Three Skål International Washington DC Members Recognized Internationally

Dow, Moyer, and Richer bring home honors to the USA.

For the first time ever, the Skål International World Congress was held virtually this past October. One of the results was that all the awards given to members from the United States were received by skålleagues in the Skål International Washington DC Club.


Club President Barry Biggar, CEO of Visit Fairfax, said, "The Skål International Washington, DC club has always had exceptional members, and to receive so many individual awards among the few given internationally is just outstanding. The awards and recognitions are some of the highest honors which Skål International bestows on members of distinction worldwide. Roger Dow, President of U. S. Travel; Bill Moyer, Vice President of Donohoe Real Estate Services, and international tourism consultant Steve Richer are all highly active leaders within our club and the travel industry itself. We could not be prouder of these accomplished and amazing individuals."

Dow, who has lead the national travel industry for years and is credited with leading the awareness and advocacy efforts on behalf of all elements of the travel industry in the United States, received the ‘Skål Ambassador of the Year’ Award. This citation recognizes Dow's role in advocating support for the struggling travel industry nationally at both the White House and Congressional levels and for being an international tourism policy leader on the board of the World Travel and Tourism Council, where he helps formulate plans to address the return of the travel industry from the pandemic and communicate these plans back in the United States.

Moyer, who has had a distinguished forty-year career in hospitality real estate and two decades of participation in Skål International as local leader and frequent knowledgeable attendee at international Skål International events, was given the Skål International ‘Membre d'Honneur’ Award for his years of dedication to the organization. This award was decided by a vote of the Skål International delegates worldwide. Moyer received near unanimous approval from his fellow Skålleagues voting from around the globe.

Richer, who was named Skålleague of the Year internationally in 2017, received a ‘Special Award’ for his assistance on drafting policy statements and positions for International President Peter Morrison of New Zealand, who personally chose to give this recognition.

Biggar concluded, "It has been a challenging year for Skål International Washington DC, having only met virtually for basically an entire year. This set of recognitions does give our organization the kind of boost going into the new year with other issues to address to maintain our success. We thank Roger, Bill, and Steve for their dedication and look forward to the time we can celebrate with them in person!"

David Ryan, President Skål International USA commented “…we are especially proud at Skål International USA of Roger Dow, Bill Moyer and Steve Richer who were recognized for extraordinary awards.  It was a great day for Skål International USA and especially for Skål International Washington, DC, and their President Barry Biggar. Skål International Washington DC is one of the largest and most active Clubs in the United States”.

From left to right, skålleagues Roger Dow (President of U. S. Travel), Bill Moyer (Vice President of Donohoe Real Estate Services), and international Tourism consultant Steve Richer.