Greater Western Chapter of Travel & Tourism Research Conference

The Path Forward, Sponsored by Dean Runyan Association

Date and Time
February 25-26, 2021
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Location
Virtual Event

The conference will take place from 10am to 3pm each day via Zoom. More information and registration details can be found here.

This conference will be completely online, Feb. 25-26 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Online sessions will include presentations, Q&A, expert panels, and breakout discussion sections. The conference format will allow attendees to interact with each other and with presenters, through an online setting.

Program Moderator Mr. John Hope-Johnstone
Director of GWTTRA and Board Member. Mr. Hope-Johnstone has been Director of Marketing for Four Seasons Hotels, Vice President of Marketing for L’Ermitage Hotels of Beverly Hills.

Keynote Speaker Mr. Todd Davidson
Todd was appointed Executive Director of the Oregon Tourism Commission (dba Travel Oregon) in June 1996 and was named Chief Executive Officer in September 2004.

Todd is the past chair of the U.S. Travel Association and a continuing board member; he serves on the Brand USA Board; the National Council of State Tourism Directors; the Western States Tourism Policy Council (WSTPC); has served on the National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism Infrastructure (NACTTI); and is a past Chair of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (USTTAB), a position he was appointed to in January 2012 after being initially appointed to the Board in 2010. Todd was honored by the NCSTD as the State Tourism Director of the Year in 2006 and inducted into U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders in 2018.

Keynote Speaker Mr. Erik Wolf
Erik is the founder of the food travel trade industry, and Founder and Executive Director of the World Food Travel Association, the world’s leading authority on food and beverage tourism. He’s also the publisher of Have Fork Will Travel and author of Culinary Tourism: The Hidden Harvest. He is a highly sought speaker on food and beverage tourism and has been featured in The New York TimesNewsweek and Forbes, and on CNN, Sky TV, the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, PeterGreenberg.com, and other leading media outlets.

Read about all conference speakers and panelists, here.