• Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

For Immediate Release | Official News Wire for the Travel Industry

Where press releases are breaking news

  • Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

LGBT Meeting Professionals Association announces more member benefits

October 24, 2019 by PressEditor

Today the LGBT Meeting Professionals Association (LGBT MPA) announces new member benefits including the first LGBT Supplier Diversity resource guide and a new member portal with educational content, mentoring, and professional development opportunities. The new benefits also include a Members Guide and Forum are designed to build community and advance inclusivity of the meeting planning industry.

The MPA Supplier Diversity Guide is the first comprehensive resource listing vendors that meet the LGBT
MPA’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) standards. The guide is available online at the organization’s website.

“We know some meeting planners don’t control where their meetings are held. This alone can make it difficult to meet diversity expectations,” said David Jefferys, Executive Director. “Our new Supplier Diversity Guide provides information so meeting planners can choose to support vendors that meet LGBT MPA D&I standards and allow them to plan meetings that comply with their organization’s inclusivity goals.”

The LGBT MPA’s new member portal is a business resource as well as an active professional development source. In addition to the LGBT MPA Supplier Diversity Guide, members can post RFPs and job listings.

“We are very proud of our new member professional benefits and we are equally proud of the addition of our business-focused benefits,” said Jim Clapes, LGBT MPA Board Chairman and Conference & Events Manager for the Drug Policy Alliance. “We believe that the LGBT MPA Supplier Diversity will allow members to allocate dollars to vendors who support inclusivity.

Because, in the end we are all business professionals and diversity is good for business.”

More about LGBT MPA

The LGBT Meeting Professionals Association (LGBT MPA) is the first and only association for this industry group. Statistically, there are an estimated 100,000 meeting professionals currently practicing in the United States. LGBT MPA predicts in the US that 8,000 to 12,000 of these professionals working in the field are members of the LGBT community. Globally the current estimate is 18,000 to 23,000.

The LGBT MPA was founded in August 2016 by Dave Jefferys, president and CEO of the Altus Agency, a Philadelphia-based marketing enterprise firm specializing in LGBT travel and the Executive Officers and the Board. Membership for LGBT professionals is free.

MEDIA CONTACT: David Jefferys, Executive Director LGBT Meeting Professionals Association [email protected]    

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Travel & Tourism Tagged With: association, CEO, LGBT, meetings, members, MPA, professionals

IGLTA honors ITB Berlin for its commitment to LGBT+ travel segment

April 17, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The reward for promoting awareness and acceptance of the LGBT+ Community in the global tourism industry: at the Annual Global Convention, which will take place from 24 to 27 April at the Hilton Midtown New York City, the International LGBT+ Travel Association (IGLTA) will present ITB Berlin with the Vanguard Award.

Every year, together with the IGLTA Foundation (www.iglta.org/The-IGLTA-Foundation), the public charity subsidiary of the IGLTA, the directors’ board presents the IGLTA Honors. The recipients are individuals, companies or organizations who have improved relations within the tourism community and raised awareness of LGBT+ travel around the world. The LGBT Travel Pavilion of ITB Berlin celebrated its debut back in 2010, and since then has become a highly-regarded role model for the presentation of the gay and lesbian travel segment at an international travel show. In addition to the extensive display area with its own conference venue, supporting events such as the LGBT+ Media Brunch, networking events, informative lectures, the LGBT+ ITB Convention Seminar – which since 2 years also includes the bestowal of an ITB Pioneer Award -, and, as of this year the International LGBT+ Leadership Summit, attract many visitors.

ITB’s commitment has made it possible to also position this segment at ITB Asia in Singapore and organize international ITB Academies on this topic as recently in Malta and Japan.

