In the days following the violent death of George Floyd, companies across
all industries posted black squares to their social media accounts and declared
their intentions to “do better” regarding diversity. Almost immediately,
backlash against this performative allyship surfaced. It’s one thing to link
your brand to an overdue and essential movement; but it’s quite another to turn
words into action, social media into social impact, and intentions into an
investment in time, training and talent.
Recognizing the urgent need to hold travel brands and destinations accountable
for their lack of diversity in travel marketing and storytelling, the Black
Travel Alliance (BTA) was formed
practically overnight to support Black content creators and increase
representation in the travel industry.
The global organization launched June 10. On June 16, it announced its
#PullUpForTravel
campaign,
giving travel brands and destinations until June 19
(Juneteenth) to publicly
provide data related to diversity in employment, conferences and tradeshows,
paid advertising and marketing campaigns, press and philanthropy.
“We knew it was bad. We didn’t need to see the data to know that much
improvement is needed, but it was important to have that data there,” Martina
Jones-Johnson, a BTA founding member and board officer, and content creator at
That Couple Who Travels, told
Sustainable Brands.
“We appreciate the Black Travel Alliance putting its recent call out to the
tourism industry to open a dialog about what travel organizations are doing and
how they are tracking DEI work,” said Megan Conway, chief strategy officer
for Travel Portland, Oregon, which
responded to #PullUpForTravel with detailed
information.
“Being transparent about where we are is the first step, and we are hoping the
travel industry at large can help us determine where to go next. Establishing
best practices and standard DEI metrics for destination marketing and management
organizations like Travel Portland will be important for the industry’s future.”
It is easy for companies to say they want to do better with their DEI
efforts,
and it’s never too late to get started. Regardless of the industry in which they
operate, companies can start today by focusing on these areas:
Look at staffing
If DEI hasn’t been part of a company’s ongoing efforts, being mindful of it in
each and every aspect of an organization can feel overwhelming. Seeking someone
out who can help put commitments into action gets the ball moving in the right
direction. This may be an outside consultant brought in to assess current
efforts, establish benchmarks, offer guidance and check in on progress. However,
depending on company size and budget, it is ideal to hire someone internally to
lead diversity efforts and enforce a culture of inclusion.
“Employment is key. That is one of the most important KPIs, because when you
have a Black person in the room, they can help influence the conversation and
help you understand gaps you don’t recognize,” Jones-Johnson said.
Further, she emphasized, people shouldn’t just lean on the Black people in their
lives to offer guidance for free. “It takes a toll sometimes, yet they want to
help. But they need to be paid for their time.”
Measurement equals accountability
To help increase Black representation in the travel space, founding members of
the BTA knew they had to have a baseline of where travel companies were at in
order to hold them accountable for their stated commitments. This also gave
organizations a chance to internally review efforts so they could set specific
goals for improving diversity within the workplace. “Travel Portland has been
committed to DEI internally for a number of years, but this was the first time
anyone requested data from us publicly,” Conway said.
For companies just getting started, begin by comprehensively collecting and
reviewing data related to compensation, hiring practices, promotion, suppliers
and donations; then, set specific goals for improvement.
“If your goals are not explicit with benchmarks and deadlines, it will
definitely fall to the wayside,” said Priya Jindal, founder of
Nextpat and a consultant who helps organizations
align their diversity commitments with action. “We have done business in the
same way for a long time, and asking people to take on another thing —
especially self-awareness — without the requisite accountability will ultimately
lead to failure.”
Be transparent on progress
One of the best ways for companies to hold themselves accountable is to make
diversity a priority and be transparent in their progress on a quarterly basis.
“Share your current status, where you want to be, and the steps you’re taking to
get there,” said Eliza Erskine, founder of Green Buoy
Consulting, which helps small and
early-stage businesses with sustainability. “Set up a schedule for reporting and
stick to it. Reporting doesn’t end.”
This means publicly detailing goals, regularly evaluating them, and sharing
progress toward achieving them — even if a company is just getting started. The
BTA will follow up with the companies that responded to #PullUpForTravel in one
year to see how far they’ve come. However, Jones-Johnson noted many companies
that responded didn’t provide specific numbers, making a baseline measurement
and progress difficult to gauge.
“Some companies did not answer our questions specifically,” she said. “I think
that’s because they weren’t being as transparent as they could be because they
weren’t proud of their numbers.”
Evolve company culture
Don’t try to jam DEI into a company culture that didn’t previously focus on
these efforts. Organizations can get stuck in a rut of homogeneity if they
aren’t flexible and willing to think of DEI as a valuable addition that helps
shape all aspects of the company.
“Striving to be actively anti-racist and free of unconscious bias is something
that requires continual and systemic change; in addition to increased staff
training, marketing and content auditing,” said Natalie Kidd, chief people
and purpose officer at Intrepid
Travel
— which posted its commitment on
June 12, prior to the BTA’s campaign. “The plan is still a work in progress; but
having a role dedicated to overseeing purpose is really important to us, to
ensure that DEI gets the seat at the table that it deserves.”
Companies also need to realize that diversity isn’t just “nice to have” but
necessary for real change to happen. This isn’t something that can be “solved”
but something that evolves as time goes on.
“Tackle this challenge with foresight and a vision to be working, growing and
improving on this for years to come,” Erskine said. “When you know you have
years of work and improvement and wins ahead, it’s easier to tackle the
challenge.”
Keep learning
In addition to supporting the Black content creator community, the BTA is
available to help the tourism industry in its DEI efforts. Jones-Johnson said
the organization plans to hold events for brands and companies that want to
learn how to be better allies, do better in integrating diversity and inclusion
in their operations, and connect with Black content creators and their
followers. It is also developing a database of Black content creators. Companies
should take advantage of opportunities like these for ongoing education.
“We hope (these companies) are improving every day, and we see that already,”
she said. Companies have taken “immediate steps” by reaching out to the BTA for
diversity and inclusion consulting services and suggestions for Black content
creators for campaigns. “We’re here to help. We’re going to be helpful to some
of these industry leaders so they don’t have excuses as to why they aren’t
getting it together.”
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JoAnna Haugen is a writer, speaker and solutions advocate who has worked in the travel and tourism industry for her entire career. She is also the founder of Rooted — a solutions platform at the intersection of sustainable tourism, social impact and storytelling. A returned US Peace Corps volunteer, international election observer and intrepid traveler, JoAnna helps tourism professionals decolonize travel and support sustainability using strategic communication skills.
Published Aug 10, 2020 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST