Where Do Black Executives Rank in the Cruise Industry?

Beyond focusing renewed attention on Black Americans' struggle against discriminatory treatment, the racial reckoning that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd trained a harsh spotlight on Black professionals' opportunities for advancement (or lack of such) in industries including travel.

Most notably, the national reckoning uncovered that despite Black Americans' huge expenditures on leisure travel, the professionals who market and sell vacations to Black travelers are overwhelmingly White.

An MMGY Global report last year found Black leisure travelers spent $109.4 billion on domestic travel in 2019 and $129.6 billion when international travel is included. Yet Black representation in travel industry leadership positions remains low and below even Black Americans' percentage of the U.S. population (13.4 percent based on U.S. Census data).

Black representation in hospitality industry leadership ranks in fact declined between 2019 and 2020, according to The Castell Project Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting career development of female hospitality industry professionals.

In 2020, only 11 percent of the 801 hotel company websites Castell reviewed reported Black executives (director through CEO), compared to 16 percent of 630 company websites in 2019. Moreover, one in 5.7 industry employees was Black compared to one of 49 vice presidents and one of 58 EVP/SVPs at year-end 2020.

Additionally, Black executives represented a minuscule 1.6 percent of hospitality industry executives at the director through CEO level in 2020. The figure is 10.9 times lower than their 17.5 percent share of hospitality industry employment and indicates "advancement is not equitable for Black employees in the hospitality industry" according to the Castell report.

All Aboard?

To their credit, cruise companies have placed Black professionals in mid-and upper management level roles in recent years. The cruise industry's largest company, Carnival Corporation & plc, is led by a Black chief executive, Arnold Donald.

Former Holland America Line President Orlando Ashford earlier this year was named executive chairman of luxury operator Azamara Cruises. There are currently mid-ranking Black officials at other industry firms, including Royal Caribbean Intl.'s Celebrity Cruises brand and at river cruise firm AmaWaterways.

Nevertheless, the overall numbers remain low and industry veterans also wonder if the renewed focus on Black professional equity will ultimately prove successful in creating increased mid- and higher-level opportunities for professionals.

"I think the cruise lines are doing a good job with hiring Blacks in mid-level and lower-level positions," said Denella Ri'chard, a former Holland America Line senior director who now hosts "Traveling with Denella Ri'chard," a travel-focused CJC Network television series broadcast on the CW South Florida, the CJC Network and American Airlines inflight entertainment.

She said however that cruise and travel companies must do more to increase Black representation at higher levels.

"Now that cruise companies are hiring again, I think they need to make an intentional effort to recruit Black senior and executive (C-Suite) level professionals," said Ri'chard. "They need to get rid of the excuse they can't find Black talent at the senior and executive level."

Ri'chard is in fact concerned that the pandemic has led cruise companies to retract from the progress made in hiring Black professionals for top cruise positions in recent years.

"By the summer of 2020, due to COVID-19, we experienced a wipeout of Black senior and executive-level leadership in the cruise industry," she said. "While there has been an effort to hire mid-level Black professional representation at cruise lines, there has been virtually no progress in the senior and executive-level leadership positions."

The Big Picture

In a variety of forums over the past year, Black travel industry professionals asserted that while attention is focused on overtly racist hiring and advancement scenarios, the segregated character of American society also impacts professional advancement.

Recent data indicates up to 75 percent of White Americans have entirely White social networks while the same is true for fewer than two-thirds of Black Americans.

Research also shows that 70 percent of job opportunities are not published and up to 80 percent are filled through personal or professional relationships or networks. Those factors place Black professionals at a distinct disadvantage in terms of access to the paths and mentorship that lead to senior travel industry positions.

"The cruise industry had some of the top Black senior-level and executive talent in America prior to COVID-19. Where are they now?" Ri'chard asked. "The senior- and executive-level positions that Blacks once held have been filled with new people who are not Black."

Future Impact

Travel companies could face pressure to infuse Black talent into senior positions not only to reflect their customer base but increasingly impact profit potential. Census data reports Black and multi-racial people will represent a majority of Americans in future years.

The Census Bureau's "Demographic Turning Points of the United States: Population Projections for 2020 to 2060" reports the non-Hispanic White U.S. population will fall from 199 million in 2020 to 179 million in 2060, even overall population grows.

By 2045, non-Hispanic White people will no longer represent the majority of the U.S. population. Black people represented around 13 percent of the total population; by 2060, they will represent 15 percent, a 41 percent growth rate. Multi-racial Americans will represent the single fastest-growing group.

To ensure their continued success, cruise and travel companies will be challenged to effectively market their services to vacationers of color. "Black travel advisors make an intentional effort to sell brands that have people who look like them in senior and executive-level leadership positions," said Ri'chard.

The question remains to what degree cruise and travel companies will do the same.

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