Photo Credit: Anch for Adobe Stock
The expanding role of convention and visitor bureaus, including a growing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, was the major theme of the Destinations International’s2022 annual
convention in Toronto. During the conference, Sophia Hyder Hock, the association's chief diversity officer, and Andreas
Weissenborn, Destinations International's vice president of advocacy and research, revealed DI's new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Assessment tool,
which officially launched Aug. 11.
The program allows CVBs to create intentional DEI goals and track progress
in the workplace, as well as in their communities for residents and visitors.
DEI was addressed in another session, during which two destinations — Visit Indy and Visit Tampa Bay— revealed how they work with their local communities to design accessible marketing
and resources for visitors and attendees with disabilities.
Another recurring theme of the event was how a growing number of
CVBs are prioritizing putting their local communities' interests first
and providing good stewardship of their destinations. Three
organizations who exemplify those principles — Los Angeles Tourism
& Convention Board; West Virginia Department of Tourism and the Netherlands
Bureau of Tourism & Conferences — were lauded during the Global
All-Stars 2022 general session. Another breakout session revealed how
community-centric goals can be achieved on a smaller scale. For example,
Renee Areng, president and CEO of
Explore Brookhaven in Georgia, shared how the CVB conferred with 700 local
residents to create their new tagline.
Confronting the growing menace
of violent crime was another hot topic of discussion. In addition to a breakout session on the subject, 60 CVB leaders, business partners and members of Destinations International's 30 Under 30 program met during the conference to discuss ideas, analyze strategies and share solutions. Best practices will be released in a white paper this fall.
In other conference news, Al Hutchinson, president and CEO of Visit Baltimore, assumed the
2022-2023 role as chair of Destinations International. Meanwhile, Vail Ross, senior vice president of sales and marketing at STR, was named chair of the Destinations International Foundation.
Upon his taking over his role, Hutchinson announced a new scholarship program that will provide
opportunities to hospitality students attending historically Black colleges and
universities. "I truly believe that together as an organization, we can make
critical and lasting impact on the state of tourism as we tackle some of the
most important issues facing our industry," he said.
Destinations International's 2023 annual conference will be held July 18-20 in Dallas.