Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/187632
•pg_13-27__BMT_pg3-58 9/25/13 1:08 AM Page 26 NABHOOD BY MICHAEL BENNETT National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers (NABHOOD) held their 17th annual International African American Hotel Ownership and Investment Summit and Trade Show at the Marriott Miami Biscayne Bay Hotel, in Miami. The theme of this year's event was "Networking Connect for a Lifetime." Hundreds of hotel owners, prospective hoteliers, financiers, vendors and student industry leaders of the future gathered for the educational and networking opportunities that only NABHOOD can provide. NABHOOD President Andy Ingraham opened the event by thanking those in attendance for coming and helping to change the destiny of the industry. "Our goal is networking – how do you connect for a lifetime?" Ingraham told the story of NABHOOD's humble beginnings in Atlanta knowing he needed partners to realize a vision that was crystalizing in his mind. Ingraham used the example of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and how they got started – their emphasis on eduANDY INGRAHAM cation not only for themselves but their children as well. Ingraham described it as a road map set by AAHOA that he's been proud to follow. AAHOA owns approximately 40 percent of all hotels in the U.S. AAHOA and NABHOOD established an alliance for a lifetime and members have done many deals together. Seventeen years ago you could count all the Black-owned hotels on one hand, today there are over 520 in the U.S., the Caribbean and Mexico. The NABHOOD summit features a variety of workshops and industry-wide panel discussions on the state of the industry and future prospects. There are classes on the ABC's of Hotel Ownership, Public/Private Partnership Financing and Incentives, Feasibility and Marketing Studies, Small Business Development Loans for Hotels and so much more. One of the highlights of this annual gathering is the NABHOOD Awards. This year's Emerging Hotel Owner of the Year was awarded to David Hunt, president and CEO Hunt Services Inc., Hampton Inn & Suites. 26 NEWS The Trail Blazer Award went to none other than Sheila C. Johnson, founder and CEO, Salamander Hospitality LLC. Among Johnson's many holdings is the late August 2013 opening of Salamander Resort and Spa – a 168-room luxury resort and spa set on 340 acres amid Virginia's horse property and vineyards in Middleburg. The Chairman's Award went to Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. Wilson took to social media to thank NABHOOD and delivered this message tying hotel ownership to jobs, "the only way to ensure more guests at hotels is to ensure that all Americans who want a job have a job." NABHOOD's Outstanding Hotelier Award recipients were LeRoy Howard and Deanne Ayers-Howard, Esq., Howard Hospitality of Cascades, LLC, TownePlace Suites Sterling Dulles North. And the first ever Hank Thomas Freedom Rider Award went to Bill Fortier, senior V.P. of Development Americas, Hilton Worldwide(eb0. Thomas was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, who boarded buses on May 4, 1961 in Washington DC and headed south. These civil rights activists rode interstate buses into the segregated South to test the Southern state's compliance with a Supreme Court decision that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. Just outside Anniston, AL one of the buses was set a fire by angry white mobs. Those mobs blocked the doors in hopes of HANK THOMAS trapping the riders inside, yet they somehow got off the bus only to be beaten within an inch of their lives. Thomas survived beatings and multiple arrests and imprisonment for his participation in civil disobedience. He later went on to serve in Vietnam where he earned six combat decorations including the Purple Heart. That was Thomas' early years. Thomas recently retired as president of Victoria Hospitality properties, where he owned and operated several Marriott franchises during his business career. Thomas gave an emotional speech tying the tragedy of Trayvon Martin's murder to those of Emmitt Till, Medgar Evers, and the three Civil Rights workers murdered in Mississippi in 1964 and the need for today's youth to pick up B M & T ••• September/October 2013 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com