We are pleased to invite you to the 14th Annual International African American Hotel Ownership & Investment Summit & Trade Show on July 21-24, 2010 at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Miami, Florida. The theme is “Creating New Opportunities”. This event is presented by the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers (NABHOOD), Black Meetings & Tourism Magazine and Horizons Marketing Group. This year’s summit will be exciting and packed with information to help you understand the many opportunities available in the hotel ownership, investment and supplier diversity. You will meet industry representatives interested in doing business with African Americans.
The 4-day educational summit is designed to educate attendees on how to become a hotel owner or investor, share minority travel trends, explore supplier opportunities, learn how to market to minorities and look at diversity issues affecting the industry. The summit opens on Wednesday morning, July 21 with the NABHOOD/HBCU Scholarship Golf Tournament on the Blue Monster Course to raise money for minority hospitality students, followed at noon with our Orientation Program for new & prospective hotel owners, Committee Meetings, Opening General Session and the Chairman’s Welcome Reception in the evening. General Sessions & workshops will be held Wednesday through Friday with Student workshops Saturday morning followed by NABHOOD Career Fair & Job Expo. NABHOOD Corporate Dinners take place Thursday evening to allow new & potential owners to spend time with their preferred hotel brand (eligible attendees must sign up in advance and is based on availability). Several hotel companies will have Corporate Suites during the summit and we encourage you to visit them for additional information. The NABHOOD Awards Luncheon is on Thursday to recognize individuals and companies that have demonstrated through their actions a commitment to diversity while providing opportunities to minorities. The Trade Show will be on Friday in addition to our “Focus on the Caribbean” where you can meet Caribbean Island representatives and learn about investment opportunities and incentives.
Summit attendees include African American hoteliers, entrepreneurs, national leaders and hospitality representatives, professional athletes, McDonald restaurant owners, city/state/country development representatives and financial experts. These and other industry professionals will lead general sessions, workshops and seminars that will spark discussion on African American hotel ownership, public/private partnerships, financing, franchising, investment opportunities, creating partnerships, employment & supplier opportunities. Hear about the outlook of the capital market and where the economy is heading and how deals are getting done.
Invited speakers Bill Marriott, Chairman/CEO, Marriott Hotels Intl.; Christopher J. Nassetta, President/CEO, Hilton Hotels Corp.; Steven Joyce, President/CEO of Choice Hotels; Eric Danziger, President/CEO, Wyndham Hotel Group; Jim Abrahamson, President, InterContinental Hotels Group; Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica; Jean-Max Bellerive, Prime Minister of Haiti and Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Bahamas Minister of Tourism/Aviation to speak about Caribbean tourism opportunities.
Along with industry experts, you will also meet individuals seeking partners and/or investment opportunities. Past conferences featured successful African Americans in the industry as well as industry experts like Sheila Johnson, Owner of Salamander Hospitality LLC who is developing a string of upscale boutique hotels; Steven Rudnitsky, President of Dolce Hotels & Resorts and Prime Minister David Thompson of Barbados. The summit will feature Richmond McCoy, President of UrbanAmerica, who opened the largest Doubletree Hotel in the world with 1,090 rooms in Orlando Florida; Tom Baltimore, President/Co-Founder of RLJ Development, who partnered with Bob Johnson formerly of BET to create one of the largest hotel companies in the country; NABHOOD’s Chairman Mike Roberts of Roberts Hotel Group and Ken Fearn of Integrated Capital and his partners, Tom & Joyce Moorehead who are investors in the Residence Inn at National Harbor. Learn about our new effort to increase minority supplier opportunities and hear from Carl Mayfield, Sr. VP of Design & Construction for RLJ Development.
Meet Margia Blankenship, first African American woman owner who developed a Candlewood Suites in Houston; Deanne Ayres-Howard and husband LeRoy, who created a new partnership to develop more hotels; McDonald restaurant operators Hank Thomas and Ron & Don Bailey who are now hotel owners; Ernest Murphy former university professor turned hotel developer and Ulysses Glee who is developing his first project in Silver Springs, MD and looking for investors and hear how Asian Americans became the largest minority hotel ownership group in the America from C. K. Patel, AAHOA Chairman.
Early registration is $325 for NABHOOD members & $399 for non-members if received by May 21. Registration includes all workshops & educational sessions, New Hotel Owners Orientation Program, scheduled meal functions and Trade Show.
Sponsorships are available and extremely important to the success of this summit. For additional information contact Horizons Marketing Group Intl. at Tel: (954) 792-2579 Fax: (954) 337-2877 or E-mail: horizons@gate.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .