Noting the devastation to the tourism sector caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Boston is launching a new campaign to draw more visitors to the city - a campaign that, in part, hopes to dispel its reputation for being a racist town.
In a very frank announcement, officials acknowledged the reputation and said they hope the marketing campaign called "All Inclusive Boston" - which will appear in the state of Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast - will present Boston in a better light.
"This campaign showcases Boston as a city with a new generation of diverse entrepreneurs, innovators, and artists," Mayor Kim Janey said during a press conference on Monday, according to the Boston Globe. "It boldly puts our people and our neighborhoods front and center for the very first time."
Not lost on the significance of the message was where the press conference was held - at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury, a neighborhood with a heavy African-American population whose rich history and stories, much like New York City's Harlem, need to be told.
"Boston does have a reputation as being a racist city," Janey said. "We all know that here. We all have a lot of work to do. I think we have come very far. I am standing here before you as the first black mayor of our city and first woman mayor and that symbolizes how far we've come."
Travel and hospitality, Boston's third-largest industry, has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, Janey said, and has a workforce that is 70 percent people of color.
Martha Sheridan, President of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Boston's reputation really hit home when she and her colleagues surveyed past visitors, potential visitors and current residents about their perception of Boston.
"At about 9 o'clock one night we all watched live as the research results came in from the panel," Sheridan said. "While nobody was terribly surprised, I will say we were probably disappointed in the fact that the narrative about Boston has been formed not by strategic investment in destination marketing programs but formed by others."
Here's what else she had to say about bringing more tourists to Boston.
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