Read More About Diversity
In keeping with one of its
key strategic goals, Destinations
International has unveiled its Equity, Diversity and
Inclusion CEO Pledge, designed for leaders of convention and visitor bureaus to ensure they remain competitive, enhance
workforce development, drive innovation and be relevant in the years ahead.
“The CEO Pledge is a critical next step for our
industry’s leadership and their commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion
on behalf of their organizations,” said Don Welsh, DI’s president and CEO. The pledge was born out of DI’s
recent research, 2020
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Study on Destination Organizations.
DI is not alone in this
endeavor: DE&I is vital to the future of all
associations, a point that was emphasized during the recent Association
Forum Holiday Showcase, which was produced by Northstar Meetings Group.
Beginning next year, DI will
encourage its members to sign up and commit to the pledge. The list of
CEOs/executive directors who do so will be posted on the CEO Pledge
website. The organization also will offer opportunities for CEOs and executive leaders to activate the
pledge, including a CEO masterclass on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Following are the full contents
of Destinations International Equity, Diversity and Inclusion CEO Pledge:
We celebrate the broad range
of human differences among us, while also embracing the commonalities we all
share. We firmly stand by our belief that all industries should be open to
everyone for opportunities and growth and that it is critical for destination
organization CEOs and executive leaders to commit to Equity, Diversity and
Inclusion to drive a vision for change and be accountable for implementing that
change.
We commit to the following:
- We will build and sustain an equitable, diverse and
inclusive workforce, led by executive leadership and our boardrooms. We
recognize how critical inclusivity is to bring together a wide variety of
voices when promoting tourism and sustaining our economies. Growing an
inclusive and equitable workforce reflects the level of diversity we wish to
welcome to our destinations. It will foster innovation and provide space for
historically marginalized voices to positively evolve how we promote tourism
and authentically welcome all travelers.
- We will collectively share best practices for growing
equity, diversity and inclusion industry-wide, and we will hold one another
accountable for measuring action and progress. We are part of a highly
collaborative and engaged community that leverages the benefits of cooperative
learning and shared growth. From understanding the role that unconscious bias
plays in preventing equity to actively working towards dismantling systems of
power and privilege, we are committed to having open, honest conversations,
while holding each other accountable for bringing about an inclusive and
equitable industry. That includes sharing knowledge for building an EDI
educational curriculum and engaging the expertise of diversity and inclusion
professionals.
- We will share the lived experiences of marginalized and
underrepresented communities that are disproportionately unseen in tourism
marketing and storytelling. We firmly believe in the transformative power of
travel, and we are dedicated to including who the industry has historically
ignored. Our goal is to push towards inclusive and equitable marketing
practices that prioritize partnerships with underrepresented populations,
implement marketing practices that are representative of the communities we
promote, advocate for sustainability, and honors the history of the ancestral
lands we welcome travelers to explore. We see these as foundational to
authentic representation and inclusion.
- We will support actions in our communities that seek to
achieve equity and justice for everyone, including travelers, stakeholders and
citizens alike. We are deeply connected to the communities that make up our destinations,
and we are committed to nurturing broader cultural and institutional changes
that help shape and reimagine what equity and justice look like. This is
imperative to improve our ability to foster a welcoming environment within our
destinations for visitors, support our local businesses to purchase goods and
services from diverse vendors, and, most of all, stay dedicated to
demonstrating how our industry can enrich the lives of those living in our
destinations.
- I am personally invested and committed to equity,
diversity and inclusion. I acknowledge my role as a
fundamental change-maker in defining success for equity, diversity and
inclusion. I am fully aware that I must commit to doing the work first before
asking the same of others. Therefore, I pledge to focus on my own personal
growth around understanding how systemic oppression, social injustice and
economic disparity hinder equality. I will invest in broadening my
self-awareness of these issues through education, training, and peer networking
to have these tough, but critical, conversations.