Black travelers want authentic engagement, not checkboxes
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, when travel brands – including Delta Air Lines, Hilton and Enterprise – pronounced their support for diversity and the Black Lives Matter movement, our research group was motivated to conduct a study that collected data of the travel experiences of more than 5,000 Black people and people of color. Our work, published in Afar magazine and Tourism Geographies, found that Black travelers expressed dissatisfaction with how the travel industry promotes itself as inclusive.Authenticity mattersWe conducted in-depth interviews with several of the people who provided data to us.
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, when travel brands – including Delta Air Lines, Hilton and Enterprise – pronounced their support for diversity and the Black Lives Matter movement, our research group was motivated to conduct a study that collected data of the travel experiences of more than 5,000 Black people and people of color. Our work, published in Afar magazine and Tourism Geographies, found that Black travelers expressed dissatisfaction with how the travel industry promotes itself as inclusive.
Authenticity matters
- We conducted in-depth interviews with several of the people who provided data to us.
- Those we interviewed told us plainly that they are weary of being perceived as a single, uniform entity.
- Joshlyn Crystal Adams, CEO of Urbanista Travel, told us, “It’s definitely more than being Black.
- But the people in our study emphasized the need for brands and destinations to make a greater effort.
Diversity is not a box to check
- In the Jim Crow era, Black travelers were regularly denied access to crucial services such as gas, food, restrooms and lodging.
- Stopping in unfamiliar locations posed the threat of humiliation, threats or worse.
- “If companies want to understand how to be appeasing to our communities, they should go directly to us,” study participant and AfroBuenaventura Transformative Travel founder Ronnell Perry said.
Change the industry from within
- Black individuals hold fewer than 1% of top leadership roles – C-suite, director, CEO/president – in the U.S. hospitality industry, according to a report by Castell Project.
- Over the past decade, consultancies such as McKinsey have made it increasingly clear that companies with more diverse workforces perform better financially.
- However, change requires taking power from the hands of dominant white, heterosexual, nondisabled and first-world nation groups.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.