Young Professional Leadership Development Program Application
Thank you for your interest in the young professional leadership development program! Applications for 2025 will close on Monday, January 20 at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Please read the all application guidelines before submitting.
Applicants will be notified of their application status no later than Friday, March 14, 2025. For questions, please email David Breisch at [email protected].
Program Benefits
- Access to exclusive virtual networking and development opportunities with industry leaders and the 2025 30 Under 30 class.
- Access to in-person networking opportunities with the 2025 30 Under 30 class for those who choose to attend DI's 2025 Annual Convention in Chicago, IL.
- Participation in leadership development webinars alongside the 2025 30 Under 30 class, running monthly from August 2025-May 2026.
- Discounted rate available for one of DI's virtual certificate programs such as Professional in Destination Management (PDM), Intellectual Capital Certificate (ICC) or Business Intelligence (BI).
- Mentorship Program inclusion.
Program Requirements
- Must be under the age of 30 at the time of application submission.
- Must presently work for an organization that is a partner in good standing of Destinations International.
- Must have been an employee (part-time employment and internships included) of a tourism-related organization for at least 1.5 years, with a minimum of six months at your current organization at the time of application submission.
- Only one individual from an organization will be chosen if multiple applicants from the same organization are nominated.
- Nominees must have supervisor support to apply for the program.
Application Requirements
To complete the application, you must be prepared to submit the following:
- Current resume.
- High resolution headshot.
- A brief professional bio.
- Provide brief answers to the following questions in 100-150 words each.
- Describe your current involvement with Destinations International. If none, tell us how you would like to be involved with DI in the future.
- Explain how you are invested in your professional development. This could include attending industry events, volunteering on industry committees, presenting on webinars, continuing education, or any other way you feel that you have furthered your own knowledge of the industry.
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years in your career? What impact do you want to have on the travel and tourism industry?
- Are you involved with your community outside of your professional role? If so, how?
- How can your organization support a more inclusive and welcoming environment for DMOs and communities around the globe?
- Video submission
This is your elevator pitch to let us get to know you! Answer BOTH of the following questions in one video of 60-120 seconds. Please note, videos longer than two minutes will be disqualified. We are looking for creativity, originality and authenticity in your content! We encourage you to be fun and entertaining while also maintaining a professional demeanor for this prestigious award. All work must be original and self-produced. We are NOT looking for professionally produced videos by a marketing agency.- Share a project and/or success that you are proud of that had a positive impact on your CVB, community or the tourism industry
- Tell us why you are a future leader within the travel and tourism industry.
Scoring Rubric
Applications will be reviewed by an industry judging panel and be scored on the following topics. Note that we are looking for overall well-rounded candidates and are not expecting individuals to score highly in every category below. Examples of high quality applications are provided for reference only and are not inclusive of all high-scoring applications.
- Leadership in the local or regional community. Examples include:
- Participates or volunteers in local committees, charities or non-profit organizations outside of current professional role
- Serves in a leadership position of a community group, outside of current professional role
- Demonstrated success in your position. Examples include:
- Created, led, or was a significant contributor to projects that had a significant impact on the community, organization or tourism industry
- Showed written or visual examples of successful project(s) completed in current job role
- Demonstrates meaningful results, KPIs, statistics or other evidence of strong ROI on professional activities
- Proven history of progressive responsibility/career progression. Examples include:
- Has a history of taking on new responsibilities/expanding job scope and role
- Received cross-training/worked in multiple departments within the organization
- Received a promotion or a significant change in job title during career
- Worked at multiple tourism-related organizations
- Committment to professional development and thought leadership. Examples include:
- Participates in DI or industry-led webinars
- Attends in-person industry events related to travel and tourism
- Participates in the DI mentorship program
- Speaks at virtual or in-person webinars, events or courses as a speaker/lecturer
- Participates in DI committees or task forces
- Takes professional development courses or certifications
- Received another industry award or honor (such as eTourism Emerging Leader, PCMA 20 in the 20s, etc.)
- Pursuing additional formal education such as a secondary degree or tourism college
- Produces creative and innovative video
- Must succinctly answer BOTH questions within the time limit
- Include visual example(s) of projects or key initiatives
- Describe or show the positive impact your job has on the community
- Show creativity, energy and personality in your video presentation
- Be yourself!
- Note that we are not looking for professionally produced videos; we are looking for applicants that are enthusiastic about their position and organization, optimistic and passionate about their future in the travel and tourism industry, and excited to talk about themselves and their community
- Examples of outstanding video submissions from 2024:
2025 Application
Applications for 2025 will close on Monday, January 20 at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Please read the all application guidelines before submitting. We recommend you save your answers in a separate document before completing the form.
By submitting your application, you agree to receive email marketing and communications from Destinations International as part of your DI member benefits. You also agree to release your full application and contact information to program sponsors and judges for the purposes of application judging and follow up communications related to the program. DI will not use your contact information for any other purpose. DI reserves the right to use your video and written application for future marketing of the program.