Community at Focus of Association of Black Travel Professionals’ Conference

This year marks the fourth that the Association of Black
Travel Professionals (ABTP), led Veranda Adkins and Shawnta Harrison, will host
the ABTP Summit, featuring four days of travel supplier training, business
development workshops and professional networking.

Scheduled for August 15 to 18, the event will also feature
special guest presenters covering a variety of business development areas
designed to provide attendees with a broad range of knowledge from expert
sources.

Importantly, the conference is also about celebrating the
success of ABTP members and suppliers, a sentiment that points to the initial
goals of ABTP’s founders.

From
the outset, Adkins and Harrison sought to provide members with a
sense of community, enabling fledgling Black advisors to acquire invaluable
knowledge from industry insiders.

At the same time, the group advocates for increased Black
representation in leadership roles at travel suppliers and retail networks.

The upcoming Summit will be a function as a real-time confirmation
of their success in creating an effective organization that supports its
members’ personal and professional growth. We spoke recently with Adkins and
Harrison to learn more about ABTP and the upcoming Summit.

TP: What are your goals for this year’s ABTP
Summit?

SH: One of the main things we’d like to address at the
summit is the unique challenges faced by Black travel professionals. We want to
promote networking opportunities and offer educational sessions that focus on
industry trends, best practices and strategies for success.

One of our main goals is always to provide a platform for Black
travel agents and professionals. We help them with knowledge to gain insights
that will help them grow their businesses.

TP: What will be the focus of the conference
program?

VA: One of the things that we’re doing differently with
this summit is the speakers we have for our second day. We break the summit
into two days, one day it’s our suppliers and the second day we focus on the
travel agents and what we can do to help grow their businesses.

TP: How is this different from past years?

VA: This year we have speakers who are not part of the
travel industry. They are from all different walks of life; we have social
media influencers, attorneys [and] entrepreneurs focused on building wealth.

We have a great industry that will give us all the training
that we need. We can always get [from] hotels and destinations. One of the
things that we’re lacking is that business focus. We have to put the two words
together: travel and business.

TP: What else does the ABTP represent for the
organization’s members?

SH: It’s an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of
our Black travel professionals. We come together, we laugh, we network and just
have a happy time. It’s definitely an event that is not like any other industry
experience.

TP: What does it mean to you to host the fourth
edition of this conference?

VA: If anybody knows the history of ABTP, that’s how Shawnta
and I started – just helping each other. We wanted to be able to pass our knowledge
on to other people in the industry. No one knows everything, but we do know
we’re willing to share with people, so that’s just kind of been it.

TP: Who else do you credit for ABTP’s success?

VA: We want to shout out our industry partners who have
decided to stick with us at ABTP and give us a shot. We’ve really had some
tough conversations with them about why they need to partner with us.

If you keep doing the same thing the same way, you’re going
to get the same results. Being able to have these conversations with our
industry partners and saying, ‘Hey you know, let’s try some new things let’s and
see how this is going to work,’ and them being amenable to that has been really
great.

TP: Why is ABTP an important organization for
travel professionals?

VA: It’s just a matter of being inclusive of everyone. People
ask us if you have to be Black to be a part of ABTP and we say no, we do have
members that are not Black. Even with us, if everybody in the room looks like
you, something is wrong because that’s not how the world is made up.

So if you’re not doing something to include everybody or if
you’re thinking you’re including everybody and you’re not, that may be an
opportunity for you to reach out to some other organizations, not just ABTP,
but other organizations that exists for diverse professionals to see what your
organization can do.

TP: What do you think more people should know
about Black advisors?

SH: There is a misconception that Black travel agents are
not in the luxury travel space. We want consumers and industry partners alike
to understand when you think of a luxury you should also think of Black travel
professionals because we are in that space and a lot of those are doing quite
well there.

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