”ITB Berlin is proud to occupy a pioneering role in this important subject, and to be the recipient of such a prestigious award for its continuing efforts to promote international recognition of LGBT+ travel“, said Rika Jean-François, CSR officer of ITB Berlin and responsible for this segment. ”What began as a few community pioneers exhibiting here and there around ITB Berlin has over the years become a recognized platform. Together with our partner Diversity Tourism we have created a globally unique forum.“

”We have got to the point now where at ITB Berlin we have created one of the liveliest and most diverse LGBT+ Travel Pavilions possible, with exhibitors and people taking part in discussion rounds from around the world“, is how Thomas Bömkes, LGBT+ consultant for ITB Berlin and Managing Director of Diversity Tourism GmbH described this market’s rising prospects. Rika Jean-François added: ”This award will give us the strength to continue defending LGBT+ travelers against discrimination in every country in the world and to ensure that they, just like any other travelers, can visit places where also local people are respected regardless of their sexual orientation.” Thomas Bömkes pointed out, that the economic potential of this travel market cannot be underestimated: “Studies have shown that accepting diversity can contribute significantly to a destination’s economic success.“

LGBT tourism has been represented at ITB Berlin since the Nineties. As a result of ITB Berlin’s CSR policy which promotes diversity and defends human rights in tourism and due to the keen interest expressed by exhibitors and visitors, Gay & Lesbian Travel was officially declared a segment in its own right at ITB Berlin 2010. Openness, creativity and lively interaction are the dominant features of this segment that has become one of the most wide-ranging at ITB Berlin. The LGBT Travel Pavilion currently boasts the world’s largest display of products for the gay and lesbian travel market of any trade show in the world.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, annual, April, area, around the world, Asia, association, attract, award, Awareness, Berlin, board, Breaking Travel News, brunch, celebrated, Charity, city, commitment, community, companies, conference, consultant, continue, convention, Corporate News, country, created, creativity, CSR, Cultural Travel News, currently, debut, defending, Destination, director, directors, discrimination, discussion, display, diversity, due, economic, efforts, Events, exhibitors, extensive, Features,, forum, foundation, free, gay, gay and lesbian travel, Germany Travel News, Global, Global Convention, global tourism, global tourism industry, globally, Got, Hilton, honors, Hospitality News, Human, human rights, Human Rights news, IGLTA, important, improved, in, includes, Industry, interaction, interest, International, international travel, International Travel News, IT, ITB, ITB Asia, ITB Berlin, japan, just, largest, leadership, lesbian, LGBT, lgbt travel, LGBTQ, like, local, Malta, Managing, managing director, Market, media, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, model, most, networking, New, new york, New York City, officer, organizations, orientation, out, over, partner, pavilion, pavilions, People, People in Travel, pioneer, pioneering, Place, places, platform, policy, position, potential, present, presentation, prestigious, products, promote, promotes, promoting, Prospects, proud, public, raised, ranging, recognition, relations, represented, responsible, reward, right, rights, rising, role, s, said, Segment, seminar, sexual, show, significantly, Singapore, strength, studies, success, summit, supporting, taking, The World, Thomas, to, TO BE, tourism, Tourism Industry, Trade, trade show, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel association, Travel Award News, travel market, travel show, travelers, Travelwire News, unique, US, venue, visit, visitors, We, WHO, World, World News, year, years, York, York City

WTTC Global Summit: President Obama was a disappointment for many

April 3, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

U.S. President Barak Obama was the most expected speaker at the ongoing World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) summit in Seville today.

More than 1500 CEOs, association presidents, ministers of tourism, and heads of state were attending the summit, and hundreds of viewers from around the world were watching the live video stream of the summit, also announced by this publication. Many who saw the eTN announcement in Hawaii were up at 2:00 am in the morning to listen in.

A loyal group of fans of the former president was in for a big disappointment when without prior warning the video live stream was stopped during the president’s address.

The feedback eTN received from people in the audience listening to Obama’s conversation was not really great. The money spent by WTTC to get some advice from the most popular head of state was disappointing.

There was no substance in the presidents’ talk was some feedback. His talk about his love for hiking when he was young was not relevant to the needs top executives were hoping to hear.

The challenges, needs of the second largest industry was not mentioned. There was no word about equality and dangers LGBT tourists face in countries like Brunei.

Mr. Obama talked about the advice he gave to his daughters: “Be kind, be useful.”

After the microphones and cameras were turned on again moderator Nick Ross praised Obama as the most popular president in generations, saying “lack of power reveals.”

President Obama arrived in Seville at midnight before the event and spent the night at Hotel Alfonso XIII, drawing attention from local residents and the press. In 2016, a scheduled visit by Obama to the Andalusian capital was canceled due to a shooting in Dallas.

He visited Reales Alcázares, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the morning before returning to his hotel.

