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B M & T ••• March/April 2019 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 4 T here are a number of industry conferences on the 2019 calendar that we at Black Meetings & Tourism think you should seriously consider attending. Travel Professionals of Color (TPOC) will be holding their 2019 Conference and Trade Show at The Guest House at Graceland in Memphis, TN on May 16-19. At this yearly gathering, travel agents, tour operators and other travel spe- cialists, as well as destination marketers and industry service providers, will be able to network, further your education and pursue opportunities to grow your business. In addition to a pre-conference city tour on May 15, agents you will be able to earn credits towards your TPOC Heritage & History Tourism Certification. This is an important organization for the travel special- ist of color that offers many benefits for the multicultural segment of our industry. But in order for TPOC to not only survive but thrive and expand their already impressive pro- grams, we must all come together and sup- port them. The industry veterans among you will remember what happened to the International Travel Agents Society (ITAS), the first organization of African-American travel agents. Despite their pioneering PUBLISHER'S MESSAGE Black Meetings & Tourism is published bi-monthly by SunGlo Enterprises, 20840 Chase St., Winnetka, CA 91306-1207 •Telephone: (818)709-0646/Fax: (818) 709-4753 Copyright 2019 by SunGlo Enterprises. All rights reserved. Single Copies, $6.00 Subscriptions $45.00. Postage Paid at Pasadena, CA. •Postmaster send address changes to Black Meetings & Tourism, 20840 Chase St., Winnetka, CA 91306-1207. Solomon J. Herbert Publisher/Editor-In-Chief E-Mail: BMandTMag@aol.com efforts and nearly 50 years of service to our commu- nity, they slowly died on the vine because we collec- tively did not rally together to provide them the level of support they needed. Please let's learn from our past mistakes. The National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers (NABHOOD) will be hold- ing their 23rd International African American Hotel Ownership & Investment Trade Show at the Miami Biscayne Bay Hotel in Miami FL July 24-26. Here you'll be able to meet African-American hotel owners, national leaders and top industry professionals, and learn about opportunities in hotel ownership, invest- ment and supplier diversity. In the relatively short span of time NABHOOD has existed, African- American hotel ownership has gone from one small Best Western in Memphis, to over 800 properties throughout the nation. NABHOOD dovetails at the same Miami property with the 6th Annual International Multicultural & Heritage Tourism Summit & Trade Show July 26-28. This event, presented by NABHOOD, the International Multicultural & Heritage Tourism Network (IMFITN), Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Black Meetings & Tourism Magazine and Horizons International Group, Inc., is designed to educate attendees on how to gain a share of the estimated $106 Billion+ Multicultural & Heritage Tourism market, share minority travel trends, learn how to market Multicultural & Heritage Tourism and look at diversity issues affecting the Hospitality industry. The theme is "Exploring the Multicultural Tourism Market." And last but certainly not least, the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP) is heading back to New Orleans for their 2019 Annual Conference. This much-anticipated event will unfold at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans November 13-16. This conference assists in the educational advance- ment of association executives, meeting planners and other meeting professionals, and is open to members only. Attendees will benefit from network- ing and sales opportunities, as well as continuing education credits and other personal and profession- al development activities. So join or renew your membership, and be there! Please support these industry organizations that exist to support you. If we don't support them, who will?