NETWORK TO BE ENDORSED BY KATHRYN ISOM-CLAUSE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF INDIAN AFFAIRS IN SPEECH AT 2:00 PM ET TODAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021
The Indigenous Tourism Collaborative of the Americas (ITCA) today announces the launch of an industry network of nearly 100 Indigenous and industry organizations and leaders that will work together to support sustainable Indigenous tourism development across the American continents. The new network will be endorsed by Kathryn Isom-Clause, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs for the U.S. Department of Interior, in her remarks to be given virtually today at 2:00 p.m. EDT to the XXV Inter-American Congress of Ministers & High-Level Authorities of Tourism meeting organized by the Organization of American States and hosted by the nation of Paraguay on Wednesday, October 6, 2021.
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An official unveiling of the network will take place Monday, October 11, 2021, at a virtual event beginning with a highly topical roundtable discussion focusing on “Tourism Recovery and Indigenous Resilience in Uncertain Times,” featuring several leading voices in Indigenous tourism development from across the Americas. The event will also encourage sign-on to the ITCA Partner Pledge, as an affirmation of commitment to actively support the launch of this movement to promote responsible Indigenous tourism across the Americas.
In October 2020, the Organization of American States and the George Washington University International Institute of Tourism Studies in partnership with the Office of Indian Economic Development at the United States Department of the Interior hosted the first-ever Indigenous Tourism Forum of the Americas that brought together more than 250 Indigenous tourism organizations, travel companies, and representatives of governments, nonprofits, and academia to discuss the development challenges that Indigenous people face and the role of tourism in driving sustainable economic development.
Join us on the ground floor of this evolution in travel, supporting your Indigenous communities and tourism industry leaders to create a new tourism network of strength, knowledge, and vision. As Indigenous tourism continues to face one of its greatest challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, let us work together to reconstruct and rebuild a prosperous and resilient Indigenous tourism economy.
That event inspired a network of nearly 100 Indigenous leaders and leading organizations and public and private industry champions to join forces to create a hemispheric Collaborative that is committed to addressing some of the most pressing issues needed to assist Indigenous communities and tourism to build back stronger. The newly formed ITCA will provide a platform for community leaders, policymakers, and business owners to share their experiences, to learn from one another, to take collective action, and to better understand how to promote change through tourism without compromising their own cultural values.
The ITCA network will set out to steer the growing traveler interest in authentic experiences that provide meaningful connections, particularly with people from other cultures. Indigenous tourism across the Americas offers communities an opportunity to generate income, alleviate poverty, increase access to healthcare and education, and conserve cultural and natural resources.
