A group of influential Black leaders in travel, tourism, and hospitality shared their personal and professional experiences dealing with race and racism in the industry. The discussion addressed the spending power of Black travelers; how to better support Black leadership; how to make Black travelers feel welcome; next steps that listeners can take to push for a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive industry and much more.
———
Afar.com is a digital and print magazine that publishes travel tips, guides, news, and stories: https://www.afar.com
Get updates on the latest articles, travel news, and more from AFAR by signing up for the AFAR newsletter: https://afar.com/newsletters
Follow AFAR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfarMedia
Follow AFAR on Twitter: https://twitter.com/afarmedia
Follow AFAR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afarmedia
———
Afar.com is a digital and print magazine that publishes travel tips, guides, news, and stories: https://www.afar.com
Get updates on the latest articles, travel news, and more from AFAR by signing up for the AFAR newsletter: https://afar.com/newsletters
Follow AFAR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfarMedia
Follow AFAR on Twitter: https://twitter.com/afarmedia
Follow AFAR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afarmedia
Category
🏖
TravelTranscript
00:00:00 And we're going to give people some time to filter in.
00:00:03 Cool.
00:00:04 Cool.
00:00:29 Is it hot where everybody is but me and Marty?
00:00:39 It's not bad.
00:00:42 It's hot.
00:00:43 Tomorrow it's supposed to be 93 but you know because you're here.
00:00:47 You're in Berkeley.
00:00:48 I know.
00:00:49 I know.
00:00:50 It's bizarre.
00:00:51 Five days of heat.
00:00:52 Heat waves.
00:00:53 I know.
00:00:54 And I'm driving up to Napa and it's supposed to be in the 90s.
00:00:57 How am I pairing wine with that heat?
00:00:59 I got to be very strategic about that.
00:01:02 A lot of red.
00:01:03 I'm gonna make it work though.
00:01:05 No, I need some red in the valley but we're gonna make it work.
00:01:12 It should be a beautiful drive.
00:01:13 Yeah, I love the drive going through.
00:01:16 Yeah.
00:01:17 Yeah.
00:01:18 Yeah.
00:01:19 Okay.
00:01:20 We've got some people joining us.
00:01:25 We're so excited for today's session too.
00:01:29 All right.
00:01:32 The chat gonna be lit in here.
00:01:42 Is anybody else going anywhere as fabulous as the Napa Valley this weekend?
00:01:49 You guys stay in put.
00:01:52 I wish I was going to Napa Valley.
00:01:54 Please take me.
00:01:55 Come on, Al.
00:01:56 Let me turn off my email here.
00:02:05 I am ready to travel quite frankly.
00:02:07 I'm ready to go.
00:02:08 I know.
00:02:09 I've got the itch.
00:02:10 Yeah.
00:02:11 Anywhere.
00:02:12 Yeah, anywhere.
00:02:13 Enough already.
00:02:14 Yeah.
00:02:15 Anywhere that isn't the walls of this house.
00:02:21 Yes.
00:02:22 I'm gonna give it one more minute because we've got that participant number coming up
00:02:35 up up.
00:02:38 And thankfully, Annie is reminding me to remember to hit record.
00:03:00 I will start doing once I can figure it out.
00:03:04 It says recording.
00:03:05 Yeah, you're recording.
00:03:06 Don't hit it again.
00:03:07 Like it's not broken.
00:03:08 We've got some hellos to Crystal and Al from Miami CVB from Brandy.
00:03:23 Oh, what up Miami 305.
00:03:27 Amre from Germany.
00:03:29 Anshul Gandhi.
00:03:30 I don't know where Anshul is based, but super excited for today's call.
00:03:36 Up Keisha from Bermuda saying hello.
00:03:39 Oh, this is so great.
00:03:40 I love it.
00:03:41 I love that.
00:03:42 Well, none of us can actually be in all of these places at the moment.
00:03:47 We have people tuning in.
00:03:51 So I think I'm going to go ahead and kick us off here.
00:03:56 Hello.
00:03:57 Welcome to the 16th edition of afar live.
00:04:05 Today we're focusing on black voices in travel.
00:04:07 My name is Julia Cosgrove and I'm the vice president and editor in chief of afar media,
00:04:13 the San Francisco and New York based travel media brand committed to inspiring, guiding
00:04:19 and enabling travelers to have deeper, richer, more fulfilling experiences.
00:04:25 A far advisor editor Annie Fitzsimmons launched afar live back in March as many of us went
00:04:30 into quarantine.
00:04:32 We wanted a way to virtually connect with our community of influential travel advisors
00:04:37 and leaders from across the industry.
00:04:39 So we created these round table discussions to bring together the top minds in travel,
00:04:44 tourism and hospitality to discuss current events and the future of travel.
00:04:51 Today we've got professionals joining us from all around the globe.
00:04:54 And we have a really incredible lineup of black leaders in the travel space here to
00:04:59 share their insights and thoughts with you all.
00:05:03 A couple of quick housekeeping notes before I introduce our illustrious panel.
00:05:08 We've got a hard stop at 1 p.m. Eastern.
00:05:10 So I'll be keeping things moving in the hopes of allowing for some Q&A at the end of our
00:05:16 time.
00:05:17 For listeners or attendees, please send in your questions using the Q&A tool on the bottom
00:05:21 of your screen and we'll try to get to them.
00:05:25 And I apologize in advance if I interrupt.
00:05:27 I hate interrupting.
00:05:28 I don't mean to be rude.
00:05:29 I just know that this group has a lot of important things to say and get through.
00:05:34 Additionally we'll be recording and posting this discussion on A FAR Media's YouTube channel.
00:05:40 And if you like what you hear today, I encourage you to share it with your colleagues.
00:05:44 We'll send the link around next week.
00:05:47 So without further ado, I'm going to introduce our fabulous panelists.
00:05:53 And if you can do a wave and a hello, that would be great.
00:05:57 Avita Robinson is the founder and CEO of the Nomadness Travel Tribe Community of Black
00:06:02 and Brown Travelers.
00:06:04 Avita founded Nomadness in 2011, making it the first of its kind targeting diverse millennials
00:06:10 in the newly coined Black Travel Movement.
00:06:13 The group currently has more than 24,000 international members.
00:06:18 Avita is a member of A FAR's travel vanguard.
00:06:20 She was inducted in 2018 for her work making travel a force for good.
00:06:26 Welcome, Avita.
00:06:27 >> Thank you.
00:06:28 Thank you.
00:06:29 >> Next up we have Naledi Kekabo, Executive Director of the Africa Tourism Association,
00:06:36 the global trade association promoting travel and tourism to Africa and strengthening intra-Africa
00:06:42 partnerships.
00:06:43 Naledi is passionate about the intersection of marketing and emerging technologies, and
00:06:48 her background lends a fresh perspective to APA's approach to promoting tourism to and
00:06:54 within Africa.
00:06:55 She spent 25 years leading corporate strategy and operations, marketing and technology,
00:07:00 and entered the travel industry two and a half years ago.
00:07:03 Welcome, Naledi.
00:07:04 >> Thank you.
00:07:05 Hello, everyone.
00:07:06 >> Next up we have Crystal Venise Thomas, Global Brand Leader, Lifestyle and Luxury
00:07:11 for Hyatt.
00:07:12 Crystal is a veteran hotelier and alumni of Cornell University's Hotel School.
00:07:18 She now heads up the Lifestyle and Luxury Brands at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, including
00:07:23 Thompson, Alila, Ondas, Park Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, and Caption by Hyatt, guiding the
00:07:29 strategy and vision of an ever-growing portfolio.
00:07:33 She's also heading to the Napa Valley this weekend.
00:07:36 >> I am.
00:07:37 Hey, y'all.
00:07:38 >> She is a wine and whiskey consumasaur, which I believe you have trademarked.
00:07:44 >> I did.
