Why Values Matter: Destination Strategy for LGBTQ+ Travelers

LoAnn Halden (she/her) is Vice President-Communications for the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA), the leader in advancing LGBTQ+ travel. She oversees all PR and marketing for the association and its philanthropic IGLTA Foundation, and frequently speaks to global media outlets about LGBTQ+ travel trends and the importance of inclusive tourism. LoAnn has participated in travel seminars for consumers and trade on five continents and collaborated on the launch of WTM Africa’s LGBTQ+ program, EQUAL Africa, now in its sixth year. Prior to IGLTA, she spent 14 years as a writer and editor for LGBTQ+ and travel publications. She is based in Fort Lauderdale, FL and SW France with her wife.

Thomas “TJ” Chernick (he/him) is the Director of Partner Engagement for the IGLTA Foundation, where he builds global partnerships advancing LGBTQ+ inclusion in travel and tourism. With over 15 years of experience in international human rights, education, and economic development, TJ has led initiatives connecting business, equity, and global mobility. Prior to IGLTA, directed the New York LGBT Chamber of Commerce and worked with DePaul University’s International Human Rights Law Institute and the International Fulbright Program. A lifelong traveler, cellist, and language enthusiast, TJ champions travel as a bridge to understanding and empowerment.

David Allison is the world’s leading authority on human values, a 2X best-selling author, and the founder of the groundbreaking Valuegraphics Project: the first global inventory of core human values. He has revolutionized what we know about people by transforming values – what matters most to all of us – into measurable data that can be used to CHANGE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. The result is an entirely new kind of human-centric insights that are as practical as they are profound, revolutionizing how organizations understand, engage, inspire, and influence people.

David’s insights, drawn from one million surveys conducted in 152 languages, help global giants like Google, PayPal, Lululemon, Amazon, and the United Nations Foundation connect with people on a deeply human level. His groundbreaking research is included in college textbooks and discussed in classrooms around the world. His most recent best-selling book, The Death of Demographics, has been hailed by critics as “convincing, insightful, and revolutionary,” and his keynotes have been called “riveting,” “fascinating,” and “life-changing.” 

He and his husband Chris (a school superintendent) have been together for 30 years and split their time between Vancouver and the tiny seaside town of Sechelt, where Chris has recently become inexplicably obsessed with sourdough and gardening. They don’t have a dog, but regularly borrow them—sort of like Airbnb for Labradoodles and Huskies.