GATEWAY TO HOSPITALITY

FUTURE OF TOURISM FORUM FOCUSES ON MULTICULTURAL TOURISM

Exploring the importance and vast influence of multicultural tourism markets is a top priority for Temple University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM), who will be hosting the 4th Annual Forum for the Future of Tourism, Multicultural Tourism Marketing: Assets and Challenges.  The Forum series has been designed by STHM’s National Laboratory for Tourism and eCommerce (NLTeC) and this year will be held March 12-14, 2008 at the Hotel Monaco in Washington, DC in partnership with the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB) – Multicultural Affairs Congress (MAC).  Recently, MAC celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Organizations such as Marriott International, Walt Disney Company, and PepsiCo are just a few of a growing number of tourism organizations that have recognized the full potential of conducting business in the multicultural marketplace.  Already this marketplace is estimated to be a multi-billion dollar entity.

By 2050, minorities are projected to represent more than half the U.S. population, account for more than 20 percent of total spending power of America, and represent a combined buying power that will exceed $1.5 trillion dollars in 2008 (MFHA Fast Facts, 2008).  Statistics like these act as motivation for tourism and hospitality businesses to develop services to address the needs of the growing multicultural consumer base. 

Philadelphia MAC exemplifies this commitment. It was the nation’s first multicultural division of a convention and visitors bureau. “The multicultural travel market exceeds visitors’ spending of $1 billion for the greater Philadelphia region alone.  Our success involved the inclusion of Philadelphia’s multicultural communities into every aspect of the hospitality industry,” said MAC Executive Director Tanya Hall.

This year’s conference will address topics stressing the importance and impact of multiculturalism in tourism, and provide a platform to talk about groundbreaking trends currently used in the industry, as well as allow attendees to share their ideas and become a part of future solutions to optimize the multicultural marketplace. 

Workshops include understanding the importance of multiculturalism, challenges within multicultural tourism, issues in human resource management, product development and expansion, multicultural tourism marketing, and academic/industry multicultural education efforts. 

Within these topics the forum will facilitate discussions about a number of best-practice strategies used by the tourism/hospitality industry to service diversity both for internal and external customer relations. This includes the examination of questions, such as what are effective marketing strategies used for multicultural market segments and how can cities use tourism development as a tool to revive their rich ethnic communities?  Forum attendees will take an active role in exploring these questions and many more like these.

Featured speakers will include Gerry Fernandez, president and founder Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance (MFHA), and Andy Ingraham, president, and CEO National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers (NABHOOD). Gerry Fernandez will speak about the different meanings and interpretations of multiculturalism and diversity and Andy Ingraham will address multiculturalism and diversity in hotel ownership.

To register, or for more information, visit http://tourism.temple.edu.

Registration is complimentary and limited to 50 registrants: only two attendees per organization.  A special discounted group rate at the Hotel Monaco, Washington DC is available exclusively for Forum participants.

Temple University’s STHM is the greater Philadelphia region’s leading provider of management talent in tourism, hospitality, sport and recreation. STHM offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs in two major areas of concentration: tourism and hospitality management, and sport and recreation management.  It is also one of a few programs throughout the country that has an industry specific diversity requirement within its curriculum. Both programs build on Temple’s strong industry ties and extensive alumni network. In 2007, more than 90 percent of STHM graduates were placed in industry jobs at Philadelphia’s major sports teams, hotels, and in a wide variety of industry-related companies.