00:07:45 >> Next up we have Martinique Lewis, a diversity and travel consultant, co-founder of the Black
00:07:53 Travel Alliance, and creator of the ABC Travel Green Book, a resource directory that connects
00:07:59 travelers with communities and businesses from the African diaspora around the globe.
00:08:04 Some of you may know her social handle as Mardi San Diego, which is a reference to the
00:08:08 show Carmen San Diego, a world traveler familiar to many of us millennials.
00:08:14 Welcome, Mardi.
00:08:16 And last but certainly not least, we have Al Hutchinson, president and CEO for Visit
00:08:22 Baltimore.
00:08:23 Al has more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality and destination marketing
00:08:28 industry, having previously served as president and CEO of Visit Mobile.
00:08:33 He's also held leadership positions for the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau,
00:08:38 the Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Charlotte Convention Center.
00:08:43 In 2019, the Daily Record recognized Al as one of Maryland's most admired CEOs.
00:08:51 Welcome everyone, and thank you so much for being here today.
00:08:54 >> Thank you.
00:08:56 >> It's been a little more than two months since many companies issued statements in
00:09:01 solidarity with Black Lives Matter, opening up our national and international conversation
00:09:07 around race, and more specifically around justice for Black Americans.
00:09:11 To many, this moment feels like a long overdue and critical inflection point for our country.
00:09:18 The questions I've been asking myself in the last two months are how do companies turn
00:09:23 words and symbolic black boxes on social media into substantive action and change?
00:09:30 How do we keep the momentum going and institute real change in our own workplaces?
00:09:35 And how do we plan for a future that breaks the bad habits of the racist status quo?
00:09:41 I believe that moments of great uncertainty, which, my God, 2020, it's defined uncertainty,
00:09:49 also present opportunity for growth, transformation, and progress.
00:09:54 Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the United States Congress, said, and I
00:09:59 quote, "I don't measure America by its achievement, but by its potential."
00:10:04 And it's with that spirit of hope that I'm really excited to talk with you all here today.
00:10:10 Al, I'd like to start with you first.
00:10:14 Along with several other black C-suite executives in travel and tourism, you created a video
00:10:20 titled "Five Questions About Race," answered by black tourism professionals.
00:10:25 I watched it four times, and each time I watched it, I was more and more moved by it.
00:10:30 Can you tell our audience a little bit more about that project?
00:10:34 Yes.
00:10:35 So first, Julia, thanks for inviting me to be on the panel.
00:10:38 And let me first say, I'm so excited to be around all this great intelligence on this
00:10:44 panel as well as the beauty.
00:10:46 So I'm humbled to be a part of this conversation.
00:10:49 So thank you, first.
00:10:51 And second, this is a very critical time period for all of us, the conversation about black
00:10:58 and brown people, our impact in the travel space is long overdue.
00:11:03 In fact, it's past the moment in time of discussing it.
00:11:08 The contributions from a dollar standpoint that black travelers and brown travelers make
00:11:13 to this economy is vast.
00:11:18 And I think we've been not really accepted with and valued with what we bring to travel
00:11:28 and tourism.
00:11:29 So I think the benefit of the pandemic, if any, has been we were all at home watching
00:11:37 the unfortunate deaths, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, others around the country.
00:11:45 And that caught a lot of folks' attention.
00:11:46 And however, a lot of my colleagues know that we've been dealing with this injustice for
00:11:52 400 years.
00:11:53 But due to the pandemic, it really got a spotlight.
00:11:56 And so six other colleagues of mine, once we saw that, we said, it's time for us to
00:12:02 try to come together and challenge our white leaders to doing better in this travel space.
00:12:08 So first, we penned that open letter that I'm sure a lot of you all saw, about eight
00:12:13 questions in there that we wanted leaders in this industry to think about collectively,
00:12:20 how can we do better?
00:12:22 And once that letter was done, we felt, seven of us, that we have experiences of what we've
00:12:27 encountered throughout our years in this industry.
00:12:31 And we wanted to tell our experiences on camera.
00:12:34 And we did that from our own individual experiences and shared some examples of what we've dealt
00:12:40 with.
00:12:41 We wanted to personalize the story, put a face to it and a voice to it, and really speak
00:12:46 to some of us in the travel space that are people of color.
00:12:51 We may can't say certain things just due to where we work and what we do.
00:12:55 We felt we had equity.
00:12:57 A lot of us have over 20 plus years.
00:12:59 We've done a lot.
00:13:00 We've sat on boards, committees, we've written checks to organizations.
00:13:05 And so it was our time to ask for, you guys need to step up, look at what you're doing,
00:13:11 see the disconnect, see where the gaps are.
00:13:14 And it's time for us to stop talking.
00:13:16 And it's time for us to start doing.
00:13:18 So we looked at what we did on video from really a black and brown vessel, if you will,
00:13:25 or filter.
00:13:26 You know, there's diversity issue.
00:13:28 There are a lot of communities that should be a part of it when you talk about diversity.
00:13:32 But we thought this moment in time was really about how blacks and brown folks have been
00:13:39 treated in this industry.
00:13:41 And it was time for us to really do better.
00:13:43 And so it was a challenge.
00:13:46 And I think it's been a good conversation.
00:13:48 But now it's time for us to do something and stop talking.
00:13:51 And that's a work we can get done.
00:13:54 Yeah.
00:13:55 Well, and I'm hoping conversations like this one and conversations that are happening,
00:14:00 you know, at the at the government and policy level, they will all make progress start to
00:14:09 happen and start to feel like, yes, change is coming, change is here, it's underway.
00:14:16 Across our companies in our homes and with our government.
00:14:22 We're gonna we'll send around the link to the video because I really do feel like everyone
00:14:28 should watch it.
00:14:29 It was just so well done now.
00:14:31 So thank you.
00:14:32 I'll throw out this next question to the group is around Robin.
00:14:37 How did you first get into travel?
00:14:39 Who supported you?
00:14:40 And what challenges did you face?
00:14:42 Melody, I want to start with you, since you're the newest to this industry on the panel today.
00:14:48 Thank you, Julia.
00:14:50 I actually sort of stumbled into the industry.
00:14:52 To be quite frank, I was doing some consulting work for another organization that does US
00:14:58 and Africa investments.
00:14:59 And they at the time were entering a relationship with ATA and asked me to do some due diligence
00:15:05 and that evolved from serving as a consultant to ultimately, the role that I'm serving in
00:15:10 now.
00:15:11 I think one of the things that was interesting to me is first, as a consultant, we almost
00:15:17 obnoxiously think we can do any job, we'll pick it up, we'll figure it out.
00:15:20 And we come in with like, this is what's wrong with this industry.
00:15:23 This is how you need to fix it.
00:15:25 And so I think one of the biggest challenges I had in the beginning was understanding almost
00:15:30 how slow change happens within the industry.
00:15:34 And how much of especially in the Africa space, how it wasn't diverse, which was a little
00:15:41 bit jarring for me.
00:15:42 So I expected that I'm dealing in Africa travel, I'm going to see a lot of black faces, but
00:15:46 especially on a global level, traveling to Europe, here in New York, all the thought
00:15:51 leaders, all the individuals who are doing the events and such are not really black.
00:15:55 And so that was jarring and a little bit surprising.
00:15:57 And so even these conversations that we're having now, these are new conversations for
00:16:01 me.
00:16:02 I've been having them since I stepped in the door.
00:16:04 I just think now more people are sort of listening to them, or more receptive to hearing them
00:16:08 and addressing some of the issues that have existed for a while.
00:16:13 Marty, when you and I spoke, you said, well, now we have everybody's ear.
00:16:19 And I think that is so true.
00:16:23 Thank you, Naledi.
00:16:24 Will you talk a little bit about how you got into this, Marty?
00:16:28 Yeah.
00:16:29 So I've always been an avid traveler, but with the rise of the black travel movement
00:16:33 and me being on social media, seeing all of these beautiful black and brown people in
00:16:38 every single place that you might not have ever heard of, and me really seeing the impact
00:16:42 that it was having on black travelers, like literally social media is a driver when it
00:16:47 comes to black millennials.
