WASHINGTON, DC—The EDI Assessment Tool introduced by Destinations International breaks new ground as the first of its kind designed to enable destination organizations to understand how equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) has been integrated into their operations.
With the new EDI tool, destinations will be able to assess their workplace dynamics, operations and policies, supplier selection, community engagement and accessibility strategies. The tool will give them a score based on the average of median and best practices, and users will be able to filter the results to anonymously compare their destination to others based on budget, geography, tourism assets and other factors. There is also a best practices guide to help them improve their EDI initiatives.
Organisations can decide how detailed the comparisons are by choosing one of four reporting levels. At the basic level, they can compare their results to industry medians, while the highest reporting level allows them to see how they compare to a set of peer destinations and includes a 75-minute consultation with Destinations International’s Diversity Manager.
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The new tool follows Destinations International’s 2022 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Study of Destination Organizations, which examines demographics and overall perceptions of EDI based on data from 491 respondents from member destination organizations. In the study’s introduction, Don Welsh, president and CEO, set the stage for the next step. “We must continue to advance our work and new initiatives to provide metrics, resources and other tools to validate our work and progress,” he said.
The organization also has an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee that supports its strategic planning and programming initiatives focused on five core areas – CEO engagement, industry partnerships, academic partnerships, research and workforce development – and a new chief diversity officer, Sophia Hyder Hock, who joined in February 2022.
Contact Don Welsh at (202) 296-7888 or dwelsh@destinationsinternational.org