Occurring during a time of immense global disruption, the 6th Annual Summit was transformed into an interactive, digital space where international travel professionals, destination marketing organizations (DMOs), and human rights advocates could strategize. Instead of viewing DEI as an afterthought during an industry downturn, the event framed inclusive planning as the definitive solution for long-term travel industry recovery and resilience.
The 2020 summit focused heavily on the dual impact of the global pandemic and the resurgence of racial justice movements. It served as a baseline event for the industry to actively “reset” traditional hospitality business models and intentionally “rebuild” them around measurable diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) metrics.
The future of travel resilience relies on welcoming a majority-minority demographic.
Unveiling and sharing the initial data and learnings from Travel Unity’s official DEI Standards for Travel & Tourism pilot program, which helped destinations benchmark their operations.
Digging into how travel companies can structurally evaluate their impact across three main areas: visitorship, workforce development, and community impact.
How the travel and tourism sectors could survive pandemic-era economic losses while concurrently addressing systemic inequalities and social movements like Black Lives Matter.
While the summit lacked a single physical host destination due to its virtual execution on Zoom, it aligned its framework closely with the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The digital venue allowed a much wider, cross-regional cohort of destination marketers—stretching from rural Upstate New York to urban centers across the country—to collaborate simultaneously.
A three-day virtual conference featuring curated zoom panels, open public forums, and collaborative digital workshops for Travel Unity’s initial cohort of participating pilot organizations.
Implementing actionable corporate pledges, establishing inclusive marketing campaigns during a global crisis, expanding accessibility guidelines for pandemic-wary travelers, and diversifying the outdoor recreation sector
Monday. October 19. 2020
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TIME
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TOPIC
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SESSION INFO
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12:00 – 2:00 PM ET
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DEI and Visitorship in NYS
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A welcome from I LOVE New York, followed by featured speakers from NYS Parks, NYS Division of Human Rights, NYS DEC, and NYSTIA, followed by a dialogue with attendees moderated by Adirondack Diversity Initiative Director Nicky Hylton-Patterson.
Invite-only session
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2:00 – 4:00 PM ET
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Accessibility, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Tourism
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Free session
Learn about NET, the national network of the 78 public Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs from across all of the United States, and their work connecting businesses with qualified applicants and support services.
NET – National Employment Team and Hands On at the Hyatt
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Tuesday. October 20. 2020
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TIME
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TOPIC
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SESSION INFO
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2:00 – 4:00 PM ET
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LGBTQ Lives: Talks & Tales (in partnership with Equality Florida)
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Learn more about:
Cultural competency in the areas of LGBTQ issues as it relates to on-the-job
An understanding of those issues which fall into the category of ‘not knowing what you don’t know’ about being LGBTQ at work and in the world
An understanding of those same issues for customers/visitors/travelers who are LGBTQ
The challenges faced by LGBTQ youth in the schools
Awareness of Equality Florida’s customized training programs available to companies around the country
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4:00 – 6:00 PM ET
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Networking
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Kickoff Networking Session (for speakers and pass-holders)
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Wednesday. October 21. 2020
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TIME
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TOPIC
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SESSION INFO
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10:00 AM ET
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Presentation on Travel Unity’s DEI Standards for Travel & Tourism // DEI in Travel Industry Data Benchmarks // Introduction to Future of Tourism Coalition
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Presentation on Travel Unity’s DEI Standards for Travel & Tourism
Free session
DEI in Travel Industry Data Benchmarks
Introduction to Future of Tourism Coalition
Travel Unity’s Executive Director, Roni Weiss, will give a presentation on the process and ideas behind the organization’s publicly available DEI Standards for Travel & Tourism.
Then, Larissa Hunt of Envirosell, a market research firm with 30+ years of experience, will talk about research the company will be conducting in partnership with Travel Unity and the global travel industry.
Finally, Jeremy Sampson of The Travel Foundation will introduce the audience to the Future of Tourism Coalition, explaining how it is approaching DEI.
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10:30 AM ET
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DEI Flash Talks and ‘Belonging’ Panel
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Kameelah Benjamin-Fuller, former Director of Equity, Diversity + Inclusion at Tripadvisor, facilitates flash talks of DEI bright spots in the world of travel and tourism
Sara Emmert from I Love NY will discuss the integration of diversity, equity and inclusion in I Love NY marketing and programming, specifically as it pertains to the Division of Tourism’s newest program: Accessible NY.
Belonging: Embracing Personal Journeys in the Professional World
What can the travel industry, its thousands of companies, and its millions of members do to make travel welcoming to people of all backgrounds and abilities?
The moderator, Kameelah Benjamin-Fuller, and global panelists will share their passions and journeys in travel and DEI, along with how we can work together to make post-pandemic travel more inclusive than ever before.
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12:30 PM ET
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Preparing Communities to Host Destination Sports Events
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A session aimed at those who want to bring destination sporting events to their locale in a manner that supports and uplifts local communities, as well as the participating athletes and their families.
