Meaningful Travel Roadshow: Galveston, TX
Friday, November 14, 2025
Join us in Galveston, Texas, for the grand finale of the 2025 Meaningful Travel Roadshow! This unforgettable stop will dive into how our industry can honor cultural legacies while advancing sustainability and bold environmental stewardship.
As the birthplace of Juneteenth, Galveston offers profound lessons in African-American history, resilience, and community-led conservation. It is a destination where heritage and habitat intersect, showing how meaningful travel can preserve the past, protect the planet, and empower the future.
Through dynamic educational sessions, immersive community experiences, and peer-to-peer exchange, you will gain actionable strategies, fresh perspectives, and lasting connections to bring back to your business wherever you are.
Because meaningful travel is not just about one place, it is about shaping a stronger, more sustainable future for us all.
What’s in Store for Galveston
This event goes beyond Galveston, offering lessons and models that every destination, travel company, and tourism professional can apply. Program elements include:
Educational Programs: Dive into pressing sustainability topics like community engagement, cultural heritage, and conservation, leaving with actionable strategies for your work.
Immersive Tours: Step into Galveston’s living history through off-site experiences that highlight African-American history and environmental heritage. These tours go beyond the destination itself, offering replicable approaches that show how meaningful travel can create positive change anywhere.
Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse mix of industry peers, from global brands to grassroots changemakers.
Attendance & Cost
The Roadshow is an intimate event of 50-75 attendees, allowing for constructive dialogue, opportunities to meet and learn from locals, and connect 1:1 with new and familiar colleagues.
$229 for Tourism Cares members
$279 for non-members
Who Attends the Roadshow?
Whether you are just beginning your sustainability journey or already leading the way, the Meaningful Travel Roadshow is for every travel and tourism professional who seeks to use travel as a force for good. In Galveston, you will connect with:
Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and tourism boards
Tour operators, travel advisors, and product developers
Hotels, attractions, and supplier partners
Non-profits and community leaders
Corporate sustainability and impact officers
The challenges facing travel - climate change, cultural preservation, equity, and resilience - are shared across our industry. What we learn in Galveston will resonate far beyond the Gulf Coast, equipping you with tools, connections, and inspiration to help shape a stronger and more sustainable future for travel everywhere.
Location:
Historic Galveston Water & Electric Light Community Center
715 30th St, Galveston, TX 77550
Program Schedule* - November 14
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Location: Historic Galveston Water and Electric Light Community Center
Start your day with a warm welcome over coffee, then dive into a series of thought-provoking sessions and workshops designed to spark ideas and inspire action, using Galveston as a living case study.
Keynote Speaker: Sam Collins III, Juneteenth historian; past co‑chair, Juneteenth Legacy Project; community leader.
Panel #1: Coastal Conservation & Climate Resilience
Panel #2: Telling Local Stories: Culture, History, and Visitor Value
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Enjoy a lunch - all locally sourced - and get to know your fellow attendees and mingle with local partners and changemakers.
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Step into Galveston’s vibrant culture and rich history through hands-on, immersive experiences.
Experience 1: Birding, Beaches, and Biodiversity
Experience Galveston's unique natural landscape with the Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council. Attendees will explore the 700-acre East End Lagoon Nature Park & Preserve, home to beaches, wetlands, and grasslands that attract more than 300 bird species year-round, making it a birdwatcher’s paradise along the Central Flyway.
Experience 2: Juneteenth and Beyond Tour
As the birthplace of Juneteenth, Galveston’s powerful stories and landmarks honor resilience, freedom, and cultural contributions that continue to shape the community today. Journey through the city’s African-American history with Dr. Araminto Coleman Sorrell, founder of Juneteenth and Beyond Tours.
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Enjoy a networking reception featuring locally-sourced food and drink, celebrating the destination’s flavors and providing an opportunity to connect with local changemakers and industry leaders.
Sponsorship Information
All sponsors receive the full Base Benefits Package, which includes:
Complimentary registrations to attend (based on level)
Listing in press release and media communications
Individual attendee recognition as a sponsor on-site
Logo/listing recognition on-site at the program, Tourism Cares website, event app and event communications
*If you are interested in sponsorship, click below or email carrie.hodgen@tourismcares.org
Thank You to Our Host & Sponsors
Galveston Meaningful Travel Map
The Tourism Cares Meaningful Travel Map is a digital tool that helps the travel trade and sustainably-minded travelers easily source organizations making positive social and environmental impacts in destinations.
Discover vetted, sustainable offerings in Galveston that are ready to explore and be added to an itinerary today.
SPOTLIGHT: THE PEOPLE + PLACES OF TOURISM CARES
Galveston Historical Foundation | Meaningful Map Partner
The Galveston Historical Foundation reinvests tourism revenue, memberships, and grants into preserving historic sites and stewarding more than 20 properties. From African American history initiatives and Juneteenth programming to maritime traditions, GHF safeguards Galveston’s diverse heritage while creating vibrant public spaces for locals and visitors alike. The organization also leads coastal resiliency efforts, from shoreline restoration to educating the public on climate impacts to historic communities.