He left again at 2 pm for Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos, which is hosting the international event on April 3 and 4.

After meeting privately with around 50 summit attendees, Obama delivered his short address to WTTC delegates.

After his speech, Obama was scheduled to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for around 20 minutes inside one of the center’s private rooms. It will be their second one-on-one after their meeting last year in Madrid.

Although this is Obama’s first trip to Seville, he has ties to the city because his daughter Malia lived there for a few months.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, announced, announcement, April, around the world, association, attendees, audience, Barak Obama, big, Breaking Travel News, Brunei, cameras, canceled, capital, center, CEO, CEOs, challenges, city, Corporate News, council, countries, Dallas, dangers, daughter, delegates, delivered, disappointing, disappointment, due, Equality, eTN, event, executives, expected, face, fans, Feature, first, former president, generations, Global, global summit, Group, Hawaii, head, Heads, heritage, hosting, hotel, in, Industry, inside, International, international event, IT, lack, largest, last, LGBT, LGBT tourists, like, Listen, live, local, love, loyal, Madrid, meet, meeting, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, minister, ministers, Ministers of Tourism, minutes, money, months, most, most popular, Mr, needs, News articles, night, Obama, ongoing, People, People in Travel, PM, popular, power, president, President Obama, presidents, Press, Prime Minister, private, publication, received, residents, rooms, Ross, s, saying, scheduled, second, Seville, shooting, short, site, Spain travel news, Spanish, speaker, speech, State, stopped, summit, talk, The World, ties, TN, to, today, top, tourism, tourism council, tourists, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel and tourism, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, trip, U.S. president, UK Travel News, UNESCO, UNESCO world heritage, UNESCO world heritage site, up, video, visit, visited, warning, were, WHO, word, World, World Heritage, World Heritage Site, world travel, world travel and tourism, World Travel and Tourism Council, WTTC, wttc global summit, Y, year, young

U.S. State Department tells tourists Brunei is safe, except for death by stoning

April 2, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The U.S. State Department is telling American travelers, Brunei is one of the safest countries in the world to visit. Brunei safer than the Bahamas, Germany or Indonesia, and way safer then Turkey.

The U.S. embassy, however, states: Criminal penalties for some offenses are harsher than in the United States. This is a clear and misleading understatement:  When traveling to Brunei the State Department wants travelers to read through a 1767 page document provided by the Brunei government outlining all details of the Syariah Penal Code. This law will be implemented as of April 3, 2019. Regardless the State Department tells U.S. Citizens, the country remains a level one “no threat.” visitors destination.

Why is the U.S. Embassy not telling American tourists, that Brunei actually is ready to stone American travelers to death if they are part of the LGBT community? Is this part of the harsher penalty for the crime of sexual orientation?

The embassy website states:

  • Non-Muslims may be arrested for khalwat (close proximity between the sexes) under the Sharia Penal Code provided that the other accused party is Muslim. Khalwat may include activities from holding hands or public displays of affection to sexual activity. U.S. citizens are also subject to khalwat laws.
  • Extramarital relations between a Muslim and non-Muslim may be considered a crime in Brunei.

eTurboNews asked the State Department and received this response:

The U.S. Department of State has no greater responsibility than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.  We are committed to providing U.S. citizens with clear, timely, and reliable information about every country in the world so they can make informed travel decisions.  We routinely update our Travel Advisories and country-specific information for all countries based on a comprehensive review of all available safety information and ongoing developments. At a minimum, we review Level 1 and 2 Travel Advisories every 12 months, and Level 3 and 4 Travel Advisories every six months.  We also review and update Travel Advisories and country-specific information on an as-needed basis, based on developing security and safety information.

On March 29 the State Department issued  the following paragraph linked from the page categorizing Brunei as a safe country:

“The Government of Brunei Darussalam will commence full implementation of the Syariah Penal Code (SPC) on April 3, 2019. The full SPC introduces new judicial procedures and punishments, including, for certain offenses and under certain evidentiary circumstances, amputation of hands or feet and death by stoning. The SPC applies regardless of an individual’s religion or nationality, although some sections of the law have specific applicability to Muslims. Brunei’s existing civil penal code and civil courts will continue to function in parallel with the SPC and Syariah Court.”

