This year's ASTA congress in Las Vegas once again featured a
shopping opportunity that lets delegates have fun while doing good.
I refer to the Silent Auction, which -- with contributions of
goods and services -- can raise up to $100,000 in a few days for
the ASTA Foundation.
The foundation underwrites more than 50 scholarships and
research grants, worth about $50,000 annually.
We are reminded of this while bidding, but we may too easily
overlook the impact of the foundation on the lives of real
people.
Consider Donna Kelly Eastman. She said her 1986 scholarship was
a great help when she took a two-year tourism program at Northern
Virginia Community College in Annandale.
Today, she is a director of Travel Bound in Falls Church,
Va.
Donna came to travel with three degrees, all in music
composition. Even now, she is a composer, often focusing on music
for singers.
She had envisioned selling tours to music groups or groups
interested in music, but found she couldn't do that "as an
individual."
She has become a cruise specialist instead, "by accident and by
design." And sometimes she can mix her love of music with business,
sending choirs on overseas tours or selling into music-themed
cruises.
Then there is Anne Morrison at Wildland Adventures in Seattle,
who won a 1993 scholarship that "definitely helped" her, a single
mother in school full time, find a career. She obtained her
two-year degree in a tourism program at the Art Institute of
Seattle.
She, frankly, had not known what she wanted to do, but figured
she would like to combine a love of travel with work.
Anne is not the dilettante that that remark suggests: She said
she has a history of volunteer work, was considering nursing as
another career option and is "always interested in the social
aspect" of what she does.
In travel school, her eyes were opened to ecotourism and
sustainable tourism. She realized then she wanted to be involved
with a tour company that was "respectful of the environment and
host cultures."
That led her to Wildland Adventures, where she designs Middle
East and Africa tours.
Now, Anne wants a bachelors in Near Eastern languages and
civilization, a plan that would make her more effective in her
position, she said, especially with new language skills.
She is applying for another scholarship, too, this time with the
International Institute for Peace Through Tourism.
It's nice to know that one (good) thing really does lead to
another (good thing).