Destinations International, the world’s largest resource for official destination organizations, convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) and tourism boards, has renewed its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP). 

Established in 1983, the NCBMP is a non-profit organization dedicated primarily to the leadership development of Black hospitality professionals and all hospitality professionals that support Black meetings and events. Since its founding, the organization has made a significant impact in the hospitality community by advocating for equity and helping members maximize their ROI. 

With the shared goal of seeking actions that strive to educate, uplift and equitably unite the hospitality industry, the partnership between the two organizations will entail collaborating on a shared advocacy plan that provides comprehensive data and actions designed to address the projected disparities within the destination organization ecosystem, according to Destinations International officials.

“Destinations International is committed to listening and engaging in conversations and working with members and partners in our industry to be a catalyst for change,” said Don Welsh, president and CEO of Destinations International. “Our partnership with NCBMP will allow us to strengthen and grow our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives with an organization committed to the needs of Black hospitality professionals and all hospitality professionals that support Black meetings and events.”

The collaborative goals to be developed will include:

• Continued collaboration and support of the Destinations International Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Assessment Tool.
• Establishing a partnership to invest time and available resources to develop leadership programming with education for diverse candidates to build skill sets in preparation for executive leadership positions.
• Developing or contributing to a vetted vendor diversity portal that offers members from Destinations International and the NCBMP with the capability for members to access minority-owned vendors and for vendors to engage and post their business/qualifications to this portal.
• Developing, implementing and sustaining an advocacy strategy to support the above goals via innovative programming and comprehensive strategies through regular engagement and quarterly meetings.
• Collaboratively developing key partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to strengthen the pipeline of Black talent that is prepared to enter the industry in conjunction with the HBCU scholarship initiative and the HBCU consortium.

According to Jason Dunn, executive director of NCBMP, the renewal of this agreement with Destinations International further deepens the relationship between the two organizations.

“Our commitment to ensuring that we hold the industry accountable and seek to continue measuring KPIs is an essential pillar in our success,” Dunn said. “As we celebrate 40 years of service, it is always good to be on the right side of history. 

He continued, “We believe in this work and value those partners who have blazed trails with us. This strategic partnership, if done right, has the potential to empower communities, cities, states and countries across the globe. We do business with our friends and we consider Destinations International a friend.”

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