White travel advisors should actively seek to speak up for their Black peers in predominantly white spaces. Everyone should ask business development managers (BDMs) to provide marketing materials featuring people of color and be intentional with things like diversity in hiring practices.
Those were some of the takeaways from Future Leaders in Travel's Black Travel Panel on Wednesday, which was moderated by TravelAge West deputy digital editor Valerie Chen and featured Jazzmine Douse, national account manager for AmaWaterways; Samantha Hammond, owner of Jus Adventures Travel Services in Melville, N.Y.; and Trevor Williams, owner of Book and Bag Travel Agency in Houston.
Future Leaders in Travel is an event geared toward new and younger travel advisors. Considering the audience, Chen asked what they can do to more inclusively build their businesses.
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Douse suggested they find employees through mentorship programs or historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs). Above all, she encouraged advisors to be intentional about diversity in their business.
"Why can't we actually make an effort, or take the initiative to say, 'Hey, I can actually make a difference, I can change this; there's actually an issue here," Douse said. "That takes someone seeking out, looking for solutions and looking to make everybody feel comfortable. Also, I think that if you are starting your business off on that foot, I think it's going to be a beautiful thing not only for your business but, obviously, for your employees."
Williams encouraged agents to "be comfortable being uncomfortable" and reach out to new groups they don't count among their clientele. He suggested spending time at HBCUs or at Black churches to learn more about the market, especially since it can be a lucrative one.
Intentionality also struck a chord with Hammond as an agency owner. Being intentional doesn't mean just hiring people of color or just marketing to Black groups, she said, but being more inclusive.
"When you are doing things, when you're designing your website, when you're hiring, be intentional about wanting to be diverse," Hammond said.
A position paper identifies barriers, and solutions, to increase Black presence in travel.
Suppliers can also do better with diversity initiatives. Douse said there really isn't a company getting it completely right with things like marketing initiatives and including people of color in materials. But there are some good examples of diversity in the supplier world, she said. For instance, Holland America Line (HAL) previously had a Black president, Orlando Ashford.
Having a Black executive "makes a huge difference," Douse said, because it puts a Black person at the decision-making table. It also opens doors to other opportunities; she posited that having a Black executive was directly related to HAL's partnership with Oprah Winfrey.
"Diversity is one thing," she said. "Ensuring that you meet those numbers and you have that representation is one thing. Inclusion and actually letting them have a voice is a completely different thing."
A travel advisor in the audience asked what they, as a white person, can do to elevate their Black peers.
Douse said that allies sometimes feel the need to speak up for people of color when in their presence. But that isn't necessarilly what allyship means.
Instead, Douse said, it means stepping up for people of color when they aren't in the room to speak for themselves. At a conference with mostly white people, that might mean sending an email to organizers or talking about the lack of diversity. In a setting like a board meeting, it means encouraging the board to include people of color. Those conversations behind closed doors really make a difference, she said.
"You as an ally sitting on that board and noticing that there is an issue, having that courage to actually speak about it, it means the world," Douse said.
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Another advisor asked about how to be more diverse with social media postings.
Hammond noted that featuring more diverse people on social media posts can be difficult because it's hard to find people of color in marketing material or from destinations.
When Hammond rebuilt her website, she looked for images of Black children on a beach vacation. She still hasn't found any, she said.
She encouraged agents to ask their BDMs if they have marketing materials featuring people of color.
"If they don't," she said, "maybe then the BDM will go to the marketing team and say, 'Hey, I'm getting these requests. Is there something we can do about it?'" she said.