CLIA ANNOUNCES 2010 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Micky Arison, Matthew Upchurch, Doris and Phil Davidoff and Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality To All Be Honored at cruise3sixty in Vancouver, June 5
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has announced five inductees to the 2010 Cruise Industry Hall of Fame. Honored at a gala dinner on June 5 during cruise3sixty in Vancouver will be: Micky Arison, Carnival Corp. plc's chairman and CEO; Matthew Upchurch, CEO of Virtuoso; the travel industry educators, marketers and travel agents Doris and Phil Davidoff; and the Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH).
In its sixth year, the Cruise Industry Hall of Fame honors those individuals, past and present, whose efforts and accomplishments represent a significant contribution to and positive impact on the development and growth of cruise vacations. They are selected based on nominations from CLIA's membership, review by a nominating committee made up of Travel Agency Advisory Board (TAAB) and cruise line members, and approval by CLIA's Executive Committee. Inductees are chosen in three categories: cruise retailer (Matthew Upchurch , Doris and Phil Davidoff), cruise line executive (Micky Arison) and an "At Large" category that may be any individual, such as an additional retailer or cruise line executive, a politician, publisher, or shipbuilder, whose accomplishments warrant nomination, in this year's case, SATH.
"This year's inductees into the Cruise Industry Hall of Fame are not only remarkable in their own right but, from the evolution and growth of the industry to education, technology, marketing and professional selling, to the importance of making cruise travel available to everyone, they encompass the entire scope of what this amazing industry is all about. On behalf of all CLIA members, we offer our heartfelt congratulations," said Terry L. Dale, CLIA's president and CEO.
Micky Arison
Micky Arison grew up in the cruise business and spent the better part of two decades learning it from the ground up before becoming chairman in 1990. He began in the Carnival Cruise Lines sales department, became reservations manager in 1974, and succeeded to the presidency in 1979. In 1990, he was appointed chairman. Carnival went public in 1987 and continued its growth through new ship construction and diversification into new market segments. Arison engineered the acquisition of Holland America Line, Cunard Line, The Yachts of Seabourn and Costa Cruises.
In April 2003, he spearheaded the transaction that combined Carnival Corporation's various cruise operators with the wide-ranging brands of P&O Princess Cruises, creating a truly global cruise operator with the leading cruise brands in both North America and Europe. The transaction included Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises, Ocean Village, AIDA Cruises, and P&O Cruises Australia. Most recently, the Carnival global portfolio was expanded to include IberoCruises, which caters to the Spanish market. Arison's attention to marketing and growth priorities has resulted in revenues increasing from approximately $600 million in 1988 to $13.2 billion in 2009. Arison is past-chairman of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), and past-chairman of the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL). He has been honored by the governments of France and Italy, and is also the managing general partner of the NBA's Miami Heat franchise and served as chairman of the league's board of governors.
Matthew D. Upchurch
As chief executive officer, Matthew Upchurch oversees the marketing, sales, technology and operational systems that have made Virtuoso a multi-billion-dollar, by-invitation-only enterprise of exceptional travel advisors and travel providers in the luxury travel arena. While many were predicting the downfall of the travel consultant with the onslaught of online booking engines, Upchurch envisioned a back-to-the-future alternative that repositioned true travel specialists into their original role - knowledgeable advisors. He saw the Internet as a resource, not a threat, and perceived the Baby Boomer generation as one that prefers to work with experts, especially when planning leisure travel.
Following a childhood that included African safaris in the summers, private tours of Europe during the holidays, and a multi-cultural upbringing on several continents, he turned his sights on the travel industry in the early ‘80s. Two family businesses, Percival Tours and Upchurch Travel led to his vision of Virtuoso: a virtual corporation of the upscale travel agencies supported by centralized marketing vehicles and exclusive agreements with the finest travel suppliers in the world.
As a mail clerk with Percival Tours in 1979, Upchurch was inspired to establish a new fulfillment company, Perci-Pak. Collaborating with his cousin, A. R. Tandy, he developed revolutionary automated shipping software, now the second largest of its kind in the nation and used by conglomerates such as General Electric, Radio Shack, Mary Kay, Pfizer and L.L. Bean. He has served on advisory boards for luxury travel companies and on the corporate advisory council for ASTA, presented keynote addresses at high-profile industry events, and is past chairman of The Travel Institute.
Doris and Phil Davidoff
Leading travel industry professionals also active in travel and tourism marketing, education and training, Doris and Phil Davidoff were co-founders and co-owners of Belair Travel Consultants in Maryland from 1969 to 2003 when they merged with Liberty Travel. From 1992 to 1997, they directed the activities of VALU Travel Marketing, Inc. and owned Fan Club Cruises, which operates special interest cruise groups, as well as Davidoff Associates, Inc., a travel industry consulting company. Together, the Davidoffs served as travel and tourism educators for more than thirty years, holding designations as Certified Travel Counselors (CTC), Certified Travel Industry Executives (CTIE), Life Members of the Institute of Certified Travel Agents (ICTA), Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC) and Master Cruise Counselor (MCC). They also served as members of the tourism faculties of The George Washington University and Northern Virginia Community College and presented seminars for Vacation.com, Empress Travel, Travel Weekly and Travel Trade magazines, ASTA, ARTA, CLIA and many other industry organizations. They were joint recipients of the first Achievement Award from the Society of Travel and Tourism Educators in 1988 and were co-recipients of Travel Trade Magazine's Travel Agent of the Year award for 1991.
Currently the owner and president of Davidoff Associates, and Fan Club Cruises, Doris Davidoff is also a project manager working independently with Marc Mancini to produce educational materials for a variety of travel companies. For 20 years she wrote a monthly column on technology and online marketing for Travel Trade magazine, and has written on management for Travel Weekly and Agent@Home magazine. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Adelphi University and a Master of Arts in Education degree with specialization in Tourism Development and Travel Administration from The George Washington University.
The travel industry mourned the passing of Phil Davidoff in 2009. In addition to the business activities he shared with his wife, he was president and chief executive officer of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) from 1990 to 1992 and ASTA's staff vice president for education and training from 1982 to 1984. He was named Travel Agent magazine's Travel Industry Man of the Year award in 1992 and served as director-at-large for Travel Industry Association of America from 1991 through 1993. He held Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
SATH
The Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH), founded in 1976, is an educational nonprofit membership organization whose mission is to raise awareness of the needs of all travelers with disabilities, remove physical and attitudinal barriers to free access and expand travel opportunities in the United States and abroad. Members include travel professionals, consumers with disabilities and other individuals and corporations who support their mission.
SATH participated in the writing of the regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Air Carriers Access Act, as well as Resolution 700 and 1700 of the International Air Transport Association. A Code of Conduct toward travelers with disabilities written by SATH was adopted by the World Tourism Organization in 1991. The Society organizes conferences and provides speakers and panels for other industry associations and has sponsored the World Congress for Travelers with Disabilities and the Mature since 1977. It also sponsors Travelers with Disabilities Awareness Week, created in 1990 by SATH founder Murray Vidockler, and works closely with corporations, the travel industry and media to further its goals, and serves as a clearinghouse for access information.