Scott Foster, president of LGBT Hawaii told eTurboNews:

“The response by the U.S. State Department is insulting and is putting LGBT traveler in danger. It should be the obligation for the U.S. government to protect Americans and not put them in harm’s way.
Death by stoning for LGBT travelers should be clearly visible alert on the State Department Brunei page and not hidden in a 1767 document. In no word is the State Department spelling out this danger to LGBT travelers.
The United States should immediately issue a travel warning to protect our LGBT travelers and citizens. The alert level for Brunei should be raised to 4, what means “DO NOT TRAVEL, or at a minimum to a level 3: “Reconsider Travel.”

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: Americans, and, April, arrested, Bahamas, based, Breaking Travel News, Brunei, Brunei Darussalam, Brunei travel news, citizens, Clear, close, code, commence, community, continue, countries, country, court, courts, crime, criminal, danger, Darussalam, death, decisions, department, Department of State, Destination, developments, document, embassy, eTurboNews, existing, Feature, feet, following, full, function, Germany, government, greater, Hawaii, Hawaii Travel News, hidden, immediately, implementation, in, including, individual, Indonesia, information, insulting, issued, IT, law, laws, LGBT, LGBT community, LGBT travelers, LGBTQ, linked, Make, march, May, misleading, months, Muslim, muslims, nationality, needed, New, News articles, Non, obligation, ongoing, orientation, out, overseas, page, Paragraph, party, penal code, penalties, penalty, president, procedures, protect, public, putting, raised, ready, received, relations, reliable, religion, remains, response, responsibility, review, s, safe, Safety, safety and security, Scott Foster, Security, sexual, SPC, State, State Department, State Department Brunei, states, stoning, tells, The Bahamas, the United States, The World, threat, through, to, told, tourism, tourists, tourists Brunei, Travel, travel advisories, Travel Destination News, travel warning, Traveler, travelers, traveling, Travelwire News, Turkey, U.S, U.S. State, U.S. State Department, United, United States, update, visit, visitors, warning, way, We, website, Why, word, World

Death for gay guests at Beverly Hills Hotel or Hotel Bel‑Air? Dorchester Collection issues a statement

April 2, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air are part of the Dorchester Collection group and upscale 5-star accommodation in Beverly Hills 2 miles from West Hollywood, known to be the Gayest City in America.

The Sultan controls the Dorchester Collection hotel group, owner of Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel‑Air among others. This is because the Sultan controls the Brunei Investment Agency (SWF). The Sultan hates gays to death.

The Sultan Hassanai Bolkiah is the head of State of Brunei and also one of the richest people on earth. He is powerful enough to put action behind his deadly wishes for the LGBT community. Stoning LGBT visitors to death in Brunei is the law as of tomorrow.

The Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) is a government-owned corporation that reports to the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Brunei. Established in 1983, its offices are located in Bandar Seri Begawan at the Ministry of Finance.

It ranks among the most secretive of sovereign wealth funds It was established in 1983, when the sultanate took over investment activities from its former colonial master, the United Kingdom. BIA invests the government General Reserve Fund, money transferred to it on the order of the sultan. Although the fund is a government entity, the line between its finances and those of the royal family remains indistinct, making its investments difficult to track.

George Timothy Clooney and Elton John and many other stars are no longer are staying in hotels operated by Dorchester Collection because there is a dangerous double standard developing right in the United States of America.

“Dorchester Collection’s Code emphasizes equality, respect, and integrity in all areas of our operation, and strongly values people and cultural diversity amongst our guests and employees.  Inclusion and diversity remain core beliefs as we do not tolerate any form of discrimination.”

This was a statement received today by Brittany Williams, the director of Communication for both hotels has a double standard here.

According to Ms. Williams, this code applies to the Dorchester Collection, and all employees wanting to work for the hotel group need to sign this code. Ms. Williams explained the Dorchester Collection is owned by the Dorchester Group.

However, according to an article in Travel Weekly from 2006, the name Dorchester Group was actually changed to Dorchester Collection. If this was the case Dorchester Collection and both Beverly Hill Hotels are directly owned by the Brunei Investment Agency.

Some major foreign assets of BIA include the Dorchester Collection, which is a portfolio of luxury hotels established in 1996; a 10% holding in the Paterson Securities of Australia, and Bahagia Investment Corporation (Malaysia), dealing with real estate.

