Africa Travel Week
LGBTQ+

CATCH-UP: The changing landscape of hospitality

In this webinar, we explore the impact that a proactive diversity, equity and inclusion strategy can have on travel and tourism. The session will include case studies from The Travel Corporation and Hyatt and then conclude with a practical training session created by Hospitable Me.

Brought to you by EQUAL Africa & IGLTA

THE SPEAKERS

John Tanzella
President/CEO: IGLTA

John Tanzella is the President/CEO of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA), a non-profit tourism association that is the global leader in advancing LGBTQ+ travel. IGLTA is headquartered in Florida, with additional staff located in Washington D.C., Madrid, São Paulo, Bogota, Paris, London and Cape Town. IGLTA’s network is made up of more than 7,000 tourism business professionals in approximately 80 countries. In marketing its tourism industry business members, IGLTA reached more than 4 million unique travelers in 2019. The IGLTA Foundation was created as the philanthropic arm of the association, empowering LGBTQ+ welcoming businesses globally.

Tyronne Stoudemire
Global Vice President of Diversity Equity & Inclusion for Hyatt Hotels Corporation

At Hyatt, Corporation Stoudemire Collaborates with senior leadership team to implement culture, talent, and marketplace strategies that leverage diversity and inclusion globally growing the enterprise wide across brand portfolio. As such, his team and internal corporate stakeholders implement diversity initiatives that include Resource Groups, mentoring programs for high potential women and people of color, a communications and public relations strategy to drive internal engagement and external brand recognition, and enhanced brand marketing effort to further focus on multicultural and LGBT audiences. He is the Co-Chair, of Hyatt’s Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion Counsel (GDEIC).

Sherwin Banda
President, African Travel Inc

Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, Sherwin Banda has more than 25 years working in international hospitality. Sherwin attended the University of the Western Cape, South Africa and went on to complete the General Manager’s Program (GMP) at Cornell University. In 2011 he moved from the United States to accept the role of general manager at The Table Bay, a 5-star luxury hotel in Cape Town. This experience led Sherwin to reconnect with the continent of his birth and to this day fuels his passion for all things Africa.

Kenny Porpora
Co-founder of HospitableMe

Kenny is the co-founder of HospitableMe, and a senior editor at ManAboutWorld magazine, a pioneering gay travel publication built for mobile devices. In addition, he is The New York Times best-selling author of The Autumn Balloon and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, Buzzfeed, Salon and others. He has curated content for some of the largest destination marketing organizations in the world. He graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University, where he studied journalism and philosophy, and holds an M.S. from Columbia in investigative journalism, where he wrote his master’s thesis on professional wrestling.

Africa Travel Week

Africa Travel Week (ATW) focuses on inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism, luxury travel, LGBTQ+ travel and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology. Shows include: ILTM Africa, WTM Africa, EQUAL Africa, ibtm AFRICA, Travel Forward, Sports & Events Tourism Exchange and African Tourism Investment Summit.