Keith David named among 30 Global Vision Award winners

The man in charge of Canada’s Indigenous Travel Association of Canada was honoured by international travel magazine Travel + Leisure for his commitment to responsible and sustainable travel – one of 30 worldwide honourees by the prestigious publication.

Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) CEO Keith David was named as one of 30 2021 Global Vision award winners worldwide, for his commitment and promotion of sustainable travel in Canada and leadership in the arena of Indigenous tourism.

“I’m very humbled to be selected for the Global Vision Awards and need to thank the team, as well as our board of directors at Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada for this award as it would not be possible without them,” Henry said, adding he would like to see the award generate more business for a sector that has been battered in the last 13 months. “My hope is this award creates more awareness to our sector that’s been devastated, and continues to highlight the importance of creating and supporting Indigenous businesses while continuing our path to resilience towards our post-COVID recovery.”

Travel + Leisure magazine wrote this year’s list of honourees were selected by an esteemed panel of experts across the travel, hospitality, and retail industries, as well as the non-profit sector, submitted nominations, which were then narrowed to a select list of finalists vetted by Travel + Leisure editors.

The 2021 Global Vision Award winners will be profiled and celebrated in the upcoming April issue of Travel + Leisure magazine. That will include Henry-- in a feature story that shares stories from seven people making sustainability and social justice a priority.

Despite optimism about vaccinations, Henry said there is a lot of work to do for Indigenous tourism as the COVID vaccination campaign rolls out across the country.

‘The work is not yet finished,” Henry said. “Now more than ever our businesses need the leadership and support to recover from COVID-19 so that when the time is right, our members can welcome back travellers,” he added.

In the story, writer Jeff Chu wrote “Henry also works directly with Indigenous nations, communities, and businesses to refine their offerings and broaden their reach,” and went on to share several key initiatives that led to Keith’s nomination, including ITAC’s marketing and tourism product development support.

For more information, visit www.travelandleisure.com/global-vision-awards.