Pay Attention To Hispanic Travelers

MMGY Global released a report at the end of September that found U.S. Hispanic travelers spent $113.9 billion on domestic leisure travel in 2019. Even more, they represented 13 percent of all domestic leisure travel that year alone. I never thought a number could make me feel so seen – but it does.

I’ve been a travel writer for six years, and yet, it’s not often that I’ve seen my Latinx heritage represented in the industry in meaningful and impactful ways. I’m still surprised when I see a Hispanic editor at a travel magazine and a Latino family or person depicted as a traveler in tourism marketing materials, rather than in the position of an employee working at a hotel or resort. And finding a Hispanic travel/hospitality CEO, travel agent, or pilot to interview for an article? Not as easy as it should be.

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When I saw that MMGY Global released a study called, Vistas Latinas: A Landmark Study on U.S. Travelers of Hispanic Descent, during Hispanic Heritage Month no less, I felt that travelers, like me, were starting to be recognized, if not taken more seriously as consumers.

This is not the only study to examine the habits of the U.S. Hispanic travel consumer base. In 2010, the U.S. Travel Association found that there were 16 million Hispanic adult leisure travelers who took 50 million domestic and outbound trips, which resulted in nearly $59 billion in spending.

Three years later, the National Tour Association (NTA) noted that Hispanic travelers spent on average $758 per person on a week-long vacation (compared to $708 among all other travelers). In 2018, the NTA released more findings that indicated Hispanics spent $300 more on average than non-Hispanics on vacation and took two more vacations per year than non-Hispanics travelers.

So what’s going on? Why isn’t more being done in the travel and hospitality sector to focus on Hispanic travelers?

The reality is that the travel industry has only recently started to pay attention to travelers of diverse racial and ethnic identities, which has come as a result of advocacy within and outside the travel industry.

So perhaps a better question at this point is: what do travel and hospitality companies need to realize when it comes to Hispanic travelers? The answer may lie in the MMGY Global Vistas Latinas study.

Looking over the study, a few things stuck out to me. Fifty-seven percent of Hispanic travelers are more likely to visit places that embrace Hispanic cultures and celebrate Hispanic businesses. Furthermore, 52 percent will more likely visit a city or area where Hispanic representation is depicted in the destination’s advertisements and marketing materials.

From that, we can surmise that Hispanic travelers feel more comfortable visiting places where their heritage and identity are more prevalent, celebrated, and uplifted.

It’s no wonder that the study found that most Hispanic travelers visit California, Texas, and Florida – three states with the highest number of Hispanic residents.

What does that tell me? There are many places where Hispanic travelers don’t feel comfortable or interested in visiting, because the destination hasn’t shown Hispanic travelers that they are important, recognized, or even welcomed. Although the study didn’t focus on Hispanic travel trends as it relates to hotels or tour companies, there is no doubt in my mind that similar aspects exist in these sectors, too.

If the Vistas Latinas study and the few that came before that, prove anything, it’s that Hispanic travelers have the means to travel, quite often, and they’re willing to spend more money than other travelers. But they’re not interested in visiting places where they don’t feel seen. I can understand this. It can be uncomfortable to travel to places where you’re stereotyped or invisible. When you don’t feel accepted or welcome in certain destinations, you go to places where you are.

Hispanic travelers deserved to be seen and served because they’re a powerful travel consumer base – and their spending is only going to continue to increase. Right now, the U.S. Hispanic population is 62.1 million, which accounted for nearly half of the U.S. population’s increase in the last 10 years. We may be the largest, untapped travel consumer base in the U.S., and if I were a destination, hotel, tour company, travel agent, or travel magazine, I’d be doing a lot more to get a piece of that $113.9-billion-dollar pie.

It’s not merely enough to post a Latino family on your social media twice a year or publish a blog or article during Hispanic Heritage Month. It takes investing in Hispanic travelers in a more holistic way year-round.

Hire Hispanic travel influencers and Latinx travel writers who have built trusting relationships with the Hispanic community. Feature us as tourists in your marketing materials and advertisements and make it clear to us that your destination highlights and invests in Hispanic-owned businesses, restaurants, events, and culture. Market your destination, hotel, tour, or service in Latino media; we have our own radio shows, TV networks, podcasts, and magazines. These are just a handful of ways to connect with us.

If there is one thing I know about my fellow Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx travelers, it's that we will spend our money in places and with companies who invest in us, celebrate our culture in authentic ways, and simply, make us feel welcome. Now is the time to see us as the powerful travel consumer base that we are, and do something about it.