BIA’s investment portfolio, apart from investments within Brunei, covers diverse investments in bonds, equity, currency, gold, and real estate. It has substantial investments in the United States.

Brunei investors bought The Dorchester on Park Lane in London in 1985 for US$50 million and in 1996 BIA formed the Dorchester Collection, a conglomerate of luxury hotels in UK, USA, France, and Italy which includes it. BIA owns The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles which was bought for US$185 million in 1987 as well as the Grand Hyatt Singapore Hotel. BIA has a 10% holding in the Paterson Securities of Australia, and Bahagia Investment Corporation of Malaysia, dealing with real estate.

 

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, Angeles, areas, assets, Australia, bandar seri begawan, beliefs, Beverly, Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Hotel, bia, BIA invests, bonds, Breaking Travel News, Brunei, Brunei travel news, case, changed, city, code, collection, colonial, Communication, community, controls, Corporate News, Corporation, cultural, currency, dangerous, deadly, death, directly, director, discrimination, diversity, Dorchester, Dorchester Collection, Dorchester Group, double, Earth, Elton John, employees, Equality, equity, estate, explained, Family, Feature, Finance, finances, foreign, form, France, fund, funds, gay, gays, general, George, gold, government, Government Affairs, Grand, Grand Hyatt, Group, guests, head, Hills, hollywood, Hospitality News, hotel, Hotel Group, Hotel Travel News, Hotels, Hyatt, in, includes, inclusion, Investment, investments, investors, invests, issues, IT, Italy, John, Kingdom, known, law, LGBT, LGBT community, LGBTQ, line, London, Los Angeles, Luxury, luxury hotels, major, Malaysia, miles, million, ministry, money, most, Ms, name, nbsp, need, News articles, offices, operation, order, over, owner, park, People, portfolio, real, Real Estate, received, remains, reports, reserve, respect, richest, right, royal, royal family, s, sign, Singapore, Singapore hotel, standard, Star, Stars, State, statement, states, stoning, sultan, Sultanate, Terror news, The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Dorchester, The Ministry, the United States, to, TO BE, today, tolerate, tourism, Tourism Investment News, Travel, Travel Weekly, Travelwire News, UK, United, United Kingdom, United States, United States of America, upscale, US, USA, visitors, wanting, We, wealth, weekly, West, West Hollywood, work

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Search




Recent Articles

  • Webasto Adds Two New Wallboxes to EV Charging Portfolio
  • Book Your Own White Lotus Inspired Italian Vacation
  • Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee to Be a Key Driver of Experiential Tourism – Says Bartlett
  • Sandals Foundation & Beaches Ocho Rios Resort Support Moms
  • Malta, a World Class Diving Destination, to Open the World’s First Ever Deep-Water Archaeological Park at Xlendi Bay in Spring 2023
  • Bartlett Presents PM Holness’ Vision and Plans for Negril
  • Gay-Friendly Malta Hosts EuroPride Valletta 2023
    September 7 to 17, 2023
  • Destination Assurance Key to Tourism Success – Bartlett
  • The St. Regis Venice Triumphs at Marriott’s EMEA General Manager’s Conference 2023
  • The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Aviation & Investments Returns to SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo under the theme ‘Soaring into The Bahamas GoldenJubilee’

Subscribe to daily email update

RSS eTN Articles

  • American Queen Voyages Names New Executives
  • United Invests $5 Million in Carbon Capture Company
  • Aruba Launches Airport Digital Passport Program
  • The Refreshed Pridwin Hotel and Cottages Opens April 20
  • Holland America Line Adds Boston, Bermuda, Longer Itineraries
  • Travel and Tourism Cybersecurity Jobs Grow by 54%
  • Porter Adds Flights to New Ottawa-Charlottetown Route
  • Costa Cruises Celebrates 75 Years with Reduced Fares
  • Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority Names New Chair
  • Direct Flights Between Hong Kong and Phuket

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016

Content

and Breaking Travel News Business CEO experience first free hotel Hotels in including Industry International International Travel News IT minister most New News articles only over People s said sandals The World through time to TO BE tourism Tours Transportation News Travel Travel & Tourism Organizations News Travel Destination News Travelwire News up We were WHO World World News year years

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in