Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/875690
B M & T ••• July/August 2017 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 4 B lack Meetings & Tourism periodically runs two features aimed at increasing the dialogue about bringing more African-Americans into the executive ranks of the our industry. The Most Influential African- Americans in Hospitality/Travel/Meetings Industry acknowledges the hard work, dedica- tion and contributions of our brothers and sis- ters who have managed to perform at the high- est professional levels despite the challenging economic times and the extremely competitive nature of the arena in which we all operate. The second feature is an article entitled Who Will Be The Next Black CVB President/CEO, focusing on those individuals who are prepared and qualified to fill the shoes of the top CVB executive, while at the same time debunking the tired old excuse "We'd love to consider an African-American for this posi- tion, but we can't find a qualified Black person to hire." Several of the current Black CVB pres- idents – Elliott Ferguson (Destination DC), Ronnie Burt (Visit Kansas City), and Al Hutchinson (Visit Baltimore) – were featured in this article annually before they ascended to the post of CVB president/CEO. When you consider that there are nearly 500 CVBs throughout the U.S., and we can only identify 10 African-Americans holding down the president/CEO post, and fewer than 100 Black hotel general managers out of 55,000 properties, obviously we still have a long way to go. That doesn't even take into PUBLISHER'S MESSAGE B lack Meetings & Tourism periodical consideration our paltry numbers at upper ech- elon positions in the airline industry. Thank goodness we have an outstanding role model in the cruise industry in the person of Arnold Donald, president/CEO of Carnival Corporation. We are so proud of his brilliant leadership and forward thinking initiatives. But we must remem- ber that he's just one man in a very large indus- try. This year Black Meetings & Tourism is intro- ducing a new feature story into our publishing cycle – Emerging African-American Leaders in Meetings/Hospitality – which will profile those new, young up and comers in our industry that given the opportunity and encouragement, will surely make their way up the corporate lad- der to accomplish great things. Our intent here is to inform the industry movers and shakers about who they are, where they are, and what wonderful achievements they are making! That being said, I am reaching out to you, our readers, to inform me about any young executives in training who should be included in this article. If there is someone in your organi- zation whose outstanding performance deserves acknowledgement, please let me know. Or for that matter, if you know of some- one who we have inadvertently overlooked for inclusion in Most Influential African-Americans in Hospitality/Travel/Meetings Industry or Who Will Be The Next CVB President/CEO, by all means please let me know. I always want to give credit where credit is due, and I'm counting on you to help me make that happen! 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 2017 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