Heading to Orlando this morning for the 2017 D-Tour, a conference organized by the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute at the University of Florida.
I am invited to the conference as one of five recipients of the Edith and Eric Friedheim Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Travel Literature. The award focuses on my 35 years of travel journalism, starting at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and most recently at the Miami Herald, Dallas Morning News and other newspapers and websites that publish my travel columns, including TheTravelMavens.com, of which I am editor.
Award recipients also include writers William Least Heat-Moon, Michael Moran, Paulette Cooper Noble, and Les Standiford.
I am honored to be on such a list of distinguished authors. I never really thought of what I do as literature. I was first a news reporter. My love of travel and dedication to serving readers -- from armchair to intrepid explorers -- led me into a career of travel journalism.
The conference is at Disney World near Orlando.
The Friedheim Institute is one of the world’s leading tourism research centers. Goal for the two-day conference is to share knowledge about current events worldwide, learn from the best minds in the tourism and hospitality industries, and anticipate how disruptions will impact tourism. The awards presentation is Thursday evening.
