AIANTA’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2018

New Year’s resolutions top many of our to-do lists each holiday season. As we enter into 2018, we’re more excited than ever for what the New Year has in store for the tourism industry, Indian Country, and our own growth and success as an organization. So, as we head into the New Year, new goals, new directions and new resolutions are fueling our thoughts at the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA).

As we reflect back on 2017, we are proud of the work we accomplished in continuing to play a key role as a platform, convener and thought leader, bringing tribes and businesses together to expand tribal tourism. AIANTA, in collaboration with its partners, members and sponsors, had a remarkable year.

Some of AIANTA’s 2017 highlights included:

• New planning tools added to NativeAmerica.travel
• The first annual Go International training achieved maximum attendance
• The Cultural Heritage Certificate Program created by AIANTA and GWU launched and outperformed our attendance goals
• The NATIVE Act received tremendous tribal and industry support for its implementation from throughout the nation

We formalized new partnerships throughout the year including new MOUs with the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada and the National Trails Intermountain Region, and a new LOI with the Bureau of Land Management In 2017, AIANTA continued to assist members, tribes, tourism leaders, partners and federal agencies in the enhancement and expansion of tribal capacity to accommodate visitors. We worked to develop and deliver additional education, training, technical assistance, resources and workforce development opportunities.

Now, as we head into 2018, we are at an exciting juncture in our work to attract additional resources and build capacity in Indian Country using cultural tourism as the catalyst.

We hope you will join us in achieving our 2018 goals and that we can also help you to achieve yours. To jumpstart your tourism goals in the New Year, join AIANTA as a member, and be sure to mark your calendar for the 20th Annual American Indian Tourism Conference, September 17-20, 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

As an organization, we’ve outlined three top priorities as our 2018 New Year’s Resolutions, to lead us all to have an even greater impact in 2018!

1. To become even more engaged with tribal communities across the nation:

With the growth and continued development of NativeAmerica.travel, our training opportunities expanding with new webinars, nation-wide presentations and new training programs like Go International, AIANTA sees 2018 as an opportune time to engage even more with tribes throughout the nation involved in tourism. In 2017, we expanded our outreach significantly with our partnership with NIGA, our agritourism pilot program and other growing programs and projects. With the NATIVE Act implementation and all the potential the legislation brings for tourism in Indian Country, we are eager to jump into 2018 with increased engagement with our members, partners and communities throughout Indian Country.  To help us continue to achieve our mission of defining, introducing, growing and sustaining Native tourism, we encourage you to contact us with your ideas for collaboration and needs for training. Share your stories and new programs with us so we can share with others. You can reach us anytime here at aianta.org, at info@aianta.org, or at 505-724-3592.

2. To focus on building and growing our partnerships:

AIANTA has developed and formalized partnerships with a multitude of national, regional and tribal organizations throughout the years, and in 2017 we formalized a number of partnerships through MOUs, resolutions and projects. With collaborative projects on the horizon like a 2018 familiarization tour for Italian trade in partnership with Brand USA; training programs like Go International with expert speakers from our partners at the local, regional and national level; and the second offering of the Cultural Heritage Tourism Certificate Course in partnership with George Washington University, AIANTA is off to a great start in growing and nurturing our continually developing partnerships. Are you interested in collaboration opportunities with AIANTA? We encourage you to join AIANTA as a member and become a part of the tourism network in Indian Country. You can reach us to talk more at 505-724-3592.

3. To focus on professional development of our staff and board:

In 2017, AIANTA in partnership with George Washington University, launched the first Cultural Heritage Certificate Program – and all of the staff members at AIANTA had the opportunity to take part in the educational experience. Entering into 2018 with our full staff touting their official Cultural Heritage Tourism Certificates, AIANTA is excited to keep the momentum going. In the next year, we will focus attention on finding new opportunities for training, education and professional growth, leading our team to be the most impactful, resourceful and knowledgeable professionals we can be! We encourage you to seek out professional development avenues at your operation or organization too! Join us at our 20th annual American Indian Tourism Conference, September 17-20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.