PUHHHA / SHUTTERSTOCK . COM luxury ,” says McKenzie . “ But just like everybody else , we want to get a good deal .”
Everything from media portrayals to historical erasure perpetuates harmful stereotypes that , despite our best intentions , create unconscious bias and make us treat people differently . That ’ s why it ’ s so important for travel advisors to educate themselves about their own implicit bias and pay attention to the people making the travel industry more inclusive through resources and education ( see sidebar ).
Noninclusive marketing is a missed opportunity Diverse travelers represent a sizable market share : Research from the University of Minnesota Tourism Center shows Asian Americans outspend the typical U . S . traveler , and research from the National Tour Association found that Hispanics “ are clearly outpacing ” the number of vacations their non-Hispanic white counterparts take . LGBTQ + travelers alone comprise a $ 211 billion global travel market , according to data from RCI Ventures , the leading vacation exchange network .
Still , diverse clientele isn ’ t always a focus in the industry . “ When I go to conferences , I look at the brochures and you have to just walk down the aisles — very few people are marketing to Black people ,” says McKenzie . “ It ’ s changing somewhat ... but they ’ re not quite there .”
Other experts agree that travel media and destination marketers tend to alienate people by mainly featuring able-bodied , white travelers and heterosexual couples . “ The travel industry has constantly just ignored the Black travel market and that is to their detriment ,” Paula Franklin , co-founder of the communications firm Franklin Bailey , told The New York Times in June 2020 . “ I don ’ t think the exclusion has been intentional , but it is pervasive .”
Fondeur-Adams , who founded the bilingual Latino World Travelers community to help other Latinos find travel inspiration , deals and destinations , also believes the lack of representation in advertising sends the wrong message to marginalized groups .
“ I ’ m feeling like we don ’ t belong in spaces because we ’ re not being featured . They ’ re not marketing to us ,” says Fondeur- Adams . “ If they don ’ t put a picture of [ someone like ] me going to the Maldives , how am I supposed to think , ‘ Wow , I could actually imagine myself going to the Maldives ’?”
Worse than not including people of color is portraying them in harmful ways , such as depicting locals as “ exotic ” curiosities who are there to serve white visitors . This is especially problematic when marketing destinations such as the Caribbean that have histories of colonialism and enslavement .
“ When these hotels [ in tropical locations ] are showing somebody of color in a tuxedo serving a white person , it goes back to colonialism days ,” says McKenzie , who is originally from Jamaica , which was a British colony until 1962 . “ You don ’ t need that in your brochure to sell what you ’ re selling . You can [ just ] say , ‘ We have butler service .”
Putting in the work : how advisors can better serve diverse clients DMOs , service providers and travel advisors need to continue to lean into content that is respectful , resonates with an increasingly
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