BEST announces key appointments

Friday, 19 Jul, 2002 0

Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel (BEST) has made a number of new appointments to its board, including members from IH&RA, WTTC and the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association.

Barbara Powell, Director of International Community Relations at Marriott International, has been appointed as Chair of the committee and Dawn Drew, Vice President and Publisher of National Geographic Traveler, as Vice Chair.

The Chief Executive Officer of the International Hotel & Restaurant Association, a prominent strategy advisor of the World Travel & Tourism Council and three leading figures in key community tourism efforts, have also joined BEST’s steering committee.

Michael Seltzer, Director of BEST, commented: “Our new steering committee members bring invaluable knowledge and experience that will further our work to help ensure a better world through travel and tourism. We look forward to working with Becky, Peter, Alain-Philippe, Graham and Ken on raising the bar in sustainability within the industry and in communities worldwide.”

According to Barbara Powell: “BEST’s steering committee is a unique mix of travel and tourism professionals from various backgrounds. Executives from international hotel companies, non-profit organizations and trade associations provide the collective, well-rounded expertise to promote best practices in sustainable travel and tourism at the enterprise, community and traveler levels.”

The newly appointed members of the BEST steering committee are:

Rebecca (Becky) Anderson, founder and Executive Director of Asheville, North Carolina-based HandMade in America, Inc., handmadeinamerica.org, a non-profit initiative that preserves and enriches the spiritual, cultural and community life of its region while broadening economic opportunities for local craftspeople and other residents;

Peter Apo, Director of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA), nahha.com, a non-profit organization that strives to preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian values, customs, language and artifacts and assists native Hawaiians in achieving success in tourism and hospitality endeavors that preserve culture and protect the environment;

Alain-Philippe Feutré, Chief Executive Officer of the International Hotel & Restaurant association (IH&RA), www.ih-ra.com, a network of hotel and restaurant establishments in more than 108 countries, whose mission is to protect, promote and inform the hospitality industry worldwide. Through its membership network, IH&RA represents over 300,000 hotels and 8 million restaurants globally.

Graham Wason, Strategy Adviser for the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), www.wttc.org, the global business leaders’ forum for travel and tourism and the only body representing the private sector across all components of this vast industry worldwide. WTTC has been heavily committed to sustainability initiatives for over a decade.

Ken Wilson, Executive Director of The Christensen Fund, christensenfund.org , a California-based international foundation that makes grants in the areas of conservation science and the expressive arts. Previously, Wilson worked for the Ford Foundation where he was involved in developing community ecotourism ventures in southern Africa.

In addition to its newest members and recently appointed officers, BEST’s steering committee includes executives from the following companies and organizations: The American Express Company, The Conference Board, George Washington University, Lindblad Expeditions, The Philanthropic Collaborative, The Plaza Hotel (in Las Vegas, New Mexico), The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), the United Nations, the United States Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the Western American Indian Chamber.