00:16:49 And I worked for a black travel movement for about a year, and then I stopped working for
00:16:55 them and I heard about this amazing thing called Audacity Fest that was just happening
00:17:00 to be in my home city of Oakland.
00:17:02 And so there was this woman there and her name was Evita Robinson, who you guys see
00:17:07 also here.
00:17:08 And I was like, oh my gosh, I've always heard about Evie.
00:17:10 I've always read about her.
00:17:11 And I just was like, I'm gonna kind of stalk her events for the whole week and show up
00:17:17 to everywhere that she is.
00:17:19 And I did.
00:17:20 And it was just amazing.
00:17:21 And then I volunteered at Audacity Fest.
00:17:23 And about a week later, she offered me a job on her team.
00:17:26 And ever since then, we're going on three years now where we are rocking and rolling
00:17:31 and making sure that we can really, really build something for black and brown travelers
00:17:37 everywhere.
00:17:39 Like you said, also just starting stuff like the Black Travel Alliance, but always being
00:17:44 an advocate in this space for people who nobody wants to listen to, you know, for people who
00:17:51 weren't being listened to before George Floyd, for every single person in the industry who
00:17:57 feels left out, not just black people, but the 70 year old traveler, the traveler in
00:18:01 the wheelchair, the blind traveler, the traveler who identifies as fat, the traveler, you know,
00:18:07 who might be an amputee, the Muslim traveler.
00:18:09 I go hard every day for them.
00:18:11 And like I said, people did not want to hear me.
00:18:13 People did not return emails.
00:18:14 They wouldn't answer questions.
00:18:16 They weren't returning phone calls.
00:18:18 So then once George Floyd happened, you're knocking down my door and I'm like, oh, no,
00:18:21 no, no, no, no.
00:18:22 This is not how this works.
00:18:24 And if you do decide you want to be an ally, you have to understand this is a 24 hour,
00:18:28 seven day a week, 365 days commitment for the rest of your life.
00:18:33 You don't get to get to do it because it's trending.
00:18:35 You know, people have taken down their black squares and I'm like, how dare you?
00:18:38 You know, it's like, be who you say you are.
00:18:41 If you're saying that your company wants to support diversity inclusion, we should see
00:18:46 that without us having to tell you.
00:18:48 So that's how I got into this space.
00:18:50 I'm here to stay.
00:18:51 As you can tell, I'm vocal.
00:18:53 I don't hold much things back.
00:18:55 But for people to be spending so much money to be ignored, it's just a travesty to me.
00:19:00 So I'm here to change that.
00:19:03 Yeah.
00:19:04 And you will.
00:19:05 I mean, I said when we talked last, like trying to distill down your bio, it's like the most
00:19:10 multi hyphenate bio ever.
00:19:13 So yes, you and you and Avita.
00:19:16 And Avita, I'd love you to go next and tell us about your journey and travel.
00:19:21 Yeah.
00:19:22 So I started off as a three time expat and essentially it was living abroad that made
00:19:27 me realize that there was this wide open area, particularly for millennial travelers of color
00:19:32 back in 2011 when I started No Madness Travel Tribe with a hundred people then, you know,
00:19:38 and it was really about creating a community.
00:19:40 I am an outlier.
00:19:42 I am a black sheep within even my own family.
00:19:45 And so I needed to find community.
00:19:47 I have been, I've had this community organizer aspect of my personality, literally since
00:19:51 throwing house parties when I was 15.
00:19:53 So it's like one of those things that's been embedded in me.
00:19:57 And I think when I started No Madness, it was really to answer the call and solve a
00:20:01 problem for yourself, which I think is like every entrepreneur's, you know, insight is
00:20:06 finding the problem and figuring out what the solution is.
00:20:09 And for me, the answer has always been community.
00:20:11 And so through the last, you know, No Madness would be nine years old in a month.
00:20:14 And so over the last nine years, almost a decade of locking into this community, building
00:20:20 out to what is now almost 25,000 members, coming up with like original ideas, but also
00:20:26 iterations and understanding that we're more than just a group that does international
00:20:30 travel trips or domestic meetups.
00:20:33 That is one section.
00:20:34 We have over 30 regional ambassadors that represent the United States and abroad that
00:20:39 are the liaison between my internal team that Marty is a part of as our creative social
00:20:43 lead and other people that are on our team that are amazing.
00:20:47 Another one, actually Marty's partner in crime on our team, Colby is also one of the people
00:20:52 that works on Black Travel Alliance.
00:20:54 So you're seeing this intersectionality that's happening because we're finally all coming
00:20:59 together.
00:21:00 And I think these conversations have been disjointed.
00:21:02 We kind of are like the social media generation, you know, and we're the ones that have come
00:21:08 in and, you know, built out platforms on Facebook.
00:21:11 And I see Marty is so integral and what I loved about her eye.
00:21:13 And yes, she did stalk me, but it was great.
00:21:17 It was great.
00:21:18 Like, you know, she has this, this keen ability to really look at what's happening in pop
00:21:23 culture and the immediacy, and then turn that into almost immediate, you know, social media
00:21:28 and Instagram campaigns specifically.
00:21:30 Right.
00:21:31 And so to be able to bridge all of these worlds and kind of come together to form this like
00:21:35 Avengers team to really hit the industry as hard as we have has been nothing less than
00:21:40 a privilege.
00:21:41 And, and Audacity Fest, I think being the, the event that we have.
00:21:47 There's two things that COVID allowed us to do, and it required all of us to sit down,
00:21:52 Marty and myself, especially because we move around and travel the most out of everybody
00:21:57 on the team.
00:21:58 It allowed us to really focus on audacity and really dig down deep into our digital
00:22:02 pivot, which is Audacity Digi.
00:22:04 And as you know, we just, you know, executed the second iteration less than two weeks ago
00:22:09 and be able to break that international barrier of having almost 600 people from over 20 countries
00:22:14 show up and it be our style, our energy and bring our influencers and community organizers
00:22:20 to the forefront.
00:22:21 The other thing that it's allowed us to do right now is double down on data.
00:22:25 And anytime that we can have this conversation, we are right now, there's only one data report
00:22:31 that has been put out into the industry.
00:22:34 Everybody has taken these numbers and run with them.
00:22:36 And that's great.
00:22:37 But on a quarterly basis, I get hit up, Avita, I need to interview you, Marty.
00:22:41 I know you get this as well.
00:22:43 There's no more data points.
00:22:44 So what we did is during COVID, we actually took about eight weeks, worked with a data
00:22:49 specialist and were able to create our own survey that we've been pushing out to our
00:22:54 communities now to have the largest sample size of black and brown travelers from around
00:23:00 the diaspora to come in.
00:23:01 And we're actually going to be coming out with our report in Q4 of this year.
00:23:05 And so I think the data piece and us owning our own data, you know, I'm a keynote for
00:23:10 on a lot of these stages.
00:23:11 I know what these rooms look like.
00:23:13 And I would also just feel better, like having my own stats to be able to pull from and also
00:23:18 having a broader view of what this looks like.
00:23:21 And we're in a very unique time right now.
00:23:22 So a section of our survey is wrapped around COVID behaviors.
00:23:26 What were your travel behaviors before?
00:23:28 What do you anticipate them being now?
00:23:31 Things of that nature.
00:23:32 So I think constantly innovating, constantly pushing the envelope and not being scared
00:23:36 to piss people off in the process and making sure that it's always us every step of the
00:23:41 way is really the mark that Nomadness and with events and, you know, like our survey
00:23:47 and events like Audacity Fest, that's really the, that's the section in our sandbox that
00:23:51 we play in when it comes to the travel industry.
00:23:54 When I think, I mean, the data, I think will show so much more than just this one sort
00:23:59 of monolithic number that, like to your point, and Marty, I think when we spoke, you just
00:24:05 said, you know, you didn't, you, you'd never known anybody who'd taken the survey that
00:24:10 formed the research study.
00:24:12 So yes, data, it will either save us all or just make us smarter.
