Listed in this post are the key tourism and hospitality associations in the world. Associations for tourism and hospitality are important because they help to promote the interests of the players in the catering, tourism and hospitality sectors.
We are all social beings. Aren’t we? We all love recognition. We are all longing for awards. If you are a hospitality professional, you would love to be in a social circle that could help you gain more brownie points for career advancement.
Plus, they help you gain recognition and in due course help you win some of the Best Hospitality Awards.
Individuals and businesses that opt to join professional associations can benefit from specialised learning opportunities and training programs.
Additionally, such tourism and hospitality organisations allow individuals and companies to enjoy networking and mentoring opportunities that they would otherwise not have access to.
Let’s list these key hospitality organisations and associations now.
World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
This is probably the most popular and topmost tourism organisation in the world.
Also known as UNWTO, this hospitality and tourism organisation is a United Nations specialised organisation.
The aim of UNWTO is to ensure sustainable tourism across the globe along with ensuring fair practices, promotion of innovation and a lot more.
Ethics, skilling in the hospitality sector, market intelligence along with various other things are the key focus of this organisation.
The screengrab below from the official website lists the key focus areas of the World Tourism Organization.
This will give a better idea of what these tourism and hospitality organisations and associations aim to do.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)
The GBTA is the world’s premier business travel association.
This is probably the biggest association for the hospitality and tourism industry that manages close to $350 Bn of global business travel expenditures across six continents.
Collectively, the association has more than 5,000 members from all over the world.
The association provides a network for managers and members to mingle in various events and professional development programs.
This Hospitality Association is headquartered in Washington D.C. but has regional offices across six continents.
This is a coveted group for maximum exposure in terms of the latest trends, the Latest Hospitality software, the Best Hospitality and Travel Certificates, Innovation, Training etc.
American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA)
Probably this is the most common name in terms of association for the hospitality industry.
Just perform a simple search on Google with the search term ‘tourism and hospitality organization’ and you would be flooded with a lot of names.
The top bar with previews would have a few prominent names and AHLA would be right there for all geographical searches.
The top search bar listing all top tourism and hospitality organisations would be something like the image below.
You can spot AHLA and some other top hospitality organisations there. Have a look!
AHLA is one of the most acclaimed hospitality and travel associations around the globe.
This is an extremely professional tourism and hospitality organisation and probably the most popular one.
Most of the Top Hospitality Management Schools provide certificates and diplomas from AHLA.
It covers almost everything related to the hospitality industry may it be awards, growth, issues, career, News etc. AHLA Membership helps hoteliers get into a widely recognised network of hospitality industry professionals.
American Culinary Federation
The ACF or Association of Culinary Federation was created in 1929 in New York by a group of three organisations for chefs.
Since it was created, the principles of the association have remained largely the same.
This Culinary association was created for the purpose of promoting the professional standing of American chefs and cooks internationally.
This has been done through promoting a range of education programs for culinarians with diverse skill levels.
This is a Hospitality association that ensures that Chef remains one of the Best Hospitality Jobs.
The Chef training programs through ACF Certifications ensure that Chefs stay ahead of the curve.
A lot of top Culinary Schools in the USA and around the globe along with a lot of the top Chefs across the world are associated with this organisation directly or indirectly.
Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA)
This hospitality organisation is based in Providence, USA.
It partners with a wide range of organisations to encourage and promote diversity in industries in food service, lodging, and hospitality.
The organisation conducts groundbreaking research, consults with organisations on how to win more customers and helps to shape the image of the hospitality industry.
British Hospitality Association (BHA)
Get ready for a grand Hospitality and Tourism Summit in London.
Lots of extravagant and popular hospitality events are organised by this popular hospitality organisation.
Yes, you might have heard about these summits and now you know that a lot of these are arranged by the BHA.
BHA looks after the hospitality industry of the UK but has its arms stretched to the global hospitality fraternity.
This tourism and hospitality association aligns itself with the global mission of creating more jobs within the various sectors of the Hospitality industry and overall growth of the industry.
Bonaire Hotel & Tourism Association (BONHATA)
BONHATA was created by members who are interested in unifying to achieve a shared objective; to provide a sustainable and high-quality tourism experience.
This was established in 1980 in Bonaire located in the Caribbean Sea.
This tourism and hospitality association liaises with the government to give a lobbying voice and guidance to members.
Airlines for America (About A4A)
This is one of the most popular organisations in the tourism and hospitality industry to safeguard the interest of the aviation sector.
A4A is the only association in America that caters to the needs of principal US airlines.
The association has been instrumental in the support of the evolution of the airline industry.
In the more than 74 years that the association has been operational, it has seen members and their affiliates grow and succeed.
Medical Tourism Association
As medical tourism becomes more popular, this non-profit association works alongside healthcare workers.
These healthcare providers along with governments that cater to medical tourism, insurance companies, and employers in the healthcare sector are represented through this hospitality association.
The aim of this tourism association is to concentrate on supplying superior quality and transparent medical tourism care.
This makes it one of the most important hospitality industry organisations.
Hospitality Financial & Technology Professional (HFTP)
Technology trends in hospitality and robotics in hospitality populate the newspapers these days.
The Hospitality industry is coming up with Innovative Hotel concepts and regular innovation to define a new Future of the Hospitality industry.
This Tourism and Hospitality Association unites the financial and technology leaders of the hospitality industry.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA; this association is committed to finding solutions to industry issues and staying ahead in terms of innovation and creativity in the hospitality sector.
Conclusion
Hope you liked our quick list of top hospitality and tourism organisations.
There are a lot of other reputed travel and hospitality associations around the globe.
We will keep adding to our list of associations for tourism and hospitality executives in future updates. So, please stay around for the updates.
Let the leaders and managers of your hospitality organisation know about these associations to stay ahead on the knowledge and innovation curve.
Join one or multiple associations to give wings to your career.
