MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
The MTA faculty and MTA student organization Tourism for Tomorrow (TFT) welcomed new MTA students at the MTA orientation program on August 29. Dr. Cevat Tosun, Director of the MTA Program and Eisenhower Chair and Professor of Tourism Studies and Management, gave a welcome speech to the new students. Dinete Kollanur, President of TFT, represented the current MTA students to welcome the new students to the program.
Congratulations to Frances Homan for being the first MTA/MBA dual degree candidate at The George Washington University School of Business!
MTA Alumni News
Elizabeth (Hill) Montoya (MTA '07), Chief of Protocol & Investor Relations at Rubicon, was appointed to the Board of Directors at Rubicon! Elizabeth also serves on GWSB Dean's Corporate Council. Congrats, Elizabeth!
Congratulations to Ibrahim Osta (MTA ’05) for being appointed Chief of Party, USAID Sustainable Economic Growth in Bosnia and Herzegovenia. Ibrahim will lead USAID’s Sustainable Economic Growth Activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SEGA) to fuel broad-based tourism-driven economic growth and promote social harmony by capitalizing on its rich cultural heritage and distinctive nature, and expand wine and indigenous agriculture production and their exports. In addition, the project will support the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) tourism industry to quickly recover from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and set it on a robust growth trajectory toward a sustainable tourism economy.
Ting Gong (MTA ’14) recently joined Rios Partners as a consultant. Jonathan Méndez (MTA ’19), is now Associate for Executive Talent Acquisition at Kellogg Company. Congrats to Ting and Jonathan!

 Upcoming Virtual Events 

Join industry leaders for a fast-paced discussion of how top hospitality companies are adapting to radical, real-time shifts in demand by capitalizing on new trends such as unprecedented use of food delivery services, barriers to international travel, shifts toward smaller group events and changes in consumer behavior regarding booking, loyalty and overall travel patterns. Attendees will leave with concrete case studies showcasing how to increase agility, assess new initiatives and revamp existing business strategies to gain market share in the competitive, changeable pandemic travel environment and beyond.
Register here
Join Tourism for Tomorrow for a  Zoom virtual happy hour! Come and meet fellow MTA sutdents on Friday September 25th from 5pm-7pm EST! Download Calendar invite here.

 Getting to know your Colleague – Nuo Li

 Nuo Li is an international student from Beijing, China. Coming with an extensive digital marketing background, Nuo used to work with Marriott from the agency side in Hong Kong and work at Booking.com in Shanghai and Beijing, both overseeing social media channels and building strong brand contents.

What projects have you been working on that you want to share with the readers? 
I've been helping promote the Indigenous Tourism Forum of the Americas organized by the International Institue of Tourism Studies (IITS) at GW. It's an exciting five-day virtual event that is totally free for GW students. I highly recommend everyone to register! 
What are your plans after graduation?
I hope to continue working in the States after graduation and help promote mutual understanding between China and the U.S. through tourism. 

What is an unusual talent that you have?
I learned to play keyboard from 5 years old to 5th grade. 
An insightful and impactful webinar by a distinguished panel of industry leaders on African American Leaders in Tourism: A Critical Look at Inclusion in the Industry. A special thank you to the panelists: Cleo Battle, COO of Louisville Tourism; Elliott Ferguson, II, President & CEO of Destination DC; Deanne Johnson-Anderson, VP of Human Resources, Crestline Hotels & Resorts; Mary Windham (MTA ’99), President & CEO of Occasions, Inc. MTA and MBA students: Danielle Lewis-Jones, J Robinson and Dominique Tolbert contributed to this webinar in initiating and moderating the webinar. The on-demand recording is now available.
Seleni Matus, Executive Director, IITS; Talia Salem (MTA’12), The Principle, The Urban Nomad; Anna Barrera (MTA'14), Research Scholar, IITS,  presented a panel discussion at 2020 American Indian Tourism Conference: Resilience Planning: Lessons Learned from COVID-19, September 14. This session provided practical guidance that tourism destinations and businesses in Indian Country can take to plan their reopening, attract and inspire confidence among travelers and manage through this unprecedented global pandemic. 
GWSB F. David Fowler Career Center hosted a panel on career development in tourism/hospitality/event on  Septermber 15. Panelists included Christopher McRoy, Director of Sales & Marketing, Hotel Madera; Mauricio Rodriquez, Director of Berkadia Hotels and Hospitality & Capital Markets Mortgage Banking; Evita McDanials (MTA ’14), Director of Marketing, West Coast Charlie Palmer Collective; Lisa Jordan (MTA ’07), Vice President of Hostelling International, USA; Yuri Horowitz (MTA ’13), Cultural Tourism Program Manager, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institute. The panelists shared their own professional experience and provided useful career advice to current students. Emily Baxter, current MTA student and Employer Relations Manager at FDFCC, moderated the panel discussion.

Indigenous Tourism Forum of the Americas is back! Beginning on October 12, Indigenous Peoples Day in the U.S., Indigenous and tourism leaders will gather virtually to share, repair, and rebuild. The forum will discuss how Indigenous communities throughout the Americas can plan for a post-pandemic world and be empowered to determine their own futures. Join us for five days of roundtable discussions, workshops, keynotes, virtual tours, and networking. For more information and to regesiter, please click below. 
Register Here
Celebrating World Tourism Day: September 27, 2020. World Tourism Day was established  by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and celebrated around the world since 1980. September 27 was chosen for the WTD because the Statutes of the UNWTO were adopted on this date in 1970. UNWTO commemorates WTD with a specific theme for each year and the theme for this year is “Rebuilding Tourism in a Safe, Equitable and Climate-Friendly Way”.
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