Pull Up for Travel - 2020 Report

 

About Us - Pull up for TravelTogether, we know all too well the economic impact and positive interactions from Black travelers, whether through the annual Cincinnati Music Festival, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, hosting the National Association of Black Journalists, and countless other events Cincinnati has hosted over the years.

That’s why Visit Cincy has made a strategic commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity. We acknowledge the work that lies ahead of us as an organization, as a broader regional destination and as individuals. We strive for continuous improvement.

We look forward to working with Black Travel Alliance as we strive to create a sense of belonging in the Cincinnati region for every visitor, no matter ethnicity, nationality, or economic status.

What follows are our metrics for the Black Travel Scorecard.

EMPLOYMENT (2020 report)

    9 of 40 employees are Black (22.5%)   

    2 of 8 in management are Black (25%)   

    10 out of 40 employees are BIPOC (25%)

    In 2019, we expanded our multicultural focus into a newly created DEI department. position and department

PRESS (through partnership with Cincinnati Experience)

7 of the 19 journalists/influencers we hosted in 2019 were Black = 37%

BIPOC numbers for 2019 were 9 out of 19 = 47%

We are showing an upward trend:
        2018 = 26% (5 out of 19)
        2017 = 15% (3 out of 19)

In 2019, Cincinnati hosted and sponsored the National Newspaper Publishers Association (“The Black Press”) and the National Association of Black Journalists Regional Conference

CONFERENCES AND TRADESHOWS

We market the Cincinnati region as a place to host your conference or tradeshow, but we do not oversee the programming of these conferences, so cannot speak to Black representation on speaker panels, etc.

We DO, however, aggressively seek diverse meetings for our city. Our Diversity Sales & Inclusion Team attends and supports industry trade shows including Connect Diversity, Congressional Black Caucus, and National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals.

In addition, we work to connect visitors attending multi-cultural events with our local vendors, restaurants and artists through our VIBE events.

PAID ADVERTISING/MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

Our organizations believe that Black faces in our owned and paid media efforts should not be gratuitous. In addition to capturing photos and footage of actual live events and activities in our region, we are happy to support and promote local Black entrepreneurs as well as pay for models’ time and talent. We are proud to represent the diverse culture in which we live. We have not tracked numbers and percentages, but we invite you to take a look and let us know how we can be better:

In 2019, advertisements were placed with Noire Voyage, Black Meetings & Tourism, Connect Diversity, Connect Faith and Hispanic Meetings & Travel.

PHILANTHROPY

Dan Lincoln Institute for Hospitality Leadership is an initiative to increase skilled and diverse talent in the hospitality sector. By implementing innovative curriculum into our schools, colleges and hospitality businesses,Cincinnati is building a diverse workforce that is both grounded and visionary.

Supplier Diversity Commitment: We believe that our supplier base should reflect the markets and customers we serve, so we have a yearly organizational goal to increase spending with small, women-owned and BIPOC-owned businesses. We strive to increase business opportunities for diverse suppliers while maintaining procedural integrity with purchasing practices that are fair and transparent.

Reciprocal Memberships with the African American and Hispanic Chambers of Commerce: To ensure business opportunities and equity for BIPOC-owned and supported businesses, our membership model includes a greatly reduced rate for businesses that are members of these organizations.