AIANTA Member News

September 2020

What's New at AIANTA

O me'a"kwa

(I’m going to travel over there, Northern Paiute)

It’s hard to believe we’re just days away from our 22nd Annual American Indian Tourism Conference, which begins Monday, September 14.

This year has been such a whirlwind with so many changes, so I’m excited for the chance to catch up with you all at our first-ever virtual AITC.

I’m so proud of our AIANTA Board of Directors and the AIANTA staff, who have thoughtfully curated the content at this year’s conference, from the initial plan to produce a virtual event, to our final event planning meetings this week, which continue to focus on how we can best provide the information and tools our attendees want and need.

Tribal Agritourism Takes Center Stage at AITC

Travelers the world over are expressing an increased interest in learning where their food comes from, providing indigenous communities with new opportunities to share their cultural heritage by building one-of-a-kind agritourism programs.

Native farmers, ranchers and all indigenous food producers will find plenty of agritourism resources available to them at the American Indian Tourism Conference starting Monday, September 14, 2020.

American Indian Tourism Conference

Five Reasons to Use the AITC Conference App

As AIANTA prepares for its first-ever virtual American Indian Tourism Conference, we’d like to remind our members, partners and all conference attendees that there are many small changes that come with the new conference format.

In particular, all attendees must download the AITC Conference App—on the Whova platform—to facilitate their conference experience.

Even if you’re someone who doesn’t normally use conference apps, you will need to sign up for the keynote, breakout and networking sessions you plan to attend though the app.

We’re just days away from the start of the American Indian Tourism Conference (September 14-18, 2020).

Because this year’s conference is a virtual one, you will need to register individually for each conference session you plan to attend. (We recommend registering for all of them.)

Please note you will only be able to attend the general sessions and breakout sessions for which you have registered.

Influential Native American Women to Lead Tourism Recovery Conversations at AITC

AIANTA Press Release: Keynote speakers at the annual conference, scheduled for September 14-18, 2020, include U.S. Representative Deb Haaland; Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan; President of the National Congress of American Indians, Fawn Sharp; Walker River Paiute Tribe Chairwoman Amber Torres, Lead Cultural Trainer for the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association Hi’ilani Shibata; and Sherry L. Rupert, AIANTA CEO.

Read Mor e

AIANTA to Waive All Conference Registration Fees

The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) has announced that it is waiving all registration fees for its annual American Indian Tourism Conference (AITC), scheduled for September 14-18, 2020.

AITC fees, originally set at $400 for AIANTA members and $500 for non-members are now being waived for all interested parties. Additionally, exhibitor fees, originally set at $800 for members and $1,000 include one conference registration, so they are now being reduced by 50 percent each.

AIANTA Mask Art

This year’s American Indian Tourism Conference artwork was inspired by First American Art Magazine’s virtual art exhibition, Masked Heroes: Facial Coverings by Native Artists.

“Through Masked Heroes, we want to celebrate the resilience of Indigenous peoples and help share the beauty that Native artists have created in the face of our shared crisis.”

AIANTA would like to thank all the participating artisans for allowing us to feature their distinctive designs.

AITC Attendee List Scam

A number of AIANTA members and partners have recently told us that they have received an “offer” to purchase a complete attendee list from the American Indian Tourism Conference.

As any member of an association or conference attendee can tell you, these notices are becoming increasingly more prevalent. Today’s technology allows for software programs to easily harvest all emails from a website. Scammers then email these contacts and try to trick them into purchasing lists that don’t exist.

AIANTA Opportunities

AIANTA Webinar Series

AIANTA's Webinar series presents marketing tips, funding opportunities and other tips for creating and growing successful tribal tourism enterprises.

Upcoming Webinars

Geotourism and Tribal Tourism along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

Tuesday, October 6, 2020; 10 a.m. (MST)

On-Demand Webinars

The Power of Place: Giving Voice to the Region and Its People

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Managing Community & Visitor Expectations in the Times of COVID-19

August 7, 2020

Ways the USFS and the USDA Support Cultural Heritage Tourism

July 14, 2020

View all Webinars

Earn Your Professional Certificate in Cultural Heritage Tourism

Hone your cultural tourism skills by completing the Professional Certificate in Cultural Heritage Tourism, produced by AIANTA in partnership with the George Washington University.

Please note: AIANTA and the George Washington University are in the process of rescheduling this program.

We will be moving the dates from October 2020 to January 2021. Stay tuned for more information.

Discover Native America

Ute Mountain Ute Bow & Arrow Brand

Water is life, especially in the high desert plateau of southwest Colorado. For the Ute Mountain Ute Nation, water combined with ingenuity and a lot of hard work has created lush fields of alfalfa and corn that dot the otherwise rugged Four Corners landscape of their home.

Ute Mountain Farm & Ranch Tribe Enterprise grows premium alfalfa, as well as white, yellow and blue corn near the Colorado/Utah border at the base of Ute Mountain west of Mesa Verde National Park. Between 30,000 and 40,000 ¾-ton bales are produced each growing season, says operations manager Simon Martinez. Bales are sold mainly to dairy cattle operations in Texas and New Mexico.

“We wouldn’t be here without the water and our great employees,” says Martinez, who started working at the enterprise in 1991. “The land and the people involved make it happen for the tribe.”