National Council of Destination Organizations Scholarship (graduate)
Lori Ann Graham
Attending University of Central Florida
Lori Ann Graham embodies her college's core values of leadership, professionalism, and service.  During her time at the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Graham helped to reestablish the Eta Sigma Delta International Hospitality Management Honor Society Chapter, growing it into one of the largest chapters in the world.  At the same time, she remained active in the Hospitality Association, National Association of Catering Executives, Professional Convention Management Association, Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals, Meeting Professionals International, American Hotel and Lodging Association, and the International Special Events Society.  Her participation in these organizations, often in a leadership role, has allowed her the opportunity for professional interaction with members of the travel and tourism industry and to develop her skills as an event planner. 

Graham writes that Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) currently face the intriguing challenge to provide quality information online in an era of information overload.  This means that for today's global consumer, DMOs must provide information about their destination, including cultural behaviors, yet also tie in a brand that will differentiate their location and services from all the other destinations.

"One of the benefits that DMOs have over traditional travel agencies is that they are typically public entities and are tied inextricably to the destination," Graham observes, "where as travel agencies are profit-driven and typically lack the connectivity and loyalty to the destination."  It is this benefit that DMOs need to leverage into a brand that enhances the destination's image, but reinforces it uniqueness. 

Graham believes a key way to promote such a brand lies within the very mechanism that can dilute the impact of its message.  While the Internet's plethora of information sites can be a challenge for a DMO to distinguish itself, it simultaneously offers a cost-effective messaging mechanism, one that can evolve and adapt to the changing interests of travelers.  If a DMO offers information that covers all aspects of a traveler's needs—from dining to transportation to attractions—in an innovative fashion, such as web cams, 360 degree views, and accurate graphics, then it will, by nature of its loyalty, stand apart in an honest reflection of the destination.   

Graham is pursuing a Bachelors of Science Hospitality Management from the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management, currently maintaining a 3.2 grade point average. 

UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS

William S. Norman Scholarship
Samantha Frazier
Attending University of Central Florida
Samantha Frazier believes that the future of the travel and tourism industry lies in understanding the sociological factors that influence travelers.  She is currently pursuing a Bachelor's of Science in Hospitality management from the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management, as well as a minor in sociology.

It is her minor studies that have framed her perspective on the type of research that will yield key data for the industry as we move toward an increasingly global society.  "The Rosen Hospitality College has very few students that participate in the program," states Frazier, "and this was the perfect opportunity for me to expand our field with research and a fresh perspective." 

Frazier's current research studies in hospitality, travel, and tourism are rooted in dramaturgical sociology, which argues that human actions are dependent on time and place and audience.  She believes applying this philosophy to today's travelers will allow for business and service side of the industry to better match the diverse interests and needs of the global traveler.

"Research may seem tedious to some people, but to me, it stand for opportunity, creativity, and innovation," stated Frazier.

Frazier was recently allowed to join the Honors-In-Major program at the University of Central Florida, which is the most prestigious program in the entire university for future leaders.  As a part of this program, she is studying with a group of scholars from different departments on a multi-disciplinary research project on top of her required curriculum studies.  She is also involved with student organizations and community volunteer service, while working as the operations supervisor at the Barnes & Noble College Bookstore, Inc. on campus.  Despite her full schedule, Frazier has managed to accomplish al this while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.

This change reflects the experience the American traveler craves.  Dining is just that, an experience not a meal.  It is a time of leisure, of conversation, of interaction—one to be savored as much as the food that crosses the palate.

Change has also come about in the second favorite pastime of the American traveler:  shopping.  Americans flock to the gigantic mall with as much enthusiasm as they ferret out the studios of local artisans.  Shopping has become an experience that is as individual and idiosyncratic as humans.  It is a time of leisure and a time of expressing individuality.

Recognizing this change, this shift to the experience of these activities, Cowie observes, is paramount to understanding that American travel is no longer merely the pursuit of respite, the pursuit of lounging on a beach or hiking in the mountains.  It is important to planning and preparing for the American traveler.

Cowie has worked in the hospitality industry for the past five years, the bulk of which being on the direct service end as a working teenager, work that she values for the lessons she has learned dealing with a wide variety of customers.  This experience, combined with her studies, has deepened her resolve to ensure a commitment to customer service.

