The 2024 National Tourism Association (NTA) Travel Exchange came to a close in Huntsville, Alabama, on Wednesday, Nov. 20, following four days of one-on-one appointments between tour operators, DMOs, and suppliers; educational seminars; networking events, and more at the Von Braun Center.
Through a partnership with the Green Book Institute, a “nonprofit organization dedicated to using technology, training, and education to link local, small, and often minority-owned businesses with the global tourism economy,” NTA awarded three honorees the inaugural Cultural Tourism Award on Monday, Nov. 18.
William Hampton of Huntsville Revisited, Melanie Bench of the Cherokee Nation, and Terri Harvill of the Birmingham YMCA were this year’s honorees.
With hundreds of attendees from all over the United States, Canada, and beyond, the annual conference for the first time partnered with the Green Book Institute to honor the legacy embodied by “The Negro Motorist Green Book.” The historic Green Book, which was circulated annually from 1936-67, aided Black travelers as they joined in the growing phenomenon of the classic American road trip following the expansion of the U.S. highway system in the 1930s.
As hotels, restaurants, and roadside attractions rapidly popped up along iconic highways like Route 66, Black travelers faced the challenge of locating businesses that would accommodate them—businesses free from the confines of segregation—often resulting in these travelers being forced to sleep and eat in their vehicles. Victor Hugo Green, a U.S. Postal Service employee, published the first Green Book with only a handful of identified businesses. By the time segregation was outlawed and the book became obsolete, it had a circulation of more than 2 million and featured hundreds of hotels, restaurants, gas stations, barber shops, tailors, stores, and more.
More to Celebrate
Also honored on Monday was NTA’s 2024 Woman of Vision, Debra Asberry, CTP. Asberry is the owner of Women Traveling Together, an Annapolis, Maryland-based organization designed to connect like-minded women who want to travel in an environment that is safe and supportive.
On Tuesday, Vernon Briggs of Giri Hotel Management was honored with NTA’s Volunteer of the Year Award, and Visit Savannah’s Anjuli King received the 2024 Young Professionals Award. On Wednesday, Paul Larsen of Ed-Ventures was honored with the Bob Everidge Lifetime Achievement Award, NTA’s highest honor.
This year’s festivities wrapped up on Wednesday with a celebratory gathering at Huntsville’s U.S. Space & Rocket Center, a Smithsonian- and NASA-affiliated museum that earned Huntsville its “Rocket City” moniker. Guests gathered under the displayed Saturn V rocket, a National Historic Landmark, for an evening and enjoyed live performances by local musicians.
NTA’s 2025 Travel Exchange is slated for Ottawa in Ontario, Canada, Nov. 9-12. On the 2025 board of directors are Frances Manzitto, Trips Unlimited; Marcela Laukova, CTP, Discover Slovakia Tours; Christina Werner, CTP, Custom Holidays; Jalyssa Gasmen, Visit Mesa; Mike Pitman, Sight & Sound Theaters; Fraser Neave, CTP, Wells Gray Tours; Michelle Pino, Northeast Unlimited Tours; Brent Dalrymple, Sunrise Tours; Cory Mace, Badger Coaches; Brittany Dykla, Brilliant Edventures; Monique von Dijk-Seppola, Scandinavia Tours; Pam Williams, CTP, Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau; Sheli Hinds Armstrong, Destination Southwest; Juan Pablo Suarez, Ottawa Tourism; Theresa Nemetz, Travel Deliciously; Lois Stoltzfus, CTP, Dutchman Hospitality Group; and Richard Arnold, Atlantic Tours.
By Madeline Fuerstenberg
Main Image: The recipients of the 2024 Cultural Tourism Award were honored on Monday, Nov. 18. From left to right: David Jackson, Green Book Institute (presenter); Bryce Wilson, GroupCollect (sponsor/presenter); William Hampton, Huntsville Revisited (honoree); Melanie Bench, Cherokee Nation (honoree); Terri Harvill, Birmingham YMCA (honoree); and Karin Aaron, Green Book Experience (presenter); Credit: NTA/Normand Huberdeau
