Travel industry groups plan event focused on culture, climate and community: Travel Weekly

Four industry groups have joined together to form the Power of Partnership Stewardship Summit, an event “dedicated to exploring the intersections of culture, climate and community in travel and tourism,” the groups said.

The summit will be held in Richmond, Va., Oct. 15-18, 2023. 

The summit is a result of a partnership between the Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance, Tourism Cares, the Travel Foundation and the U.S. Cultural & Heritage Marketing Council.

“Our organizations are working to ensure that good tourism is manifested and sustainable through good stewardship of people, places and our planet. That’s why this collaboration makes sense,” said Stephanie Jones, founder and CEO of the Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance and Blacks in Travel and Tourism. “The summit creates an opportunity to bring a diverse group of industry stakeholders together to ensure that the future of tourism is accessible and equitable for all.”

Travel professionals and BIPOC suppliers at the summit will have the chance to learn more about creating multicultural products, or enhancing existing multicultural products, to attract travelers. It will focus on both education and strategy.

“We’ve taken what are traditionally education ‘tracks’ within tradeshows and made them the focal point,” Tourism Cares CEO Greg Takehara said. “We need to unite, aligned in our strategies that center people and planet over profit and disrupt the way things have always been.”

Its location, Richmond, was a strategic one, the organizers said: Richmond has both a rich cultural heritage and local BIPOC businesses that can be fueled by tourism dollars.

Additionally, Richmond itself and Richmond Tourism are supporters of Black-owned businesses.

The summit’s organizers will hold a virtual town hall on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 1 p.m. Eastern time with more information. 

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