Cowie is currently pursing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management at The Pennsylvania State University, specializing tin Management Options for Lodging and Resorts and Finance and Revenue Management.  While earning 82 credits in just two years, she has consistently achieved the Dean's List each semester and currently maintains a 3.9 grade point average.

Currently employed at California Pizza Kitchen, as she works her way through school, Butler has found within herself a talent for management.  After starting as a hostess, absorbing all that she saw, Butler set up a 5-Step management course of training for the restaurant chain:  1) Server, 2) Front of House Service Trainer; 3) Dining Shift Leader; Opening Team Trainer, and 5) Manager.  It is a systematic approach to allow the participant to fully engage with all aspects of the restaurant business, while honing leadership and management skills. 

Over 10,000 people per day fly into Oahu.  If she could, Butler would listen to each and every one tell their stories over a meal, stories that inspire her to visit their homes and share the compelling aspects of her own.  It is through her experiences with tourists and with her professors and fellow students at Hawaii Pacific University that Butler has come to understand just how small the world can be, how she is not just a resident of Hawaii, but a citizen of the world.  She has learned that all people are similar despite the languages they speak, the clothes they wear, or the color of their skin.

Butler is known for her uncanny ability to interact with all manner of guests even as she has set new standards in management at the restaurant.  These skills and her studies of culture and Japanese language will combine to make a powerful agent for change in the travel and tourism industry. 

Butler is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in Travel Industry Management at Hawaii Pacific University, where she currently maintains a 3.7 grade point average and has landed on the Dean's list during most of her semesters of study at the University.

National Council of Destination Organizations (NCDO) Undergraduate Scholarship
Jessie Cadwell Welch
Attending The Pennsylvania State University
"I threw my first of many dinner parties when I was 13.  I told my mother, hostess extraordinaire, to leave me alone in the kitchen and come back in two hours, ready to be amazed.  I wanted to do it all on my own.  Hospitality was my passion before I knew it was an industry," stated Jessie Cadwell Welch.  While her first foray into hospitality understandably had a few bumps in the delivery, it came from the heart of her interest in and passion for the industry she now studies:  the human element.

From that first dinner party, Welch progressed to working in the hospitality industry beginning at 16, when she toiled behind the front desk at a Caribbean Westin resort.  With each successive position, Welch learned that it was her interpersonal skills that help to ultimately ensure the best possible experience for the guests, often turning an unhappy person around through reflective listening, empathy, and ownership of the problem where applicable.  

Welch believes the human element also extends beyond a kind ear to an understanding of culture and the gap that can exists nationally and internationally with the mix of global travelers that paint the face of today's industry.  "As American companies grow internationally, brand consistency challenges cultural authenticity.  I want to help companies deliver the service guests' expectations without sacrificing the cultural experience they will never forget."

Next year, Welch hopes to attend La Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola in Lima, Peru as the first Penn State student in the country.  While representing Penn State, she will be immersed in culture and language.  She believes travel is her second school—Peru will be her teacher.  It is her desire to learn as much as possible so that as more Americans turn south as an alternative to the traditional—and now expensive—European vacation, she can help preserve the region while sharing it with the world.

While pursing dual degrees in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management and Spanish Language at The Pennsylvania State University, Welch has frequently landed on the dean's list, served as board member on both the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality and the Penn State Hotel and Restaurant Society, earned the President's Freshman Award, and currently maintains a 3.9 grade point average.

"There's a fine line between selling and sharing the culture and heritage [of a destination]…it'd be to everyone's advantage that someone's primary responsibility is to ensure that it is done accurately, appropriately, and with respect…."  Doing so will ensure a solid working relationship between the natives and local residents and the attraction or Destination Marketing Organization (DMO).

Koerte suggests that DMOs treat the matter seriously, specifically by incorporating into their budgets funds to support staff and activities to address cultural sensitivity.  From small budgets to large ones, DMOs can creatively address this need by utilizing and collaborating with local museums, historical societies, and/or cultural groups to combine resources and provide visitors with accurate information about the destination's cultural and past. 

For her honor's thesis, Koerte is examining Tanzania's tourism issue, comparing and contrasting Tanzania's projected image by the tourism authorities and the trade and its perceived image by potential consumers.  With her meticulous and rigorous research design, university staff believes that Koerte's project could impact Tanzania's brand development—a testament to her passion and understanding of the tourism industry.

Koerte is pursuing Bachelor's of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management at Purdue University, where she currently maintains a 3.7 grade point average and has been on the Dean's List each semester of study.