Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1016288
B M & T ••• July/August 2018 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 24 officials have held an annual conference to build upon and develop new strategies to increase the number of African- American visitors. The African-American market is a viable and lucrative travel audience, rep- resenting nearly 63% of travel to Southern markets that embrace and cel- ebrate African-American history and cul- ture. It's time to leverage our spending power in cities and States that historically have not welcomed or marketed to us. THE BAD - SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA In 2013, San Francisco Travel spent a large sum of money producing a market- ing video on visiting San Francisco. It was splashy and upbeat, but did not show even one African-American per- son, business, neighborhood, or attrac- tion. The Museum of the African Diaspora, the Fillmore Jazz District, the cultural centers, bars, restaurants, the- aters; were all glaringly missing. The San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce (SFAACC) con- fronted San Francisco Travel only to be met by a shrugging of shoulders and an "it's done now" attitude. What SF Travel failed to realize is the African- American travel market is a viable and lucrative market that will not be dis- missed. The SFAACC called for a boy- cott that ultimately cost San Francisco over $32 million in lost revenues before they agreed to sit down and talk. Sadly, while it did result in s o m e move- ment, mostly it was a lot of "dynamic inactivity." Empty promises, token gestures, and worthless meetings. At the end of the day, promises were made, and some con- cessions were met. However, San Francisco Travel continues to refuse to advertise with African-American publica- tions, market to Black meeting planners or promote San Francisco's African- American businesses, history, and cultur- al venues. Research confirms that African- American Women are the lead in driving travel spending and deciding travel desti- nations. Women are traveling solo or in groups with other women, and a sense of welcoming and safety are major factors in their decision-making. San Francisco does not reach out to any segment of the African-American community, much to its own detriment. It seems they have little or no concern for the financial or cultural impact on the City. Unlike South Carolina, there is no desire to attract African-Americans. But history has been made in San Francisco and the time for change is now. AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN LEADERSHIP IN SAN FRANCISCO CAN BRING ABOUT CHANGE When the late Edwin Lee became the first Asian Mayor of San Francisco, inbound travel from Asian countries sky- rocketed. Now San Francisco has made history again. London Breed has become San Francisco's first African-American women Mayor. Supervisor Malia Cohen, an African-American women, was elect- ed unanimously to President of the Board Supervisors. The City's Chief Adminis-trative Officer, Naomi Kelly, is the City's first African-American woman to hold the position. African- American women hold the top three positions of leadership, and San Francisco is poised to be a top destina- tion for African- American visitors who want to celebrate this moment in history. But the desire of SF Travel to build relationships with the African-American visitor to San Francisco is clearly absent. SF Travel's failure to collaborate, and strategize with African-American busi- nesses, and non- profits is leading them into yet another showdown with the San Francisco African American Chamber, as well as Black meeting planners around the country. LEADING BY EXAMPLE It is easy to understand the correlation between respectful marketing to the African-American market and increase in African-American visitors when you examine the track record of a city such as Baltimore. In 2005, with the opening of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, Visit Baltimore increased adver- tising in predominantly Black media by more than 66 percent. In addition to a strong Black media strategy, Visit Baltimore also funded "familiarization tours" for African- American meeting planners, group-tour operators and travel media representa- tives from throughout the country. The success from this campaign has had a profound effect with African-American conferences and conventions to Maryland growing steadily. In 2017, BACVA spent a major portion of its advertising budget with African-American media. In 2017, Visit Philadelphia launched a marketing initiative aimed toward the African-American traveler, tapping into this segment with a marketing campaign, featuring documentary-style travel video series aimed at the African-American Market. This new initiative reaches underrepresented African-American trav- elers, whom respond to advertising geared toward them. POWER OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN DOLLAR It is believed that the African-American market is thirty-eight percent more likely to buy when advertisement reflects them. According to a Nielsen report, only $2.6 billion of the total $69.3 billion spent annu- ally on advertising is spent with African- American media. This, despite the fact Credit: Jack Hollingsworth/SFCVB