• Seven businesses earn Belonging & Welcoming hospitality certification.
• Visit Boulder wins State of Colorado award for advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives for Boulder’s hospitality industry.
BOULDER, Colo., November 14, 2023 – Visit Boulder, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, honors seven local businesses for their outstanding dedication to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within Boulder’s vibrant hospitality community. The primary goal of this initiative is to elevate Boulder's standing as a hospitable and all-embracing destination, ensuring that every guest is warmly welcomed and feels truly valued.
“Visit Boulder’s certification program provides tangible evidence of our commitment to equity, inclusion, and anti-racism and provides a means of accountability in ways we can ‘move the needle’ to uplift our historically underrepresented population,” said Boulder’s City Manager, Nuria Rivera Vandermyde.
Businesses Dedicated to a Welcoming
& Belonging Boulder
The Citywide Boulder Certification Program is focused on the human elements of empathy, personal growth, and understanding dignity and race relations in Boulder’s thriving hospitality industry. Beyond its mission of ensuring a warm welcome for our guests, this program also equips participants with comprehensive information about Boulder and its attractions, including responses to common visitor inquiries and valuable insights into hospitality best practices.
“We applaud Visit Boulder for acknowledging the fact that Black and other people of color, both residents and guests, continue to experience incidents of racial biases when visiting local restaurants and shops,” said Jude Landsman, Vice President of the NAACP Boulder County chapter. “We believe that these first steps will promote a more welcoming, inviting and inclusive cultural climate in Boulder,” said Landsman.
The seven businesses recognized at this time for their commitment to making Boulder a welcoming and belonging place are:
- The St Julien Hotel & Spa
- Chautauqua Dining Hall
- The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse
- Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant
- Gemini
- Downtown Boulder Partnership and Block by Block Ambassadors
- Eight Black Airport Shuttle
“At St Julien Hotel & Spa, we recognized a need for DEI training for all associates. As an independent hotel, there were no immediate resources to help facilitate this training,” explained Aaron Coburn, general manager of the St Julien Hotel & Spa. “I quickly realized this would be a great learning tool for the associates at the St Julien,” said Coburn.
These distinguished Boulder businesses have been awarded an official window cling, distinguishing them as a Welcoming & Belonging Boulder establishment. In addition to this recognition, they will enjoy prominent visibility on the www.bouldercoloradousa.com website, spotlights in Visit Boulder social media posts, and special acknowledgments in Visit Boulder's partner communications and events.
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