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B M & T ••• March/April 2016 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 4 S everal major conferences are on the calendar that should be of particular interest to the multicultural market seg- ment. The Travel Professionals of Color's 14th Annual Conference will take place from April 23- 30 aboard the Carnival Miracle, sailing out of Long Beach, CA. After pre-conference activities aboard the Queen Mary Hotel, including a Founders Award Gala and BM&T Apex Award presentations, there will be two tours of Los Angeles before the ship departs for the Mexican Riviera. In addition to a schedule of information- packed workshops, there will be a tradeshow, as well as ample time for site seeing, tours and shopping while in port. On June 9-12, the 2016 National Black Political Convention will be held in Gary Indiana with the objective to develop a Black agenda, announce it to the world, and then leave Gary prepared to implement that agenda. While many areas of concern will be explored at this impor- tant gathering, no discussion about economic development in the Black community would be complete without including tourism, the nation's number two economic driver. You'll want to be a part of that discussion. The 20th Annual International Hotel Ownership & Investment Summit & Tradeshow will be held at the Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel in Miami, FL from July 27-28. Attendees will get to meet African-American hotel owners, national leaders and top industry professionals, while learning about hotel ownership, investments and supplier diversity. Some of the invited speakers PUBLISHER'S MESSAGE include Ken Fern, managing partner, Integrated Capital LLC and NABHOOD Chair, Michael Roberts, president Roberts Hotels, LLC, Warren Fields, principal, Pyramid Advisors LLC, Sheila Johnson, Founder/CEO, Salamander Hospitality, Bill Fortier, senior V.P. Development Americas, Hilton Worldwide, and Stephen Joyce, president/CEO, Choice Hotels International. Immediately following the Hotel summit will be the 3rd Annual International Multicultural & Heritage Tourism Summit & Trade Show unfolding July 29-31, also at the Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel. As always, the Summit will feature an array of top-notch presen- ters, including Gregory DeShields, executive direc- tor, PHL Diversity, PHLCVB Multicultural Affairs Congress, Elliott Ferguson, president/CEO Destination DC, Connie Kinnard, V.P. Multicultural Sales & Development, Greater Miami CVB, Dr. Benjamin Chavis, president/CEO, National Newspaper Publisher's Association, NABHOOD president/CEO and Summit organizer Andy Ingraham, Toni Rice, president New Orleans Multicultural Network, and Albert Tucker, V.P. Multicultural Business Development, Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB, to name a few, against a backdrop of educational sessions sure to enlighten and inform. The annual Apex Awards gala is one of the many highlights of the program, during which Black Meetings & Tourism presents awards for distin- guished service to industry professionals. Both the International Hotel Ownership & Investment Summit & Tradeshow and International Multicultural & Heritage Tourism Summit & Trade Show are presented by The National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers (NABHOOD), International Multicultural & Heritage Tourism Network (IMFITN), Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Black Meetings & Tourism Magazine and Horizons International Group, Inc. The National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners has chosen St. Louis for its 2016 conference November 30-December 3. Headquarters hotel for the event is the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel, and as always, the focus of the NCBMP conference will be educational as well as offering opportunities for booking meetings/convention business. Board Chair Ana Aponte-Curtis, President Kevin Johnson and Executive Director Monica Robinson, along with Board members promise to make attending the NCBMP conference well worth your time and effort. 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 2016 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