discuss ways to involve local communities in the tourism policy and decision making process, as well as, provide a strategy focused on creating programs and initiatives that benefit local stakeholders.

Portia Conerly

NTA & Arlington Convention and Visitors Service

Carylann Assante

SYTA

Joan Keddell

ITMI

Join tour industry professionals as they share the initiatives and programs they have adopted to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the tour industry. Greg Takehara (Tourism Cares) moderates this important conversation. Featured speakers include Carylann Assante, Portia Conerly and Joan Keddell.

Mitch Bach

TripSchool

Stephanie M. Jones

Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance, Inc. (CHEA)

David Naczycz

Board of Advisors, Travel Unity & North America Tour Hub

David Naczycz (North America Tour Hub) leads a dialogue with Mitch Bach (TripSchool), and Stephanie M. Jones (Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance, Inc. (CHEA)) around what is and can being done around DEI by tour operators.

Jaclyn Yost

ecomadic

An open dialogue with attendees about community impact within the travel industry, facilitated by Jaclyn Yost.

Savannah Doviak

ROOST

Karen Kuhl

Cayuga County Tourism

Renee Areng

Explore Brookhaven Georgia

Ed Hall III

Advisor, Travel Unity

Leon Burnette

Tourism Pathways

Jason Thurston

John Dillon Park

Penny Peters

Akwesasne Tourism – St. Regis Mohawk Tribe

Thought leaders and visionaries from the travel and hospitality industries share innovative DEI initiatives and actionable strategies you can adopt in your business or workplace.

Savannah Doviak from ROOST welcomes attendees to next week’s in-person events in Lake Placid, NY.

Renee Areng, CDTP discusses how the new destination of Brookhaven, GA is introducing DEI from beginning.

Leon Burnette introduces Tourism Pathways, a program to diversify the tour sector.

Jason Thurston talks about the work John Dillon Park is doing to be welcoming to both disabled and nondisabled visitors.

Penny Peters showcases Akwesasne Tourism – St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s work to develop their tourism marketing strategy.

Finally, Ed Hall III shares how the tourism industry can respectfully collaborate with Tribal nations, opening up the dialogue to attendees.

Romey Louangvilay

Board President, Travel Unity

Olga Luz Tirado

The Bronx Tourism Council (BTC)

The hallmark of good marketing is the ability to craft images and messages that resonate with your audience. This workshop will offer marketers best practices on how to create cross-cultural content that reaches and engages your audience. Moderated by Romey Louangvilay, from Elmntl Media, a global full service marketing and communications agency in NYC. Featuring Olga Luz Tirado from The Bronx Tourism Council (BTC).

Stephanie Rothfuss

Marriott Marquis Chicago

Kelly Garofalo

I Love NY

Susan Eisma

LEGOLAND New York

October marks National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The theme for 2021 is America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion. This timely workshop will spotlight the pivotal role that people with disabilities could play in the recovery of the tourism and hospitality industries. Part of the conversation will address the market potential of travelers with disabilities in the recovery.

Romey Louangvilay

Board President, Travel Unity

Les Geller

LGBT Center of Raleigh

Olivia Jaramillo

Equality Utah

The LGBTQ+ community is not a monolith and how one identifies can be very complex and multi-layered. This workshop will discuss best practices for creating an inclusive community that celebrates and acknowledges all. Moderated by Romey Louangvilay. Featuring Olivia Jaramillo (Equality Utah) and Les Geller (LGBT Center of Raleigh).

Dr. Damien Duchamp

Director, Travel Unity

An open dialogue with attendees about management and workforce within the travel industry, facilitated by Travel Unity Director Dr. Damien Duchamp.

Dr. Kristin Lamoureux

Director, Travel Unity

Sophia Hyder Hock

Travel Unity

The Travel Unity Individual Pledge is focused on Seeking Understanding, Self-Improvement, and Speaking Up. Join Dr. Kristin Lamoureux and Sophia Hyder Hock for an exploration of what this means in both your personal and professional lives.

Lynnette Phillips

Torch

Roni Weiss

Travel Unity

Zoe Moore

Board of Advisors, Travel Unity

Sophia Hyder Hock

Travel Unity

Whether as an employer or a visitor-facing organization, you need to be aware of how trauma impacts human beings to be able to craft the best experiences you can for them.

Danny Guerrero

MMGY Global

Ursula Petula Barzey

Black Travel Alliance

Hannah Belsito

Destination Cleveland

Colette Jones

Destination Cleveland

Learn about Destination Cleveland’s Racial Equity & Inclusion Initiative and how they treated racism as a public health issue, working with Black Travel Alliance to achieve tangible change.

The speakers will address how community engagement was part of the approach and what DMOs and other visitor-facing organizations can take this case study to apply to various under-represented groups.

Alessandra Alonso

Women in Travel

Sefanit Mengiste 

Tour Guide

Klaudija Janzelj

Tour Amigo

David Naczycz

Board of Advisors, Travel Unity and North America Tour Hub

Current workforce trends are requiring the tourism industry to rethink their methods for attracting and retaining talent. This workshop will help organizations discover unlikely and unexpected ways to find skilled talent.

Zoe Moore

Board of Advisors, Travel Unity

Nick Kopka

Board of Advisors, Travel Unity

Roni Weiss

Travel Unity

Dr. Kelly Cerialo

Paul Smith’s College

Chi Lo

Travel Unity

How are DEI issues reflected in the events and sports spaces? How can events bring DEI in from the very beginning of the planning process? Dr. Kelly Cerialo, Nick Kopka, Chi Lo, Zoe Moore will discuss the current state of DEI in events and sports and where things can go as we move ahead.

After the discussion, Roni Weiss and Chi Lo talk about Travel Unity’s commitment to curating DEI Standards for Events & Sports. Learn about where the process is, how you can take part, and how these Standards will be used by conference, sporting event, festival, and other event organizers.

Nailah Blades Wylie

Color Outside

An open dialogue with attendees about welcoming and fulfilling experiences for visitors, facilitated by Nailah Blades Wylie.