AIANTA Member News

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What's New at AIANTA

Director's Corner: The Power of Storytelling

In the midst of a busy summer, the team at AIANTA hosted our 21st annual American Indian Tourism Conference, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in partnership with Cherokee Nation.

While the conference did not have a formal theme, it quickly became obvious that this year’s focus was the “power of storytelling.”

Best of Indian Country Tourism Recognized at AITC

AIANTA honored the best tribal destinations and the leaders in tribal tourism at the Enough Good People Awards Gala & Silent Auction during the 21st Annual American Indian Tourism Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

This is How We Gather

AIANTA queried our tribal partners and other language experts and asked how they say “gathering” in their Native languages.

Tribal Opportunities

Save the Date: AITC 2020

We look forward to seeing you at the 22nd annual American Indian Tourism Conference, the only national conference dedicated to travel and tourism in Indian Country.

AITC 2020, scheduled for September 14-17, 2020, will be hosted by the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation at the scenic We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort.

Take the State of Indian Country Tourism Survey

AIANTA’s “State of Indian Country Tourism” report monitors Native American tourism enterprises around the country and measures sentiment for the coming year.

Survey results are published twice a year and detail how sentiment expectations for the coming twelve months.

Take the Fall 2019 Survey

View Results from the

Inaugural (Spring) Survey

President Signs National Scenic Byways Bill Into Law

"So many of these roadways help share the story of Native American cultures along the way, and we look forward to the expansion of these stories," said Sherry L. Rupert, Executive Director, AIANTA.

The new law requires the Secretary of Transportation to start the application process for new byways within 90 days and to designate a round of new National Scenic Byways within one year.

Upcoming Industry Events

Travel Marketing Outlook Forum 2019

Oct. 7-9, 2019

The industry’s leading strategic travel forecast conference combines industry networking and quality educational programming.

Host: Travel and Tourism Research Association

Location: Bethesda Hyatt Regency Hotel; Bethesda, Maryland

More Information: ttra.com/mof/2019mof

NCAI 2019 Annual Convention & Marketplace

Oct. 20-25, 2019

NCAI members gain valuable resources by sharing best practices, emerging models, national dialogues, local and regional discussions and consensus-building resolutions which guide the association's advocacy work.

Host: National Congress of American Indians

Location: Albuquerque Convention Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico

More Information: ncai.org

Travel Exchange (National Tour Association)

Dec. 8–12, 2019

Packaged-travel professionals gather to build itineraries, relationships and industry knowledge.

Host: National Tour Association

Location: Fort Worth Convention Center; Fort Worth, Texas

More Information: NTAtravelexchange.com

Discover Native America

Frog Bay Tribal National Park

Frog Bay Tribal National Park (FBTNP), owned and operated by the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, is the nation's first tribal national park and celebrates the cultural importance of water and the spirituality that is associated with Lake Superior.

The 175-acre area is comprised of permanently protected at-risk boreal forest, the lower estuary and mouth of Frog Creek, and restored former reservation lands back to tribal ownership.

This spectacular conservation parcel on Lake Superior, is open for the peaceful enjoyment of all, and was made possible through several efforts: The original 89-acre parcel of former Red Cliff Reservation land was successfully reacquired in 2012 and a second, 86-acre private parcel was acquired in 2017.

The rare boreal forest ecotype, coastal wetlands and undeveloped sand beach is an unequaled wilderness experience on the Bayfield Peninsula. In total, FBTNP and CMA protects 300 acres, consisting of: a large tract of at-risk boreal forest, over a mile of riparian corridor, nearly 120 acres of wetlands and freshwater estuary habitat, and almost 4,000 feet of undeveloped Lake Superior shoreline. // Read More

Claim Your Listing at NativeAmerica.travel

In the News

AIANTA in the News

North Dakota tribes team up to attract international tourists

For every million dollars spent in Indian Country, about five jobs are created, according to a report from the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association. As of 2015, about 41,000 jobs in the U.S. in total were supported by international visitors to Indian Country alone, the association’s data shows. // Bismark Tribune

Fox 23 News Video: Conference held to grow local tribal tourism

Fox 23 News

New tour app seeks to correct the Native American narrative in the nation’s capital

“When you go to these metropolitan areas, you don’t often think about the history of that place and how native people are connected to those places and, in fact, in many places are their indigenous homelands,” [said Sherry Rupert]. “To have this app I think is really important.” // The Washington Post

Read More AIANTA Headlines

AIANTA Members in the News

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community opens public exhibit celebrating the Tribe’s history, people, and culture

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) recently opened a public exhibit that celebrates and chronicles the history of the Yribe and allows visitors to experience Dakota culture. The exhibit is located in Hoċokata Ti (2300 Tiwahe Circle, Shakopee), the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s new cultural center and gathering space. // Indian Country Today

Building an American Serengeti in Montana

The perils of rewilding ranchland with ranchers still on it; "We can all be stuck in our bad history," Horse Capture says, his hand sweeping across elemental country. "But let's see what the future holds for us, together." // Sierra

Yurok Tribe accepts UN Equator Prize for forest management

... the Yurok Tribe will be one of the first two indigenous nations in the United States to receive the United Nations Development Programme’s prestigious Equator Prize. The award is an acknowledgement of the Tribe’s forward-looking, climate change mitigation work, which merges Traditional Ecological Knowledge with western science to facilitate the restoration of healthy forests. // Times Standard

The Lakota Music Project in South Dakota finds common ground through collaboration

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota is as big as Delaware and Rhode Island combined, and it has some of the highest poverty rates in the United States. For the past three years, it has also hosted performances of music written by high school composers for the instruments of a European-style symphony orchestra. // Brainerd Dispatch

With $500,000 in support from Sealaska, landless Alaska Native communities continue push for their own village corporations

Southeast’s landless Alaska Native communities want to form five new village corporations out of 115,000 acres of Tongass National Forest. The effort has new cash and — it says — the right political climate in Washington to finally get it done. // KTOO Public Media

Planned hotel a monument to how gaming turned life around for Washington tribes

A groundbreaking was held in front of the Auburn casino Thursday for the 400-room hotel with a top-floor restaurant and every room with a view of either Mt. Rainier or the Olympics. // Komo News

Make it new again: Mohawk Tribe raises next generation of native speakers

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in Akwesasne has been working for years to save its native language. The number of Mohawk speakers has been declining for the last century, but new language immersion programs on the reservation are working to reverse that trend. // NCPR

Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation President Bernadine Burnette named one of Arizona’s most influential women for 2019

Arizona Business Magazine named Burnette one of “Arizona’s Most Influential Women” at a gala event at the Arizona Biltmore on August 22. // Indian Country Today