Donate to the Scholarship Fund

Hotel Canandaigua * Thursday, April 24, 2025

Your response requested by March 31, 2025

It has been six years since the annual scholarship auction was held at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo in 2019, raising $17,500 to build our scholarship fund balance. There was no live/in-person conference held in April of 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, and the auction was suspended. NYSTIA has ‘stayed the course’ and continued to award five (5) $2,000 scholarships each year, funded primarily out NYSTIA’s operating budget and the pre-existing fund balance. With the pandemic behind us and New York’s tourism industry resurgent, now is the time to renew our fundraising efforts and grow the scholarship program and related workforce development initiatives. It is our ultimate intent to increase the number of awards through new and renewed fundraising activities.

Will you support the 2025 Scholarship Auction? We are requesting donations from New York State tourism destination, accommodation, attraction, dining & entertainment suppliers to be used to raise dollars for the 2025 Destinations of New York State Travel, Tourism, Hospitality & Culinary College Scholarship Fund.

What types of donations are we seeking?

• The highest dollar bids are for certificates for one- or two-night ‘getaway’ packages with meals and/or attractions and entertainment. Travel vouchers for cruise, rail or air transportation are also in demand. (Please list any restrictions on the certificate and please use an expiration date to include all of the 2025 season, ideally as late as MAY 2026. Also, please forward to us TWO business cards, one brochure for each inclusion, and the dollar value of the package)
• Other options that are popular: Gift baskets featuring locally sourced items from your vacation region like wine, beer, food items and other items from your cretor/maker community.  (always great if packaged with an overnight or dining certificate!),

The packages donated will be auctioned off at the 2025 New York State Tourism Conference, April 23-23, 2025, at the Hotel Canandaigua in Ontario County. We will also announce the 2025 scholarship award recipients at this event.

Please use the donation form below to submit your donation.

If you have any questions, please contact us at auction@nystia.org

Thank you very much in advance for your support!

We hope to see you in Canandaigua in April at the 2025 NYS Tourism Conference.