ONE Travel Conference on Shopping, Dining & Cultural Tourism

Keynote presenters included Roger Dow, CEO, US Travel Association; Helen Marano, Director, US Department of Commerce/OTTI; Caroline Beteta, CEO, California Travel & Tourism Commission and Beverly Anderson, Vice President, American Express. They were joined by more than 60 influential presenters and over 200 delegates from throughout the USA, Canada and UK for three days of executive level idea exchange, partnership development, SASI-ONE Awards for innovative marketing and Mobile Workshop Tours with shopping, dining and cultural trend setters in Pasadena, Los Angeles and at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

Shopping, Dining and Cultural-Heritage Travel are consistently ranked as the top three travel activities in the USA, according to data tracked by the US Department of Commerce/Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (OTTI) and the US Travel Association. With the recent passage of the Travel Promotion Act, growth in international inbound travel, along with the ongoing economic recovery fueling domestic travel, the conference focused on addressing new opportunities for business development and growth for the travel industry.

"The ONE Travel Conference was a win/win for all involved," said Rosemary McCormick, President of Shop America Alliance and co-producer of the ONE Travel Conference. "Experiential travel is what consumers want today, more than just 'heads in beds.' Several research studies presented at the conference underscore the synergy between shopping, dining and cultural-heritage travel. At the ONE Travel Conference, we explored and celebrated the best practices in promoting these important travel sectors. The program, developed with input from our advisory committee of industry leaders, focused on delivering ROI through the Power of Partnerships."

"Our goal is to continue to unify these powerful travel industry segments so we can speak with ONE voice on the importance of promoting these top travel experiences. They are key economic drivers and job providers," stated Sheila Armstrong, Executive Director of the US Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council and co-producer of the ONE Travel Conference. "The Travel Promotion Act provides new and exciting national and international marketing opportunities. Delegates at the ONE Travel Conference, destination marketing organizations (DMOs), shopping, dining and cultural-heritage leaders along with international tourism partners heard about many unique opportunities to shape the new initiatives that will benefit all." 

"The Cultural & Heritage Tourism Alliance (CHTA) is proud to have taken a lead role in presenting the ONE Travel Conference, "stated Barbara Steinfeld, Vice President of Tourism, Travel Portland and spokesperson for the CHTA Board of Directors. "Our cultural and heritage partners are industry leaders who appreciated the opportunity to share their expertise and best practices with this expanded audience and to develop new partnerships."

Karin Fish, Chief of Operations, California Travel & Tourism Commission, said "California was pleased to welcome the premier ONE Travel Conference to beautiful Pasadena, California and the historic Langham Huntington Hotel and to partner in the planning and promoting of this industry milestone event. California actively promotes our wide array of superb shopping, trend setting dining and rich collection of cultural and heritage treasures."

At the SASI-ONE Breakfast, Tuesday, January 18th , 21 SASI-ONE Awards (SASI = Shop America Salutes Innovation) for shopping and cultural tourism marketing excellence were presented by Brandace Bruning, of CenterCal Properties, the SASI-ONE Awards Chairperson. The awards are sponsored by CenterCal Properties in partnership with Shop America Alliance.

SASI-ONE Awards recognize prominent leaders in the tourism industry for their vision and commitment to developing shopping and cultural tourism. Along with the 8 SASI-ONE Awards and 9 SASI-ONE Merit Awards for shopping and cultural tourism marketing excellence. Four SASI-ONE Special Awards Recipients honored were Macy's as the Shopping Tourism Retailer of the Year, Peter Ellegard as the TravMedia Tourism Journalist of the Year, and California Academy of Sciences as the Cultural & Heritage Tourism Destination of the Year. The Chairman's Award was presented to the John S and James L. Knight Foundation's "Random Acts of Culture" program.

The Conference also included a Silent Auction that raised $7000 to benefit the Destination & Travel Foundation Educational Initiatives and the City of Pasadena's Cultural Affairs Office to support ArtsNight, a citywide free arts open house. 

Nancy Hahn Bono of Visit Orlando announced at the conference that Orlando will host the 2012 ONE Travel Conference, January 15-17, 2012.