Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1498279
18 "I do things like putting partnerships together, and giving advice and suggestions to potential owners and investors," said Ingraham, originally from the Bahamas. "When you talk about hotel ownership at NABHOOD, we have a complete view as to how we change the industry and how to create the new genera- tion." An outspoken and important intellectual voice in the hotel and hospitality business, this unflinching zealot said he would like to see African Americans "in every stratum of the industry." "I don't want young people going to a city and not be able to find a hotel run by a Black person," he said. "I want them, when they graduate from school, to be able to go to the corporate suite. I want young people to have opportunities. There are HBCUs with hospi- tality programs that we need to support." In 2023, NABHOOD is planning a conference targeting HBCU students. "We want to create a new generation of diverse leaders," he said. "We are working on a strategy so by next year if John Smith wants to attend a con- ference, he can go to the NAB- HOOD site and book rooms. We've been working with Fortune 500 companies who contacted us to say, 'we want to spend our travel dollars with Black-owned hotels. We are working on an effort to get a direct vehicle where they can find Black-owned hotels around the country and spend money there. We are also going to focus on major workshops to get more suppliers selling goods to the industry. We want to see more urban city and elected officials creating more incentives in restaurants and hotels." What gives Ingraham hope is the partnership with Hilton and Marriott International. "They get it," he said. "As founding sponsors, they immediately saw the real value in diversity." Ingraham said that currently there are only seven African American hotel brokers. He emphasizes that because of the changing hospitality landscape, there is a need for new internship programs. "We have to bring in more young people," he said. "We need mentors. We are working with hotel brokerage companies to make sure they hire and bring more African Americans into the field. We need more ownership." Of the 60,000 hotels in the U.S., Ingraham said African Americans own less than one percent – while Asians own 60 percent. "The kicker is that in 10 years if we continue on this trend with hotel incentive pro- grams to attract African Americans - in about seven years African Americans will own more hotel rooms than any other minority group in the country," explained Ingraham. "Sometimes," Ingraham said, there are glimpses of success in the industry. He points to Thompson Hospitality, owned by Warren Thompson, which has its food service compa- nies in hotels. "About 10-15 years ago, you wouldn't think a restaurant in a hotel would be owned by an African American," said Ingraham. "That's changing. It's just not changing quickly enough." To speed up the process, Ingraham said, workshops on the probability of ownership are being held by Marriott International, Hilton, and Choice Hotels International, Inc., which is also introducing a hospital- ity management training program for HBCU students. "We have to create the right programs to encourage and help African Americans into the business, and more importantly, find people of color and begin to educate them," said Ingraham, who recently received an honorary doctorate of business from Northern Caribbean University. Like most industries, when COVID hit, the hospitality indus- try also took a hit. "COVID hit the industry hard," said Ingraham. "No one was traveling. But now we're coming out of COVID and people are beginning to travel. It's all coming back. Miami, Washington, Atlanta, and New York are coming back. So is the industry." In his decades-long tenure, Ingraham is proud of what NABHOOD has been able to accomplish. "I'm most proud of the effort put forth when I go someplace and I see a Black-owned hotel employing Black peo- ple," said Ingraham. "I'm proud when I really see us get the opportunity to excel." An influential fixture, Ingraham is committed to his ideals of "the possible". He works hard because he wants to leave a legacy for the next generation. "I don't want to leave the industry as I entered it," he said. "I want to see us everywhere." A tireless activist, occasionally, Ingraham puts work aside and lets down his hair by playing with his 2½- year-old grandson. He also enjoys reading and visiting Anguilla, Eastern Caribbean, Jamaica, plus Exuma and Eleuthera in the Bahamas. And, oh, yeah, "studying the industry." B M & T ••• May/June 2023 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com "No one was traveling. But now we're coming out of COVID and people are beginning to travel. It's all coming back. Miami, Washington, Atlanta, and New York are coming back. So is the industry."