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2:00 PM
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BREAKOUT TRACK #1 - Intersection of Sustainability and DEI
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Integrating DEI in the Tourism Supply Chain
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2:00 PM
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BREAKOUT TRACK #2 - DEI in the Workplace
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Empowering Employees to Bring Their Best Selves to Work
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3:30 PM
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BREAKOUT TRACK #1
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Sustainability in a Mid & Post-Covid World
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3:30 PM
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BREAKOUT TRACK #2
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Women in the Outdoors
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5:00 PM
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BREAKOUT TRACK #1
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Building Bridges Not Barriers: Including Marginalized Communities in Tourism
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5:00 PM
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BREAKOUT TRACK #2
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How to Bring DEI Dialogues into the Workspace
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Thursday. October 22. 2020
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TIME
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TOPIC
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SESSION INFO
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10:00 AM ET
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A Conversation between Steve Johnson-Stevenson (Tourism Authority of Thailand) and Romey Louangvilay (Travel Unity)
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With more mainstream news outlets covering the importance of DEI, more DMOs and hospitality brands are taking note, especially as social injustices have been brought to light by people.
In this discussion hosted by TU’s board president, Romey Louangvilay, he’ll be joined by the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s NY Marketing Manager, Steve Johnson-Stevenson, to have an honest discussion around discrimination within the travel industry, incidents in Thailand that encouraged the tourism board to apply for certification, and how destinations can be more inclusive for all travelers, especially as we try to navigate a post-COVID tourism world.
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10:30 AM ET
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Reset & Rebuild: The Business Case for DEI
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While many people see the personal side of inclusion, it is also good business. This panel will discuss the many reasons that DEI is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
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12:30 PM ET
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Advocating for Visitors
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The travel industry bears a responsibility to the people it encourages to visit. How can travel companies think beyond their front desks and property lines, making sure that they are advocating for further aspects of how people experience places?
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2:00 PM
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Marketing Track - Resetting and Rebuilding Hospitality
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A hotel stay can provide much more than just a bed, allowing people to depart an accommodation feeling energized and recognized. This panel of travel professionals will discuss why now is the time to toss the throw pillows, expose the brick walls, and settle into storytelling.
Questions the session will address:
Why is now the right time to change how hotels are operated and marketed?
How can independent hoteliers leverage storytelling as the travel and hospitality industries are reset and rebuilt?
What can hotels do to become true community partners?
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3:00 PM
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The Age of Authenticity in Marketing
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People say data drives business decisions, but how does that relate to diversity? This hands-on, interactive workshop is for brands that want to create and maintain an authentic connection to diverse audiences.
The following questions will be addressed:
What influences how brands decide what diverse means?
How does a brand effectively and authentically market to multiple audiences?
What does a multicultural marketing strategy look like?
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4:00 PM
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How Business Owners Should Address LGBTQ+ Travelers
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When you think of the word LGBTQ+, gay is usually the first thing that comes to mind. However, the LGBTQ+ community is much bigger than that. Jason Marsden, EVP of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, will present about the hospitality and visitorship to people outside of the community with an emphasis on variety within the LGBTQ+ community. The conversation will address what many business owners commonly default to thinking in terms of gay, meanwhile other identities such as male bisexuality, non-binary and trans often go unseen. This discussion will address the addition of multiple letters into the LGBTQ+ acronym and the intention behind asking pronouns.
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5:00 PM
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The Power of Inclusive Storytelling: What the Travel Media Needs to Know
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To change the world, we must begin by acknowledging the disparities that exist and taking action to improve them where we can. Much has been discussed about the lack of
representation in the travel media. This interactive panel of travel storytellers will discuss:
Why is inclusive storytelling important?
What needs to be done to improve representation within the travel media?
How do we encourage the next generation of storytellers?
What role will technology play in the future of travel media?
How can we challenge brands and DMOs to include more diverse voices?
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6:00 PM
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The Power of Influence – What’s The ROI and Does Race Play a Role in #Sponsored Posts?
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This panel will feature a conversation about the role influencers play in travel, as well as finding common ground around the question – should we have to pay influencers and what’s the ROI?, and dive deep into the disparity between the opportunities white influencers receive over BIPOC influencers.
The conversation will be between Romey Louangvilay, TU’s President of the Board of Director and Head of Communications for ELMNTL (Overseeing clients such as Tourism Authority of Thailand, ASEAN Tourism, and more) who will discuss when (And if) brands should pay for influencers, what influencers need to know to get hired, and if ethnicity and race play a role in that hiring.
Kinya Claiborne of Style and Society would provide insight into working with brands, how to measure ROI, and how you can change the narrative so you’re getting the same opportunities as your white counterparts. Valerie Wilson of Trusted Travel Girl will provide the other perspective on how white influencers can be better allies in helping change the narrative.
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Friday. October 23. 2020
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TIME
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TOPIC
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10:00 AM ET
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Travel Inspiration, Youth, and Career and Technical Education Track
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2:00 PM
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Encouraging Youth toward Careers in Sports Management (in partnership with Ohio University’s Center for Sports Administration)
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The Travel Unity Summit brought together a diverse group of leaders from tourism, media, marketing, and community organizations. These speakers shared their insights on inclusive travel, storytelling, community engagement, and the future of the tourism industry.
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“Our participation with Travel Unity demonstrates our commitment to improve our communications to potential travelers, avoid past mistakes and create more opportunities for our ethnically diverse citizens.”
Charinya Kiatlapnachai, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand’s New York Office
“Tripadvisor is proud to support the 2020 Virtual Travel Unity Summit. As a company we are committed to using our portfolio of brands, scale as a platform, and our global influence to better serve and lift the diverse voices of travelers and diners everywhere. We are excited to partner with Travel Unity in the movement to reset and rebuild – advancing travel together!”
Tony Martin, Equity, Diversity+Inclusion Program Manager at Tripadvisor
LGBTQ Lives: Talks & Tales (in partnership with Equality Florida)
Presentation by NYS Parks (part of DEI in NYS Visitorship session)
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