January 2024 – International Institute of Tourism Studies

The George Washington University International Institute of Tourism Studies has released a report with highlights from the December 12, 2023 First Annual Distinguished Indigenous Leaders Lecture Series co-hosted by the Indigenous Tourism Collaborative of the Americas. The in-person event was held at the Jack Morton Auditorium and live-streamed to an audience across the Americas.

*The report highlights the best quotes and most important information delivered at the First Distinguished Indigenous Leaders Lecture Series.*

The Lecture Series' inaugural theme was Accelerating Indigenous Tourism Development – Building on NATIVE Act Success. Speakers emphasized domestic Indigenous opportunities created by the NATIVE Act (Public Law 114-221) and how Indigenous tourism progress throughout the Americas can be accelerated through collaboration and project co-creation between Indigenous communities and academic, government, private and nonprofit entities.

Kathy Baird, (Sicangu Lakota/Oneida), Chief Communications Officer of the Washington Post, contributed to the report, along with the three Indigenous keynote speakers who are currently serving the Biden Administration and headlined the event:

Wizipan Garriott, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, praised the progress of U.S. tribes in tourism and issued a call to action for enhanced U.S. federal agency adoption of the NATIVE Act, passed in 2016 and designed to bolster Native tourism efforts in the United States.

Shawn Deschane, Director of the Office of Native American Business Development in the Office of the Secretary of Commerce, described multiple agencies and programs of the Department of Commerce that can be tapped by U.S. tribes engaged in tourism.

Milo Booth, Director of Tribal Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, urged the audience to take advantage of the massive RAISE Discretionary Grant program within the Department of Transportation.

(L) Wizipan Little Elk Garriott, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and chief advisor to Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (M) Shawn Deschene, Director of the Office of Native American Business Development in the Office of the Secretary of Commerce and enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas in North Dakota (R) Milo Booth, Director of Tribal Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation and an Alaska Native from the Metlakatla Indian Community

Regional Success Stories, Federal Agency Programs, International Opportunities

A panel of regional Indigenous tourism leaders from North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana shared the success stories of regional tourism alliances and collaborations and offered advice on how Indigenous tourism success could be accelerated throughout the country.

In their remarks, this panel encouraged tribes to form statewide alliances that include government tourism and economic development offices, nonprofits and private enterprise, talked about how these alliances are attracting tour operators and funding, and emphasized the importance of outside facilitation and technical assistance in building a successful tourism alliance. The GW International Institute of Tourism Studies was praised for its facilitation of tourism strategic plans and its technical assistance in the North and South Dakota tourism alliances.

The regional Indigenous tourism leaders panel featured Tamara St. John (left), South Dakota State Representative, member of the South Dakota Native Tourism Alliance and member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe; Jamie Azure (center left), Chairman, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, North Dakota, member of the North Dakota Tribal Tourism Alliance; and Jennifer Finley (center right), Councilor, Confederated Salish Kootenai and member of the Montana Indigenous Tourism Alliance. The tribal leaders panel was moderated by Darian Morsette (right), President of the North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance and a Board Member for the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association.

Government Participation in Indigenous Tourism Progress

A panel of federal agency leaders described advances in Native tourism made through NATIVE Act funding and programmatic assistance for Native tourism projects and research needs. They emphasized the recent involvement of the White House Council on Native American Affairs and encouraged additional federal agencies to employ the NATIVE Act mandates to accelerate Indigenous tourism progress.

Curt Cottle (left), Senior Policy Analyst, National Travel and Trade Office, International Trade Administration; Toby Bloom (center left), National Program Manager, Travel, Tourism and Interpretation, U.S. Forest Service; and K. Denise Litz (center right), Chief, Division of Economic Development, Office of Indian Economic Development. The discussion was moderated by Ed Hall (right), Indigenous Economic Development and Tourism Executive in Residence, George Washington University International Institute of Tourism Studies.

Opportunities and Resources for Indigenous Tourism in the Americas

An international panel of leaders, which included GW International Institute of Tourism Studies Executive Director Seleni Matus, emphasized progress being made in Indigenous tourism through established programs, new opportunities and available financial assistance, including the efforts of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Inter-American Foundation. GW IITS encouraged Indigenous communities to participate in collaborations and alliances, seek technical assistance and employ immediately available resources such as the Indigenous Tourism Collaborative of the Americas e-Library.

Discussing the future of Indigenous tourism collaboration in the Americas were panelists Nikki Enerson (left), Indigenous Peoples Team Lead & Development Hub Deputy Director, USAID; Jessa Rae Growing Thunder (center left), Indigenous Exchange Advisor, Inter-American Foundation; and Seleni Matus (center right), Executive Director, GW International Institute of Tourism Studies. Their discussion was moderated by Dawnielle Tehama (right), Executive Director, Willamette Valley Visitors Association.

Co-Hosts of the New Lecture Series – ITCA and GW IITS

Indigenous Tourism Collaborative of the Americas (ITCA) is a hemispheric network of more than 100 Indigenous leaders, leading tourism organizations, and public and private industry champions who work together to support sustainable Indigenous tourism development across the American continents.

ITCA’s steering committee is composed of the Office of Indian Economic Development in the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Organization of American States and the George Washington University International Institute of Tourism Studies.

