FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Caitlyn Blizzard
[email protected]
1.202.835.4202
Washington, D.C. (July 20, 2022) – Destinations International, the world’s largest resource for official destination organizations and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs), today made several announcements during its 2022 Annual Convention in Toronto, Canada.
Gretchen Hall, CDME, chief operating officer and Sophia Hyder Hock, chief diversity officer of Destinations International made the following announcements from the general session stage.
Mentorship Program Launch for Membership:
Destinations International launched its Mentorship Program to its global membership. The program will provide opportunities for members to foster relationships between industry professionals throughout all levels of their career. All members of Destinations International are invited to participate this program.
“Helping provide a path for the future members of our industry is extremely important.” Said Don Welsh, President and CEO of Destinations International. “The Mentorship Program will provide Destinations International members with the opportunity to gain valuable insights from career veterans throughout various disciples in our industry.”
For more information on the Destinations International Mentorship Program click here.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Assessment Tool:
Destinations International announced the launch of its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Assessment Tool, a resource for destination organizations to create intentional EDI goals and track progress in the workplace and the community through data-driven metrics.
“Many destination organizations recognize the value of incorporating EDI principles into their brand, but it is often hard to know where to start,” said Don Welsh, president and CEO of Destinations International. “This tool will set standard metrics across the industry for our members to keep track of progress being made in the areas of EDI.”
The tool will create awareness and discussion about how to develop and implement intentional EDI strategies for destination organizations of all budget sizes around the globe. It will also provide members with the capability to filter their results by comparable budget size, geography, tourism asset, and more.
“We have recognized the need for authentic EDI initiatives in our industry and have discussed the need for accountability through measurement and metrics,” said Sophia Hyder Hock, chief diversity officer at Destinations International. “This assessment will provide our destination members with the ability to have a baseline understanding about EDI initiatives as it relates to their workplace, policies and operations, vendors, community, and accessibility plans. We are grateful for the partnership with the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP) which sparked the idea to create this groundbreaking tool for our industry.”
Sophia Hyder Hock, chief diversity officer and Andreas Weissenborn, VP of advocacy and research are available for interviews about the EDI Assessment Tool.
Symphony:
As the travel industry rebounds, destinations are struggling almost universally to fill open job positions. This is especially acute in the lodging sector where employment remains nearly 20% below pre-pandemic levels while demand has almost fully recovered.
To provide destinations with relevant and actionable insights, Destinations International and Tourism Economics have partnered to launch a high-frequency analysis of workforce dynamics for communities within the SYMPHONY intelligence platform.
“Workforce development has emerged as perhaps the greatest challenge facing the visitor economy,” said Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics. “To help destination organizations lead their destinations through this challenge, Tourism Economics has developed a comprehensive tracker of the local workforce available, including insights on wages, the type and quality of jobs, race, and other measures of labor market dynamics by sector. This is now available as a module within the Symphony intelligence center, allowing destination organization teams to efficiently aggregate, analyze, and share their entire data ecosystem. We’re especially grateful to partner with Destinations International on this initiative as our industry seeks to foster a stronger and sustainable workforce over the coming years.”
For more information any Symphony, please click here.
Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics and Andreas Weissenborn, VP of advocacy and research are available for interviews about Symphony.
Public Relations and Communications Measurement Handbook for Destination Organization:
Destinations International’s Public Relations and Communications Task Force has combined efforts with AMEC, the international association for measurement and evaluation of communication, the world’s largest media intelligence and insights professional body, to collaborate on establishing public relations and communications measurement guidelines for destination organizations.
During the Annual Convention, Destinations International announced the launch of the Public Relations Measurement Guidelines Handbook for Destination Organizations.
“The value of nurturing a positive destination image – one that motivates visitors, business investors and talent to engage with your community – cannot be measured on one metric alone, certainly not one as archaic and inconsistent as advertising equivalency,” said Karyl Leigh Barnes, President, Development Counsellors International. “It is time to embrace matrix measurement and allow communications efforts to be measured by the true value of their outcomes. This handbook provides a clear process and thoughtful purpose for ushering in an era of change.”
For more information on the Public Relations Measurement Guidelines Handbook for Destination Organizations click here.
Caitlyn Blizzard, VP of communications at Destinations International is available for interviews about the Public Relations Measurement Guidelines Handbook for Destination Organizations.
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About Destinations International:
Destinations International is the world’s largest resource for official destination organizations, convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) and tourism boards.