NTA Signs on to DEI Pledge

It's no secret the world is different than it was a couple years ago. It's up to us whether that new world is for the better. One key way we could do that is by building diversity, equity and inclusion into the foundation of our workplaces and organizations. Several organizations in the travel industry are taking strides in this direction, including the National Tour Association—a global association of packaged-travel professionals who serve groups and individuals traveling to, from and within North America.

NTA has signed on to a pledge that commits the association's leaders and members to take purposeful action around diversity, equity and inclusion.

The pledge was initiated by Travel Unity, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing diversity in the travel industry. Following the recommendation of NTA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Group, the NTA Board of Directors unanimously approved a motion for NTA to sign on to the Travel Unity DEI Pledge.

"Our advisory group reviewed the pledge and guiding principles and determined them to be an excellent roadmap for an association wanting to take meaningful, purposeful, and authentic steps to achieve DEI," said Catherine Prather, president, NTA. "This journey is a marathon, not a sprint, and making the pledge is another committed step that NTA is taking."

The pledge's guiding principles for participating associations include establishing a DEI committee, conducting an audit—focused through a DEI lens—of current practices and structures, solidifying a code of ethics, and creating mechanisms for accountability.

For more than a year, Prather has represented NTA in Travel Unity's Travel Association Working Group. Other travel associations represented in this working group include the Adventure Travel Trade Association, the Student and Youth Travel Association, the International Tour Management Institute, the Society of American Travel Writers, The Family Travel Association, and Tourism Cares.

For more information, visit NTA.

Courtesy of Groups Today.

Photo courtesy of NTA.