Black Meetings and Tourism

May/June 2022

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B M & T ••• May/June 2022 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 12 If you ask six people their definition of diversity, inclusion, and parity, you're sure to get half a dozen different answers. While the phrase means different things to different people, all can agree that the notion and inten- tion are, in their purest form, imperative, necessary, and invaluable. Diversity, inclusion, and pari- ty (DIP), sometimes referred to as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a term used to describe policies and programs that pro- mote the representation and participation of different groups of individuals, including people of different ages, races, and eth- nicities, abilities and disabilities, genders, religions, cultures and sexual orientations. To discuss the overall impact of this ethos on the industry, we asked Black travel/hospitality execs to weigh in. They include Betty Jones, co- founder, and president of Travel Professionals of Color (TPOC), Veranda Adkins, co-founder and president of the Association of Black Travel Professionals (ABTP) and Shawnta Harrison, co-founder of ABTP, Nicholas Wiggins, president of the National Coalition of Black Meetings Professionals (NCB- MP), Andy Ingraham, presi- dent/CEO of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Dev- elopers (NABHOOD), plus Don Welsh, the president of Destinations International (DI), the organization that represents the approximately 700 conven- tion and visitors bureaus. The esteemed veterans we spoke to all agree that the hospi- BETTY JONES NICHOLAS WIGGINS ANDY INGRAMAM DOND WELSH IS DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, AND PA R I T Y S T I L L A P R I O R I T Y: MAJOR INDUSTRY ORGANIZATIONS REPORT BY DARLENE DONLOE Veranda Adkins Shawnta Harrison

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