Before Thrive officially begins, join us for an immersive, action-oriented experience designed to kickstart your journey into Tourism for All, Destinations International’s new community-centered program for creating safe and welcoming environments across your tourism ecosystem. This dynamic full-day workshop brings together early adopters, destination leaders, and expert partners to engage in the first hands-on activation of this powerful initiative.

Following the session, participants will complete a short Action Plan assignment—serving as the final step in earning a Tourism for All Readiness Certificate. This credential signals your destination’s preparedness to facilitate Tourism for All cohorts in your community.  

Through guided discussion, peer exchange and live facilitation, participants will:  

Explore the Four Pillars of Tourism for All: Learn how to operationalize practices that foster safety, belonging, and accessibility within your teams, businesses, and communities.  

Begin Crafting a Welcoming Statement: Start shaping a values-based declaration that sets the tone for your local tourism environment.  

Map Your Readiness: Prepare to unite local businesses around shared values of welcoming in a model that builds alignment, trust and collective action.

Co-Design the Future: Collaborate directly with DI partners and program architects to shape what the rollout looks like in your destination.  

The Tourism for All workshop offers a rare opportunity to influence, activate and lead the movement toward impactful community-rooted tourism, from the ground up. This exclusive experience is available for an additional fee and requires separate registration. Space is limited.

Let this session be your launchpad into purpose-driven progress—and the first milestone in leading transformative, community-centered tourism in your destination. 

Sophia Hyder Hock

Chief Impact Officer

Destinations International

Ava Wells

Social Impact Manager

Destinations International

 

 

 

Join fellow members of the Social Impact Committee for an in-person gathering. Together, we will explore our committee theme of navigating uncertainty and obstacles through honest dialogue and peer exchange. Whether you are a long-time member or curious about getting involved, this is your opportunity to engage with passionate leaders who are shaping the future of community-centered tourism. 

Courage is not just a personal trait but a professional imperative. In this powerful opening session, acclaimed disability advocate, broadcaster, and change agent Sophie Morgan will challenge us to redefine what it means to lead with bravery in the face of inequity. Through her personal journey and global perspective, Sophie will inspire us to lean into discomfort, make space for new voices, and choose progress, even when it’s hard. 

Sophie Morgan

Award-Winning Broadcaster, Disability Advocate and Global Change-Maker

 

 

 

 

Every workplace tells a story about who is welcomed, supported, and empowered to thrive. This session invites us to think beyond compliance and explore fresh, creative approaches to inclusion across generations, abilities, and lived experiences. Together, we’ll look at how thoughtful design of space, systems, and cultures can help foster a more vibrant and accessible workforce.

Patrick Harrison

Chief Marketing Officer

Visit Tampa Bay

Zondra Jones, CGMP, CDTP

Senior Sales Manager

Visit the North Shore

 

 

 

What does it look like when a destination becomes a place of belonging for all who call it home? This session explores how community belonging can be thoughtfully cultivated through engagement, refugee and newcomer support, and authentic local partnerships. Using the Social Impact Framework as a foundation, learn how destinations are embracing outreach to move beyond welcome and toward true community belonging.

Connie Kinnard

SVP of Multicultural Tourism & Development

Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau

Moderator

Arin Arnold-Davis

Director of Destination Stewardship and Community Engagement

VisitLEX 

Ka Vang

Vice President - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Meet Minneapolis

Justin Munoz

Chief of Staff & VP of External Affairs

Visit San Antonio 

 

This powerful afternoon experience at the International Museum of Muslim Cultures offers a unique opportunity to explore the role of culture and overcoming barriers to shape resilient communities. Through guided tours and conversations, participants will engage with themes of identity, belonging, and the vision of the Beloved Community, a model of equity and mutual respect. Learn how cultural literacy and historical awareness are essential tools in destination stewardship and community engagement. 

1:30 Program opens: Visit Jackson’s Rickey Thigpen sharing IMMC 9/11 Experience 
1:40 Introduction & Welcome: IMMC Executive Director Aseelah Rashid 
1:45 Exhibit Intro Films 
2:00 Guided Exhibition Tours & Founding Family Films 
Guests will be organized into 4 groups, each group will rotate in 20 min intervals through the following experiences: 
1. “Muslims with Christians and Jews: An Exhibition of Covenants & Coexistence” led by Okolo Rashid, IMMC Co-founder & President Emerita 
2. "Legacy of Timbuktu: Wonders of the Written Word" led by Dr. Esam Alhadi, Director of Collections & Archives 
3. Art & Artifacts Gallery led by Lina Ali, Deputy Executive Director & Chief Curator 
4. Founding Families Film in the Atrium 
3:20 Beloved Community Presentation and Immersive Dialogue 
Powerful stories of resilience, healing, and radical reimagining of Mississippi shared by Beloved Community Partnership leaders. Attendees will have an opportunity to engage in dialogue with prompts for personal reflections, discussion on core beliefs and values, concluding with a call to action regarding engagement within respective communities. 
4:10 Live Music Entertainment - a short set by local Muslim led jazz artists, showcasing the connections to Mississippi jazz and blues + short presentation 
4:30 Program Ends 

Tourism has the potential to be a powerful catalyst for sustainable development, driving economic growth, fostering community well-being, and protecting natural and cultural heritage. The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a framework to guide this transformation, encouraging destinations to align their strategies with global priorities for a better future. This presentation provides a comprehensive roadmap for integrating the SDGs into tourism plans, highlighting key strategies, partnerships, and tools to redefine success for destinations.