As a global leader in tourism education and research, the GW International Institute of Tourism Studies has guided businesses, communities, governments and nonprofits toward sustainability for more than thirty years. They advance critical industry issues through thought leadership, research, professional-level certificate programs, and courses and workshops in destination management and cultural heritage tourism.

The GW International Institute of Tourism Studies works with tribal communities to develop their tourism potential, helping them to take stock of and develop their assets, plan and build their capacity and promote their offerings. Areas of focus include tribal tourism governance, capacity building and product development.

Read the report

Watch the recording

As a new year begins, the International Institute of Tourism is brimming with excitement over the momentous developments made in Indigenous tourism in 2023. From the “National Parks and Native Trails of the Dakotas” tour launched in May, to the inaugural Indigenous leaders lecture series held in December, there has been a stream of firsts for GW and our partners. Here is a closer look at some of these groundbreaking events:

First Distinguished Indigenous Leaders Lecture Series

As cultural heritage tourism grows in popularity, the need to connect Indigenous leaders with leaders in the tourism industry is more important than ever. This need inspired the creation of the first Distinguished Indigenous Leaders Lecture Series, hosted in December by GW International Institute of Tourism Studies (IITS) in partnership with the International Tourism Collaborative of the Americas (ITCA).

The lecture series opened with a powerful statement by Kathy Baird, member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, chief communications officer of the Washington Post, and advisor to the board of Illuminative, a non-profit working to rewrite the narrative of Native peoples. Unable to attend due to illness, her statement was read by moderator Ed Hall.

“We have to break through whenever and wherever we can with the truth about Native people…to disrupt the invisibility of Native Peoples. And what is indigenous tourism development, if not a powerful disruption of Native invisibility?” her statement read.

Keynote speakers focused on the way the NATIVE Act, passed by congress in 2016, has reinforced efforts by the tribes to develop, manage and control Indigenous tourism, and how the NATIVE Act could be better implemented and supported today.

“The NATIVE Act reminded the tourism industry and national tourism strategists that we are still here and have so much to offer,” Baird’s statement read.

The event was widely attended on livestream by Indigenous and industry leaders from throughout the Americas. It brought Indigenous leaders to the Jack Morton Auditorium stage from across the country, including representatives from the Native tourism alliances in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana and federal government leaders from the Departments of Interior, Commerce, Transportation, State and Agriculture. The success of the event highlighted how collaborations between tribes, governments, industry and universities can accelerate Indigenous tourism development.

*SDNTA Test Tour of Oglala Lakota Living History Village, Pine Ridge Reservation, Summer 2022.*

“National Parks and Native Trails of the Dakotas” Tour

In May, the South Dakota Native Tourism Alliance (SDNTA), in partnership with GW Tourism Institute and the South Dakota Department of Tourism, debuted a groundbreaking tribal lands tour. The nine-day excursion takes visitors through tribal lands in both South Dakota and North Dakota, and is currently the only experience of its kind proffered through a national tour operator, Destination America.

On the tour visitors spend time with the Sicangu Lakota Nation, Oglala Lakota Oyate, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, where they meet with Native artists and performers, visit Wounded Knee Memorial and Sitting Bull Monument, sample authentic Native American food, and experience traditional storytelling. It is an opportunity to learn directly from native people about their history and culture through their own stories and landscapes.

The early stages of the tour’s development faced some pushback as the tribes expressed concerns surrounding the protection of sacred sites. Many tribal members also felt that the tour would create opportunities for economic growth and cultural education.

“There are a lot of romanticized stories written about our people,” said Sarah Kills In Water, SDNTA member, in an article on the tour for Bloomberg News. “We thought it was a great opportunity for reconciliation and educating people about who we are today.”

The tour is tribal-led and visits almost exclusively tribal-owned businesses, and ultimately the tribes decide what sites and aspects of their cultural heritage are shared with visitors.

Recently GW has been working with the SDNTA to help them establish themselves as an independently operated nonprofit organization at the state and federal level. Becoming an independently operating nonprofit will allow SDNTA to further expand as an organization, partnering with industry organizations and fundraising for native tourism initiatives.

Indigenous Tourism eLibrary Launch

Major support for Indigenous tourism development arrived in August with the launch of the Indigenous Tourism eLibrary. Created by the Indigenous Tourism Collaborative of the Americas (ITCA) – a partner of the GW International Institute of Tourism Studies – the eLibrary is the first and only repository of its kind to focus specifically on Indigenous tourism.

The eLibrary is the inaugural project for ITCA, whose vision is to help Indigenous communities across the Americas benefit from cultural tourism. This means not only economic growth for Indigenous communities but also the preservation of natural and cultural resources.

Entries on the site range from toolkits and guidelines to case studies and industry research, all aimed at helping develop and manage sustainable Indigenous tourism. Indigenous businesses, as well as government, nonprofit and industry partners, can search topics ranging from community development, environmental conservation, digital marketing, visitor management and many more. The articles can also be filtered by English or Spanish.

Contributors to the library currently include the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance, the United Nations Tourism Organization, Intrepid Travel, The Travel Foundation, Planeterra and the FSC Indigenous Foundation, to name a few, but additional resources to the eLibrary are added on a rolling basis. One may have been added as you read this post… You can check and see at https://elibrary.indigenoustourismamericas.org/

Month: January 2024

New Report Captures Excitement of the First Distinguished Indigenous Leaders Lecture Series

A Year of Firsts for Indigenous Tourism