00:24:19 Right.
00:24:20 Crystal, you work specifically in the luxury space, which, you know, is its own category.
00:24:27 Can you talk a little bit, because I think you have an interesting story of arriving
00:24:32 at the Cornell campus about how you got there.
00:24:35 Yeah.
00:24:36 Yeah.
00:24:37 Funny, I went to the hotel school, but I didn't start there.
00:24:39 So it wasn't this dream of mine and be in hospitality.
00:24:44 And I somehow landed at the number one hospitality program of its kind at Cornell University.
00:24:49 That just happened to happen.
00:24:51 I actually, I started there in a different college and I was trying to figure out what
00:24:56 I wanted to do.
00:24:57 I spent most of my life wanting to be a lawyer.
00:24:59 You know, everybody tells you when you got to get the gap, you're either a salesperson
00:25:02 or a lawyer.
00:25:03 And so by the time I got to high school and probably early college, I was like, I don't
00:25:08 want to do that.
00:25:09 But I happened to be at Cornell and I started hearing rumblings of this college called the
00:25:15 hotel school.
00:25:16 And I took one class and I was also a varsity athlete.
00:25:19 So I was traveling every weekend, staying in hotels.
00:25:23 And that one class just changed, first of all, made all of my track roommates miserable
00:25:28 staying with me now because I noticed everything.
00:25:30 I'm like, did you know that this can't be a five star because it doesn't have a telephone
00:25:34 in the bathroom.
00:25:35 So like little nerdy, talk about data, little nerdy things started to stimulate me.
00:25:40 And the idea of traveling for a living and having an industry that I could thrive in
00:25:46 by doing something that I loved doing personally was just crazy to me.
00:25:51 And I had never heard of it.
00:25:52 And so I ended up internally transferring to that school and it opened up a whole new
00:25:57 world for me.
00:25:58 And within that, we had, there's an organization called National Society of Minorities in Hospitality,
00:26:04 which opens it even further in SMH to see that there are people of color who want to
00:26:10 be leaders in this industry.
00:26:13 You know, unfortunately, like my co-panelists have just said, the data shows that we're
00:26:18 out there, but we're not always represented in that same way.
00:26:20 So I was blessed to have fallen into the travel industry just by way of being in the right
00:26:25 place and then perking up my ears to making the move, but happy to be here.
00:26:30 Thanks, Crystal.
00:26:31 Sure.
00:26:32 I want to shift just a little bit because Marty, you work in your role as a consultant,
00:26:39 you work closely with a number of travel brands.
00:26:42 And like you said, like you don't hold back, which I think is so important, that candor
00:26:48 and the willingness to just have those frank conversations, no matter how uncomfortable
00:26:53 they are, you have to start there.
00:26:57 You hold companies accountable with your diversity and travel report card.
00:27:01 And I wondered if you could tell our audience a little bit about that.
00:27:05 Sure.
00:27:07 So in 2019, I released the first diversity and travel report card.
00:27:13 And it was basically a report card, or some people might call it a scorecard, where I
00:27:18 gave the industry certain grades based off of things like diversity and travel conferences,
00:27:24 diversity and travel marketing, diversity and travel teams, like your internal team.
00:27:29 And the first year, you could tell I was angry.
00:27:32 And I was literally like, so, so upset with everybody.
00:27:35 And you could tell the way because it was just like, you didn't do this, and you didn't
00:27:39 do that.
00:27:40 And how dare you didn't do this.
00:27:41 And then the second year, I realized that that's not the way that you create change.
00:27:46 I think amongst millennials, this whole cancel culture thing is like taking off.
00:27:52 And that's not the way that you create change.
00:27:53 I mean, like, everybody wants to cancel people.
00:27:55 But it's like, if you don't tell them how to do better, because some people just genuinely
00:27:59 don't know, then you can't expect anything to come from it.
00:28:02 So the second year, I worked with a major brand, and we looked at all of their travel
00:28:07 partners.
00:28:08 And then I looked at travel campaigns that either I have been a part of or people within
00:28:12 my network have been a part of.
00:28:14 And instead of pointing a finger, the second year, I gave case studies as to who was doing
00:28:20 something right.
00:28:21 And the biggest thing for me with this report card, the second year was that at the end,
00:28:27 I gave them a list of people who they can hire as consultants.
00:28:30 I'm like, if you want a blind traveler, there's Sassy White.
00:28:33 If you want a traveler with a mobility disability, there's Corey.
00:28:37 You know, I'm like, this is who you get.
00:28:39 And I'm like, I'm spelling it out for you.
00:28:41 So you can't say you have an excuse.
00:28:44 You know what I mean?
00:28:45 And for so many people, just like this whole like Black Lives Matter movement, for so many
00:28:51 people, these are just buzzwords.
00:28:52 And I'm like, diversity inclusion is not a buzzword.
00:28:55 It is a call to action, which means you devise a plan, and then you move forward with it.
00:29:01 So with the diversity and travel report card, the first thing I wanted to do was raise awareness,
00:29:05 because I understand there's bias going on.
00:29:07 I understand sometimes you're not thinking about stuff, because if you're from Maine,
00:29:10 the majority of the people in Maine don't look like me.
00:29:13 So why are you thinking, oh, I might need to add somebody who looks like me, or I might
00:29:17 need to add a multi-generational family.
00:29:19 But you're not thinking like that if that's not what you see.
00:29:21 But I wanted to be that person that says, no, you have to look at this.
00:29:25 And things like travel conferences, I go to so many travel conferences every year, and
00:29:29 I was so tired of not seeing women reflected.
00:29:32 I was so tired of not seeing diversity and race.
00:29:35 I was so tired of not seeing diversity and religion.
00:29:38 And I was like, but you guys are also saying you want to bring in these travelers or these
00:29:43 content creators, but how when you don't have anything for us?
00:29:46 You know what I mean?
00:29:47 I'm not going to identify with an older white male as much as I'm going to identify with
00:29:51 a millennial, just period.
00:29:53 You know what I mean?
00:29:54 So I'm like, okay, so bringing light to these situations and talking about the people who
00:29:59 did it correctly, it helped kind of like set precedent, and it helped people understand
00:30:05 this is the way that you get better.
00:30:07 And because I come out with it annually, people wait for those grades to go up.
00:30:10 Now, I'm very harsh on grading, but I'm not sorry about it for the simple fact that I'm
00:30:15 like, we have got to do better.
00:30:18 Like that's the bottom line.
00:30:21 So hopefully by next year, you know, or by 2022, the grades that come out, you know,
00:30:26 will reflect something that reflects everybody.
00:30:29 Because like I said, at the end of the day, it's about everybody.
00:30:33 Everybody has the same type of money that makes your bank accounts either go up or down,
00:30:37 and they are spending money.
00:30:38 I would love to see a Muslim person in some type of travel publication, and she's swimming
00:30:45 with her burkini on.
00:30:47 Like, come on, this is the reality.
00:30:49 Muslims spend the most out of any type of people more than anybody.
00:30:53 And then on top of that, a black Muslim?
00:30:55 Like, absolutely, let's do it.
00:30:56 You know what I mean?
00:30:57 Or show the blind traveler, you know, doing something adventurous.
00:31:02 They want thrills too.
00:31:03 No, they might not be able to see, but they want thrills too.
00:31:06 So it's just open awareness for everybody to do better, to move the industry forward
00:31:12 so everybody feels, you know, respected and seen.
00:31:16 And seen.
00:31:17 Yeah.
00:31:18 Yeah, we sent a blind writer on safari.
00:31:22 And I mean, he wrote this incredible story of just a story that I think, I don't know
00:31:30 if anybody would have told 10 years ago.
00:31:32 And it's so important because I think readers would think, well, what would that even be
00:31:39 like?
00:31:40 You know?
00:31:41 And he wrote, he's a beautiful writer.
00:31:43 And anyway, it's one of our best stories.
00:31:46 We just recorded a podcast using it.
00:31:48 He's amazing.
00:31:49 I remember you had him at one of the vanguards, the last one that I attended, and I was in
00:31:53 tears listening to him on stage talk about that experience.
00:31:56 And I have multiple copies, I believe, of his book.
00:31:59 Yeah.
00:32:00 Yeah, he's amazing.
00:32:01 He's a true Ken Knighton.
00:32:02 And we also sent him to Cairo right after the revolution with zero notice.
00:32:09 And he said the thing that he looks for whenever he arrives in a new place is an arm to take,
00:32:16 someone to help guide him.
00:32:18 Which I thought was just a really beautiful thing about travel and vulnerability.
00:32:24 Al, I want to shift to you now because I think under your leadership, Visit Baltimore has
00:32:31 done such intentional work telling the full Baltimore City story.
00:32:38 And I would love for you to talk a little bit about how, you know, specifically thinking
00:32:42 about who we have listening today from other travel companies, both big and small, how
00:32:49 can we all make Black travelers feel more welcome in our destinations, in our hotels?
00:32:56 Well, and I really want to sort of piggyback on what Marty and Avita said, some of this
00:33:03 as well.
00:33:04 We have to keep pushing entities, vendors, destinations to do the right thing, to get
00:33:09 better.
00:33:10 And if we don't push, it's not going to happen.
00:33:13 I've had the fortune to sell six different destinations over my 27, 28 year career.
00:33:20 Started selling my hometown of Richmond, Virginia, back in the early 90s.
00:33:24 Now I'm in Baltimore, several cities in between.
00:33:27 Hopefully this will be my last city.
00:33:29 We'll see what happens.
00:33:31 But I think what's critically important, and I speak from a destination marketing perspective
00:33:37 or Convention and Visitors Bureau perspective, we all should be working on how to develop
00:33:43 welcoming environments for all people, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion.
00:33:50 We have to work on that.
00:33:52 And you have to come from an authentic place when you create these messages.
00:33:57 I'm in the storytelling business.
00:33:59 And so in order to create a great story, you have to listen to all of the people and all
00:34:05 of the voices in your community, not people who may have certain titles or people who
00:34:11 own companies and their voices have always been strong.
00:34:15 But how about the folks who've been voiceless in your community, folks who run agencies
00:34:19 and neighborhood engagement organizations and have been very, own a small coffee shop
00:34:27 in your community or a small bookstore in your community.
00:34:29 They have a stake in the ground.
00:34:31 And they, in most cases, we don't talk to them.
00:34:34 We just talk to the more traditional people that we think are the movers and shakers in
00:34:38 our community.
00:34:39 So for me, and in Baltimore, I got hit hard when I got here because folks said, well,
00:34:46 your organization just always talks about the inner harbor.
00:34:49 And you don't talk about these great neighborhoods.
00:34:52 We have over 250 great special neighborhoods in Baltimore City that we didn't talk about.
00:34:59 And we're predominantly African-American city, that people run businesses, they're thinkers,
00:35:06 they're influencers, they're poets, they're artists, they're entertainers.
00:35:11 Why don't we talk to those individuals?
00:35:13 So we've gone through an evolution of making sure our voice will be about Baltimore City
00:35:19 in entirety, not just on the harbor, harbor special, but we need to talk about our neighborhoods
00:35:26 and also who's building those neighborhoods, who's also have great restaurants in these
00:35:31 communities.
00:35:32 So the new brand that we're talking, that we're slowly rolling out, is going to have
00:35:37 a very authentic Baltimore story.
00:35:40 It's going to have a very African-American centric look and feel to it.
00:35:46 And we shouldn't be bashful about that.
00:35:48 We're a black city.
00:35:50 And so we should be celebrating all the goodness that this town has done in Baltimore, but
00:35:55 not only Baltimore, but people from Baltimore live all around the world.
00:35:59 So Baltimoreans have helped build America.
00:36:02 So why can't we tell that contribution we've made as a society, forget all the negative
00:36:08 stories you get in any community, not just Baltimore, but how do you accentuate the goodness
00:36:13 that you do from a community perspective?
00:36:16 And that's what we're trying to do in Baltimore, because we need to celebrate the young person
00:36:21 who took their savings to open up a snowball shop in my neighborhood.
00:36:26 That happens to be a 22 year old African-American young lady who's now invested in Baltimore.
00:36:31 Let's tell that story because the traveler wants that.
00:36:35 I think everyone who's listening in, they want to go to the communities.
00:36:38 Number one, they feel welcome.
00:36:40 Number two, that embraces all folks.
00:36:43 And when they get to that community, they're going to see celebration of all colors, all
00:36:48 races, all people.
00:36:50 And I think the communities who don't get that, the visitor is not coming.
00:36:54 They're going to go other places.
00:36:55 And that's what they should do.
00:36:58 And Al, I told you this, that I hadn't been to Baltimore since I was a kid.
00:37:02 And I went back in October of 2019 to visit friends that just moved there.
00:37:09 And they're an international family.
00:37:11 And I fell in love with your city.
00:37:13 And I felt like it is, I know this word is overused, but it is its authentic self in
00:37:19 a very, it's a way that I feel like so many cities should aspire to be.
00:37:26 And I just love that you are committed to telling that full story of your city.
00:37:31 We don't want any other city to be like Baltimore, though.
00:37:33 We're going to be unique and special.
00:37:36 And all of you should come to Baltimore City for sure.
00:37:41 I will get back as soon as I can.
00:37:43 Julia, do you mind if I add to that a little bit?
00:37:46 Yeah, please.
00:37:47 I love Al's perspective in terms of welcoming from a destination.
00:37:52 And I think as travel leaders, particularly in my role working for a hotel company, travelers
00:38:00 want to see themselves in your brands, in your marketing.
00:38:06 And they want to see themselves in your place.
00:38:09 I think one of the fundamental truths as humans is we want to feel like we belong.
00:38:13 And so when we're able to see ourselves represented in a place that will inherently make us feel
00:38:19 more comfortable there, and we could do a better job, certainly marketing in our brand
00:38:25 materials, looking at travel publications as well, right?
00:38:28 Like seeing a more diverse representation that authentically reflects the reality of
00:38:33 our world.
00:38:34 And I think as we start to continue to build brands and have hotels enter into communities,
00:38:39 we can't enter into these communities just laddering up to what we've decided is what
00:38:44 we want this brand to represent in the central hub, right?
00:38:46 We have to lean into the locale.
00:38:49 And that's one of the things that I'm very passionate about in my role as we continue
00:38:53 to shift our brands to be more reflective of the communities that we enter.
00:38:57 Because I don't want to be a purveyor of having a brand in a place that doesn't feel like
00:39:03 it's part of it.
00:39:04 It should feel like it's of it, not just in it.
00:39:07 And so I think that representation will help black travelers and those travelers even more
00:39:14 broadly to feel welcome in our hotels.
00:39:18 Yeah, I totally agree.
00:39:20 I feel like when we were first writing the blueprint for FAR, the word homogenous kept
00:39:25 coming up.
00:39:26 And I think about it a lot, actually, in the shift in the hotel space in the last decade.
00:39:31 Like the homogenized sort of beige box room where you just kind of went and slept and
00:39:39 nobody wants that anymore.
00:39:41 Like you want this experience that feels entrenched in the place that you're in.
00:39:49 No matter if you're traveling, you're there for like one night for business, or you're
00:39:52 there for leisure.
00:39:53 You want it to feel of a place.
00:39:57 And absolutely, you want it to feel like, I mean, this is the hospitality business.
00:40:01 Like you got to welcome people.
00:40:03 You got to make people feel welcome.
00:40:05 If you don't, you're failing.
00:40:08 Nolidi, I want to shift to you to ask specifically about black travel to Africa.
00:40:16 Last year marked the year of the return to Ghana, which brought black travelers there.
00:40:23 FAR, a non-profit learning of FAR, sent a group of students from the Son of a Saint
00:40:30 organization based in New Orleans to Ghana.
00:40:34 And the trip was absolutely life-changing for them.
00:40:37 These are young men whose fathers are incarcerated, or they've lost their fathers.
00:40:44 And to be able to go to Ghana, just the stories made everybody deeply moved.
00:40:55 What are countries in Africa doing to attract black Americans?
00:41:01 And I know that there are many, many countries.
00:41:03 So to talk about Africa as a monolith is also incorrect.
00:41:08 But if you could shed some light there for our listeners.
00:41:10 I think one thing that Ghana did really well is they were very proactive and aggressive
00:41:16 about talking to black travelers and with a strong call to action in terms of come home,
00:41:22 come home for the year of return.
00:41:25 Our arms are open for you.
00:41:26 I think in terms of, you know, really highlighting their cultural offerings.
00:41:31 I think when you think about what attracts people to Africa in the first place, or their
00:41:36 first taste of Africa when you're not from there is really like it's food, it's art,
00:41:41 it's music, it's fashion, and it's all of those things.
00:41:43 And those things don't get marketed enough.
00:41:45 And I think Ghana embraced all of that.
00:41:47 And there was this strong call to action.
00:41:49 And I think black travelers are looking to connect to the continent now more than ever.
00:41:53 And I think that while destinations are starting to change, there's still so much more work
00:41:57 to do.
00:41:58 I think if you look at conferences, you go to trade shows, you look at the Africa Pavilion,
00:42:02 it's mostly very safari driven, right?
00:42:04 It's like a white guy in like safari shorts and attire, almost exclusively outside of
00:42:10 like the destinations and what they're bringing.
00:42:12 And so that's a little bit off putting because I think safari does have a very colonial background.
00:42:16 And so it's not attractive, even but I think that there's still even an opportunity even
00:42:20 within the safari space.
00:42:21 I was definitely one of those people, despite this very American accent.
00:42:24 I'm South African born and all my family's in South Africa, but I've never been on safari
00:42:29 until a few years ago.
00:42:30 And quite frankly, I wasn't interested.
00:42:32 But I had some family members who, you know, were heavy game drivers.
00:42:37 And coupled with, you know, the new role I had at ATA, I was like, okay, let me check
00:42:40 out whatever the safari I went begrudgingly, but I loved it.
00:42:44 However, I understand why no one is attracted to the safari experience is because it's how
00:42:49 it's marketed, but even destinations at a whole, because they traditionally marketed
00:42:53 to Europeans and Americans, but specifically white Europeans and Americans.
00:42:58 They're not I don't see myself in those ads, you're starting to change a little bit.
00:43:02 But even when you look at some black businesses, and you know, I actually did an exercise today,
00:43:06 because I was thinking about the colonizing safari conversation we'll be having and I
00:43:10 went to some black homages, and there were no pictures of black travelers.
00:43:14 So even in that regard, but because I think that there's just this history of this is
00:43:18 how we've always done something.
00:43:19 This is how we've always reached out.
00:43:21 I do think the destinations are aware of the opportunity and they do want to engage black
00:43:26 travelers and they're trying to do that.
00:43:27 I think they're still trying to figure out how to do it.
00:43:30 Some destinations use US representatives here, or US agencies and companies, and quite frankly,
00:43:37 they're not in touch with the black traveler.
00:43:39 They don't use black or travel materials that are relevant.
00:43:42 My other background is in digital marketing.
00:43:44 So it's work.
00:43:45 You have to segment those audiences.
00:43:47 It's not easy.
00:43:48 And I think that we still have to put in the work.
00:43:51 The destinations have to put in the work, the agencies they have representing them have
00:43:54 to put in the work, and it's happening, but it's a slow, slow grind.
00:43:58 You know, I'm having conversations with destinations talking about how they're really trying to
00:44:03 tap into the diaspora market.
00:44:05 But then I look at the hosted buyers and the press that they brought from Europe or the
00:44:09 US, and there's maybe one other black person.
00:44:13 And I don't really count because I'm an association.
00:44:15 So when you're really thinking about who you're talking to and who you're having these conversations,
00:44:20 I think that they really have to shift.
00:44:21 I do think the sincere desire is there, but I think they're going to have to put in the
00:44:25 work, allocate the resources to really authentically develop strategies where they're going to
00:44:31 engage black travelers, black thought leaders, get the stakeholders throughout the industries,
00:44:36 bringing them into the room, making sure they're leading the conversation, making sure they're
00:44:40 engaging with the travelers.
00:44:41 And then we'll start to see a change because even though the Beyond the Return was a Ghana
00:44:46 campaign, I would argue that other destinations across Africa benefited from that campaign.
00:44:51 At the top of the year, the interest in other African destinations was directly related
00:44:56 to what came out of the Beyond the Return campaign.
00:44:59 And so, and I think especially now as people are anxious to get out of the US or wherever
00:45:05 they are and connect with the continent, I think that there's this opportunity.
00:45:08 But again, it has to be very deliberate and it has to be very thoughtful.
00:45:12 Yeah.
00:45:13 I mean, the word that I just keep coming back to is intentional.
00:45:17 Like all of this has to be intentional and deliberate and there are strategic plans that
00:45:24 take, you know, strategic plans take time to develop.
00:45:27 You know, that I think we all have, certainly I have this desire to like, we have to change
00:45:32 this now, you know, and Gen Z, God bless them, like they are just, they are so all in to
00:45:39 making this happen now.
00:45:41 And it's hard, it's hard, I think, to just acknowledge, but I think it's worth acknowledging
00:45:47 that this is, that change is incremental, that people are kind of coming to this on
00:45:54 all, you know, this side of the spectrum, this side of the spectrum.
00:45:59 But if we all can just genuinely commit to doing something, to doing this, to doing this
00:46:04 work, we can start to, start to see it.
00:46:08 And I think Julia, to piggyback on that, I do think it's about the commitment because
00:46:14 I already see a drop off from like all that activity that was happening in June.
00:46:19 So if we have to keep that same energy, like throughout, it can't end because I've seen
00:46:25 it already.
00:46:26 I've seen the companies, I think Marty mentioned it, like they took the black squares off.
00:46:29 I've seen them talking about that they're establishing these like leadership committees
00:46:34 that are going to address it, but who's on these leadership committees that are addressing
00:46:38 it?
00:46:39 The same people who got us where we are now.
00:46:41 So you know, and if you're not engaging sort of third parties, because you obviously don't
00:46:44 have it in house already.
00:46:45 So how are they going to, how you're going to move forward?
00:46:48 And so I just think that, that one, just talking about commitment and sort of being authentic
00:46:53 about that commitment moving forward, just struck a chord.
00:46:56 And can I add something to this?
00:46:57 Oh, go ahead.
00:46:58 Go ahead, go ahead, Marty.
00:46:59 Sorry, so I just wanted to say, so everybody is saying something about this.
00:47:05 So I just want any brand to know that black travelers specifically, we are 70% more likely
00:47:11 to go places where we see ourselves reflected.
00:47:13 So knowing that now, if you still don't do the necessary to get us there, then that falls
00:47:19 on you because I just told you 70% more likely, 70%.
00:47:23 But like she was saying also, oh my gosh, I lost my train of thought.
00:47:29 Oh, like she was saying also, you, what I've seen throughout this process since George
00:47:35 Floyd is people asking me for consulting.
00:47:39 And then I'm like, you're asking me how your company should change.
00:47:43 And you have a black resource group in your company.
00:47:46 How does that work?
00:47:47 You have 70 black employees who work for you, who know this company inside out, and you
00:47:53 decide to ask an outsider what your brand can do to be more inclusive or to connect
00:47:58 with the black community online.
00:48:00 How does that work?
00:48:02 You have 70 employees, black employees who know your company.
00:48:07 So I think employees really need to look at that because the ones that do have black people
00:48:10 internally, that's what you need to go to.
00:48:14 Not me.
00:48:15 I can't tell you anything about your company, but they can.
00:48:17 So I think that's a real disconnect also.
00:48:20 I think brands need to look at that because you do have people right there.
00:48:23 You just never asked them and it doesn't make sense.
00:48:26 It's a serious disconnect.
00:48:27 So I wish that brands would move forward with who they already have in house also, because
00:48:32 that's the biggest difference driver right there.
00:48:34 Those people have had ideas for years, but maybe you didn't think that they can say anything
00:48:37 or step up because they were black and they might have seen how you might treat black
00:48:41 employees before that.
00:48:43 But now is the time.
00:48:44 So I just wanted to say that point.
00:48:45 I wonder too, if it's a combination of, I mean, it should be all the things, right?
00:48:51 Like bringing in a third party who can see things a little more clearly, perhaps.
00:48:56 But then yes, doing the work of talking with your teams, with your black employees about
00:49:01 what life has been like, what culturally this workplace is like.
00:49:06 And I think, Crystal, I want to shift to you because Hyatt does have extensive diversity,
00:49:12 equity, and inclusion initiatives.
00:49:15 And I believe this is correct.
00:49:16 In the last five years, the corporate management team has gone from six white men to three
00:49:21 men and three women, one of whom is black.
00:49:24 Hyatt has partnership with historically black colleges and universities and has put together,
00:49:29 again, I'm going to say the word intentional, Black Lives Matter Action Plan that focuses
00:49:34 on these three key areas, who the company employs, develops and advances, who the company
00:49:39 supports, and who the company buys from and partners with.
00:49:44 So how does this commitment play out on a daily basis?
00:49:48 And I do, I mean, this is a lot of good stuff.
00:49:52 But I'm just curious as somebody who's, you know, you're there every day.
00:49:57 Do you feel it?
00:49:58 Yeah, I absolutely do.
00:50:01 And Marty, I hear you.
00:50:02 I just wanted to have a piggyback off of that, too.
00:50:05 I think one thing that's important, and I'm going to get to Hyatt in a second, as a person
00:50:10 of color in a company that's dealing with the social justice events that are happening
00:50:17 in our world, as a colleague, as an employee, I don't necessarily want you to come to me
00:50:23 for the solutions first, right?
00:50:26 Like I'm grieving, I'm trying to do my job, and I'm trying to be black at work.
00:50:32 And so then you're coming to me for solutions about a problem that has existed within our
00:50:38 company for a long time, feels a little, you know, tone deaf sometimes.
00:50:43 So I just want to give you that perspective, too, because I think it became kind of an
00:50:47 extra burden for many of us at work when we became D&I consultants overnight, when there
00:50:53 are people who do this for a living, who could come in and advise, like Julia was saying,
00:50:57 with that clear point of view.
00:50:59 And then we can certainly add to the conversation by our experiences, so we can have a good
00:51:03 assessment of our culture.
00:51:05 But I think there's a nuance there, and a balance that brands and companies can take
00:51:09 in trying to get that information.
00:51:12 And for your question, Julia, I think Hyde's done a great job of really listening.
00:51:17 And I think when you think about how that plays out in a day-to-day basis, I work for
00:51:23 -- I have the privilege of working for such empathetic leaders.
00:51:26 The EQ is on levels that I've never seen in leaders before, from our CEO, you know, Marc
00:51:33 Complamasian, to Maleka, who's our CHRO and is the one Black person on our SLT team.
00:51:42 What they started with was courageous conversations.
00:51:44 I think a lot of companies, you see, that's the first thing that we did.
00:51:47 Wanting to listen, the transparency was just key in that.
00:51:51 And what I appreciated about the conversations is it wasn't just, let's talk to the D&I leaders.
00:51:56 We have a great one, Tyrone.
00:51:58 But it was, let's talk to everybody, and functional leads.
00:52:01 And every day -- I was even on a call yesterday.
00:52:03 So it didn't stop in June.
00:52:06 It's continuing on.
00:52:07 And what we've recognized is that from a commercial services level, meaning from our marketing,
00:52:12 our branding, finance, we were on a call with everybody from different functions and talking
00:52:16 about how do we make sure that the commitments that we've made permeate throughout the business
00:52:22 and the organization, not just relegate it to the diversity and inclusion teams, but
00:52:27 how do we make this come to life so that our travelers and customers and clients see it.
00:52:32 All of the communication that we had and decided to -- the commitments we made as an organization
00:52:37 were sent out widely to our owners.
00:52:40 Mark, our CEO, wanted people to know, look, if you're not in line with, you know, what
00:52:45 we believe, then you can go.
00:52:48 And he said that.
00:52:49 And I think that's really important.
00:52:51 And it goes down to our purpose.
00:52:53 Our purpose as a business is to care for people so they can be their best.
00:52:56 And you can't care for somebody if you don't allow them to come to work and be their authentic
00:53:01 selves.
00:53:02 And I can tell y'all, the way I'm talking to y'all is how I talk at work.
00:53:05 And I'm able to be my authentic self at work with my colleagues every day.
00:53:10 And it's pushed and allowed.
00:53:13 And I even feel in my role that I'm able to push my leaders to do better.
00:53:18 And they listen.
00:53:19 They're open to these conversations.
00:53:21 And I wouldn't say that if it weren't the case.
00:53:23 And we're just continuing to look at our own internal house to build it up and make sure
00:53:28 that it is representative of what it needs to be.
00:53:31 Because it's one thing to say, hey, this is what we're going to do for the community out
00:53:34 here.
00:53:35 But you got to look inside first.
00:53:37 And that is the first step we took.
00:53:38 And that's why the first commitment is about who we employ, develop, and advance.
00:53:42 And the last thing I'll say about this is a couple anecdotes.
00:53:47 And, you know, when we're briefing vendors and trying to figure out new people to work
00:53:52 with, I've always said, look, as the person of color on this call, I can't be the only
00:53:56 one talking about let's find a Black-owned business.
00:54:00 And so in the last couple calls, I've had some white colleagues who have said before
00:54:05 I had a chance to even jump in, hey, do you have any Black-owned businesses that we should
00:54:11 be looking at for vendors?
00:54:13 Like when we're talking to distributors.
00:54:14 So the note there is it can't just be us asking for the change.
00:54:20 It has to be our white colleagues and those of us who are not Black and brown pushing
00:54:25 for that change.
00:54:26 And that's something that I'm starting to see at Hyatt and that I hope to see permeate
00:54:29 across our industry too and our other companies.
00:54:33 Can I add to this?
00:54:34 Because I wanted to say something after Noliti's comment.
00:54:41 I'm trying to reconcile something in my brain that I see around the industry.
00:54:47 Noliti and Julia, you just said it, but I think a lot of people are just saying this
00:54:50 about how it's going to take so long and the change has got to be incremental.
00:54:56 My challenge to that is why?
00:55:00 Why does it have to take so long and why does it have to be so incremental?
00:55:05 Why can't we get it together in various spaces in this industry to make powerful, radical
00:55:13 change?
00:55:14 It's the same type of change that we need even in our government right now.
00:55:18 We don't have time, y'all.
00:55:20 We don't.
00:55:21 So why does this have to be this...
00:55:24 Even the language, and I'm very big on language, even the language is arduous and just laborious
00:55:30 and it's just like, "Well, damn."
00:55:35 I do the work and you make it sound like I don't want to be a part of anything that sounds
00:55:39 like that.
00:55:40 And so my question and my pushback to the industry is why does it have to take so long?
00:55:47 Because this is what happens.
00:55:48 People get lazy.
00:55:49 And like you guys were saying, with folks being so active and then taking down the black
00:55:55 squares and Black Lives Matter and all this stuff, they get lazy, they get comfortable
00:56:00 again until they get agitated again.
00:56:04 And my whole thing with that is it's very easy for everybody to be on one accord to
00:56:08 talk about how long this is going to take and how incremental it's going to be, and
00:56:11 then to use that as an excuse to just slide right back into the BS that we've been dealing
00:56:16 with from the beginning.
00:56:18 And I have issue with that.
00:56:19 I really, really do.
00:56:21 And so for me, I know that I have the privilege of sitting here from the space in that I run
00:56:28 my own business.
00:56:30 I don't have to answer to anybody else.
00:56:32 So I don't have to go through a lot of the loopholes and the HR departments and all these
00:56:37 things that everybody else who works within a corporate structure has to deal with.
00:56:41 And I get that.
00:56:42 So this may come across a little bit arrogant, but it's because I'm pissed.
00:56:46 And so with that being said, why does it have to be so long and incremental?
00:56:53 And are there ways to really pack the punch?
00:56:56 Like can you look at it from a different space of, look, we want to have the biggest impact
00:57:01 in the shortest amount of time.
00:57:03 What does that look like in our company?
00:57:06 Why is that not the conversation?
00:57:07 And start the conversation there.
00:57:08 Yeah.
00:57:09 Why?
00:57:10 Why?
00:57:11 What are you scared of?
00:57:13 You're already starting at the bottom in a lot of these, in a lot of this respect.
00:57:16 So what are we really looking for?
00:57:18 And I think with us, again, I know I come from a place of privilege running my own company
00:57:23 and my own community.
00:57:24 We are a lean team.
00:57:25 We are very vocal as you have seen, but we're also very innovative and agile.
00:57:32 And I understand the agility.
00:57:33 We can move very fast with ideas.
00:57:35 The way that we were able to pivot with things like Audacity Fest and turning it into Audacity
00:57:39 Digi and we come out very hard.
00:57:43 We are at the forefront and it is black.
00:57:45 Okay.
00:57:46 So like with that being said, I challenge everybody in here on this call that is within
00:57:53 this space to take a step back from this language of it being so long and withstanding, and
00:58:00 it's going to take time.
00:58:01 No.
00:58:02 But ask your teams, okay, how can we have the biggest impact in the shortest period
00:58:05 of time?
00:58:06 And what does that to do list look like?
00:58:08 And start from there.
00:58:09 So Julia, can I follow up on a question, her pushback and her challenge.
00:58:18 And I would just say, you keep pushing sister.
00:58:22 We need your voice.
00:58:24 You're an entrepreneur.
00:58:25 Yeah.
00:58:26 You're independent.
00:58:27 We need your voice to push.
00:58:30 And I'm with you.
00:58:31 We can't wait.
00:58:32 Right.
00:58:33 About now.
00:58:34 So I'll just, I'll give you something that, again, I try to stay in my lane with where
00:58:39 I think I can be impactful.
00:58:42 And I appreciate you Al, because you guys, you were actually one of our sponsors for
00:58:45 Audacity Digi too.
00:58:47 So thank you.
00:58:48 Thank you.
00:58:49 But here's the, here's the, here's the, here's the, here's where I'm going with this.
00:58:54 Because later on today, a group of 12 black leaders are having a meeting, Zoom call like
00:59:00 we're doing now with 20 presidents and CEOs of associations around this country.
00:59:09 And we're going to do exactly what you're saying.
00:59:12 The time is now to step up.
00:59:14 We're not sugarcoating this.
00:59:16 We're not soft peddling it.
00:59:18 We have to say, let's go.
00:59:20 Crystal, you're right on the money.
00:59:21 Hyatt's done great work in this space.
00:59:24 And a lot of other entities have done great work in this space.
00:59:28 But my, my position is right now, I'm one of less than 10 people of color who run destination
00:59:35 marketing organizations in this country.
00:59:37 That's insane.
00:59:39 Less than 10.
00:59:41 But on the association and trade show side, there are fewer people of color who run associations.
00:59:48 Hotel side, numbers aren't that great either.
00:59:51 So we need to collectively come together as a, as an industry.
00:59:56 My filter is what is our role to create a multiracial industry?
01:00:04 That's the question.
01:00:05 How do we drive it?
01:00:06 So what we're going to attempt to do is ask our white counterparts, because unfortunately
01:00:11 the leadership are primarily white folks.
01:00:15 And they have to lead, to your point, Crystal, they got to step up.
01:00:22 It's on them to now make a difference.
01:00:25 They need to look at their hiring practices.
01:00:28 They need to look at reaching out to HBCUs and the majority colleges that have travel
01:00:34 programs with people of color.
01:00:36 They need to recruit them, bring them in.
01:00:39 Everyone needs to look at their strategic plans, their visioning work.
01:00:43 Does it say anything about social justice, eradicating racism?
01:00:46 If it doesn't, you got to change it.
01:00:49 What does your board makeup look like?
01:00:51 Is it just all white folks?
01:00:53 That's a problem.
01:00:54 So we're going to challenge these folks later today that why can't we come together for
01:01:00 the, maybe the first time and give a, a work plan of all these entities working together
01:01:06 to address black and brown issues.
01:01:09 It's not about anybody else right now.
01:01:11 It's about black and brown.
01:01:12 And we got to fix this today and let's go.
01:01:15 Let's do something in the short term because you said it, Davita, people's minds change.
01:01:20 They go and do other stuff.
01:01:21 Let's, we got four to six months to do some serious heavy lifting and that's what we're
01:01:26 trying to push later on today.
01:01:28 I think just also to what Al and Davita have said, I think even when you're looking at
01:01:32 these conversations, whether it's conferences or events, I think if you challenge those
01:01:37 organizations and those leaderships in real time, some of them are open to making a change
01:01:42 because there's this lack of awareness that exists.
01:01:45 Some of the organizations that I saw had all these statements and great things.
01:01:48 I'm getting communications about events coming or these leadership and you're looking at
01:01:52 it.
01:01:53 And this is for Africa.
01:01:54 This isn't just general travel and there's literally no one black.
01:01:57 And I'm like, it's so it's still happening, but we can still actively engage them in real
01:02:01 time and start in terms of making change or calling them to task.
01:02:05 Like, what are you doing to be more diverse?
01:02:07 Because then the question becomes, if you don't know anyone, that's fine.
01:02:11 Ask me, I know somebody.
01:02:12 And if I don't know them, I know someone that knows someone.
01:02:15 So if you're having a hard time identifying resources or speakers or individuals or whatever
01:02:21 the case may be, I think there's also, we have to acknowledge that there's a lack of
01:02:24 effort that's happening.
01:02:25 Oh, yeah.
01:02:26 Oh, no, they're not there because they just not.
01:02:31 There are things you can't be lazy.
01:02:33 You have to be intentional.
01:02:35 It's hard work.
01:02:36 You have to be intentional.
01:02:37 And ultimately, like, I don't want to keep having these diversity conversations.
01:02:43 All of the conversations should just be diverse.
01:02:45 So like, sustainability conversation should be more diverse.
01:02:49 The luxury conversation should just be more diverse.
01:02:51 Like six months from now, are we still going to be having this like race and tourism conversation?
01:02:55 Exactly.
01:02:56 Don't only invite Crystal to speak on a panel because she's black, invite her because she's
01:03:00 damn good at her job.
01:03:02 So I understand it's a double edged sword, but people have to understand those things.
01:03:06 We deserve those type of opportunities because we have worked just as hard.
01:03:11 And now that you are more aware of it, do the right thing.
01:03:16 And guys, I can't believe it.
01:03:18 I want to stay here with you all day.
01:03:20 But we are at time and I know a lot of other things going on this afternoon.
01:03:25 I just I want to share one quote from Verne Myers, who oversees the Netflix.
01:03:33 Yeah.
01:03:34 She said, here's how we're going to keep it going.
01:03:38 Every one of us is going to commit to keep it going.
01:03:41 It is not that magical.
01:03:43 Right.
01:03:44 So I just want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to our panelists, Evita, Marty,
01:03:51 Al, Naledi and Crystal for taking time out of their busy schedules to be here with us
01:03:56 today.
01:03:57 Thank you to our listeners.
01:03:58 And let's make this moment count, please.
01:04:02 Thanks for tuning in.
01:04:04 We'll see you next month.
01:04:06 Take care.
01:04:07 Bye.