A Current Pulse on Black Traveler Perspectives

 

 

As part of Destination Analysts’ series of panel discussions with traveling consumers, our latest industry update webinar on April 6th was followed by an important discussion with Black travelers. Visit Fort Worth’s Director of Research, Lauren Phillips, led an enlightening discussion exploring how Black travelers’ unique perspectives and personal experiences impact present and future travel decisions.

You can watch the full panel discussion in this video and find our key takeaways below.

 

 

Black travelers still don’t often see people who look like them in travel advertising. As we have heard time and again in traveling consumer panels, the current state of travel advertising overall appears to have the opportunity for far more inclusivity.

Despite being underrepresented in travel marketing, Black travelers do not hold back from taking leisure trips. A common sentiment amongst the panelists was a wish for “more representation in ads” and to “see people who look like me.” However, even given the lack of Black travelers in marketing and advertising, they are keen to hit the road and have experiences in destinations ranging from nature and the outdoors, to beaches and mountains, to large, metropolitan cities. In the words of Cyrus from Brooklyn, NY, “Black people travel, we have been traveling and we will continue to travel.”

Social media plays a major role in Black travelers sharing personal experiences with, and promoting destinations to, their communities and networks—and thus gaining more voice in the conversation around travel. Cognizant of the fact that Black representation is “lackluster” in the marketing campaigns for many travel brands, social media is a forum through which Black travelers can control the narrative and show that they travel to a wide variety of destinations. And this narrative leads other Black travelers to consider destinations, visit them and continue the momentum of Black travelers representing themselves, each other and the destinations they visit by posting about their experiences on social media.

Both presently and historically, Black travelers approach travel with caution—something we are hopeful can change. Despite the protests and greater societal solidarity shown around #BlackLivesMatter, the travelers on our panel reminded us that they have always been aware and cautious around who and where they are in all areas of life, particularly when traveling. They expressed an inherent acknowledgement that “everything is a calculated risk.” Sadly, from their perspective, the events in the last year were felt unsurprising and thus haven’t dramatically changed their approach to travel. For the travel industry, the discussion served as a key reminder that cautiousness continues to be very much a part of the Black travel experience and that we must to do our part in promoting travel as a means of inclusiveness.

The Destination Analysts team would like to thank Lauren Phillips of Visit Fort Worth for leading this discussion, and the panelists Cyrus, Francesca and Quincy for sharing their personal opinions and perspectives.