Barbara Karasek

CMO

Paradise, a partner for good

 

 

 

 

Authenticity in tourism marketing doesn’t start with a hashtag, it starts with the people who call your destination home. In this session, we’ll explore how community-led storytelling is reshaping the way destinations build trust, engage visitors, and create lasting impact. Through real-world examples from the Maine’s Inclusive Creator Program, Pennsylvania’s LGBTQ+ and Hispanic campaigns, and Colorado’s Inclusivity in Travel Toolkit, we’ll show how bringing diverse voices into the process early transforms everything from social campaigns to full-scale tourism activations.

Juan Vargas

Account Director

Miles Partnership

 

 

 

 

Inclusion efforts often stall—not because of lack of intent, but because of persistent, overlooked barriers. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore real-world case studies and invite participants to identify the most pressing challenges facing inclusive destination work today—such as funding gaps, leadership buy-in, community trust, and measurement. Together, we’ll explore practical strategies to overcome these barriers and keep inclusion efforts relevant and resilient.

Cara Frank

VP of Marketing

Simpleview, a Granicus company

 

 

 

 

Hiring is one of the most impactful decisions a destination organization makes yet the process can often feel rushed, inconsistent, or unintentionally biased. To help leaders and hiring managers hire more effectively and intentionally, DI has developed the Hiring with Intention Toolkit.

This new resource is designed to support HR professionals and hiring managers with a structured, consistent approach that minimizes bias and focuses on what truly matters. The toolkit serves as:

• A learning tool for building equitable, consistent hiring practices
• An interview and evaluation guide to align HR and hiring managers
• A selection framework to ensure every hire strengthens organizational culture

This session will provide an overview of the toolkit rollout, walking through its purpose, design, and application. Participants will gain a clear understanding of how the resource can help them hire well, choose intentionally, and build teams that thrive.

Lindsay Lodrini

Sr. Director, People & Culture

Destinations International

 

 

 

 

This session will build on the insights from the Destination Reputation Research by examining how advertising and promotion can shape public perception and address reputational challenges facing destinations. Grounded in new qualitative research with travelers from both the United States and Canada, the study explores which styles of messaging, creative elements, and campaign strategies are most effective in influencing destination consideration and rebuilding trust. The discussion will highlight how targeted advertising can help counter negative narratives and strengthen a destination’s brand identity amid complex political and social dynamics.

Myha Gallagher

Vice President, Brand

Future Partners

 

 

 

 

When it comes to navigating tourism’s biggest challenges—whether balancing visitor and resident needs or preparing for risk and global uncertainties, destination organizations are feeling the pressure and taking on new responsibilities at every stage of destination management. This session defines a new path to navigating tourism’s complexities and achieving balance in destination management. The most comprehensive diagnostic and project management tool, Destination Wayfinder provides a global framework and standard for destination management. Through an extensive analysis across 71 elements that incorporate the complete spectrum of destination management capabilities, destinations can: identify strengths and opportunities, assign and project manage strategic actions, monitor progress, and report on outcomes. Beyond the diagnostic, Destination Wayfinder includes recommended actions and curated resources to help you and entire organizations build the capability needed to achieve a healthier, more balanced tourism ecosystem. For any destination professional with the courage and vision to drive positive, long-term change, join us to see how Destination Wayfinder can empower you to turn holistic destination management concepts into strategy and strategy into lasting impact—for the destination and the community. 

Juan Vargas

Account Director

Miles Partnership

 

 

 

 

Destinations are increasingly seen and judged through the lens of their values, and how those values show up in action. Whether navigating societal tension or investing in long-term community relationships, destination organizations must be intentional in how they build trust and shape their reputations. This session explores cross-sector partnerships and how destination leaders are co-creating initiatives that not only mitigate reputational risk but elevate purpose and belonging as strategic assets. 

Ava Wells

Social Impact Manager

Destinations International

Moderator

Devin Heath, CDME

President & CEO

Distinctly Fayetteville

Shun Hatten

Chief Sales Officer

Visit Jackson

 

 

How do we talk about what we do, not just in strategy decks, but in everyday conversations and community meetings? This design-thinking session challenges participants to reframe their destination’s purpose through the lens of a visitor or community member who does not know why your destination organization exists.  Inspired by video reflections from Visit Jackson’s "My City Young Ambassadors", we’ll brainstorm bold and values-forward ways to explain the impact of your destination organization.

Ava Wells

Social Impact Manager

Destinations International

Nicole Picton

Director, People and Culture

Ottawa Tourism

 

 

 

How do we talk about what we do, not just in strategy decks, but in everyday conversations and community meetings? This design-thinking session challenges participants to reframe their destination’s purpose through the lens of a visitor or community member who does not know why your destination organization exists.  Inspired by video reflections from Visit Jackson’s "My City Young Ambassadors", we’ll brainstorm bold and values-forward ways to explain the impact of your destination organization.

Ava Wells

Social Impact Manager

Destinations International

Nicole Picton

Director, People and Culture

Ottawa Tourism

 

 

 

You’ve learned, reflected, and built new tools. Now it’s time to distill your vision into something powerful and shareable. This closing session challenges each participant to craft a clear, compelling “impact pitch” that captures the essence of why their work matters to their communities, stakeholders, and the future of our industry.