Black U.S. leisure travelers spent $109.4 billion on travel in 2019, according to the results from the first phase of MMGY Travel's The Black Traveler: Insights, Opportunities & Priorities report.
The spend was generated by 458.2 million black U.S. traveler stays last year, which accounts for more than 13 percent of the U.S. leisure travel market. Stays consider each city a travel party visits as well as the number of people in the travel party.
Developed on behalf of black traveler advocacy organizations to identify the needs, behaviors and sentiment of the black travel community, the study includes data from both MMGY Global's 2019 Shifflet TRAVEL PERFORMANCE/Monitor-which surveyed 4,800 black U.S. leisure travelers-and a 2020 survey of 200 members of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP).
The report's initial phase also found that black U.S. leisure travelers took an average of three overnight vacations and spent an average of 13.1 nights in paid accommodations in 2019. Black travel parties spent an average of $600 on each overnight leisure stay, with an average stay of 2.5 nights for each trip.
When it comes to meetings and events, the report shows that NCBMP's meeting professionals plan an average of 7.5 meetings per year and typically spend an average of just over $900,000 annually. What's more, more than half of planners (57 percent) indicated that they typically plan off-site events for the attendees, further boosting local economies.
Planning meeting events for black professionals is not without challenges, however, as 84 percent of meeting planners noted that some destinations are more welcoming of meetings with a majority of black attendees than others. More than four in 10 (42 percent) indicated that their attendees have felt unwelcome in a destination in which they've attended a meeting in the past.
When it comes to choosing a meeting destination, word-of-mouth is the leading source of information. But planners also want to see that a destination is embracing diversity, with 77 percent looking for representation in the destination's marketing materials and 80 percent analyzing the diverse racial composition of the destination, according to MMGY Global.
"We have long suspected the amount that U.S. Black travelers spend on leisure travel was undervalued. So it is great to get confirmation through these two reports as a part of The Black Traveler study," said Black Travel Alliance President Martinique Lewis in a statement accompanying Thursday's results. "These findings of the U.S. market, as well as additional data from the international report to be published in January, will become our calling card to destination management organizations and travel brands as we work to increase black representation at all levels of the travel industry."
"It is vital for travel industry executives to better understand the needs, behaviors and concerns of underrepresented traveler communities. The findings from the report should be a call to action for travel professionals and are an important step in both underscoring the value of black travelers and identifying solutions to better serve this important travel audience," added MMGY Global's CEO, Clayton Reid.
The report's final phase will be released in January 2021 and will feature data from a new survey analyzing the current opinions and attitudes of black leisure travelers globally, unpacking the decision-making process for vacation planning and the barriers and experiences that black leisure travelers encounter in international markets.
Phase I is currently available for purchase at mmgyglobal.com/the-black-traveler-insights-opportunities-priorities. Those who purchase the report will also receive phase II when it's published early next year.
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