Elliott Ferguson, President & CEO of Destination DC (Global Association Hub partner organisation) and National Chair of US Travel Association, makes this powerful contribution in this article published 4 June 2020.

“If you’re a person of color such as myself, you’re reflecting on instances where you may have experienced profiling by the police and are blessed that it didn’t turn out the same way it did for George Floyd and so many others,” said Ferguson. “But I think we are all now realizing that it is important that we share more about being black in the hospitality industry, in America and in corporate America. People look at us dressed in a suit and they look at our sense of accomplishment and assume that some of these same levels of racism and profiling are not afforded to us. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. We all have experiences that are very painful, and this really resonates and hits home.”