Diversity And Inclusion In Travel
Diversity and inclusion have risen higher and higher up the social and business agenda over the last decade. Brands have had to recognise that a generation of consumers – and workers – expect them to step up and play their part in making the world a fairer and more equal place. Our fourth ‘2020 Prediction’ article looks at why we think that in the year ahead, D&I will become an even more powerful force for change in the year ahead.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN TRAVEL
This is one of the great elephants in the room for the travel industry. It should be a cause for embarrassment that at conference after conference, campaign after campaign, we’re still talking about ‘needing to be better’ at representing minority groups across race, gender, sexual orientation or physical ability. There needs to be action, not just platitudes about how much the industry cares - uttered after we’re called out on it.
There’s a huge disparity between the number of BAME individuals in society (one in eight), and in the travel industry in general (only one in every 33 BAME individuals are leaders in the industry) - a lack of diversity in the people leading and working for travel brands which is then reflected in how it sells travel itself.
A report published this year shows the travel industry lags far behind other sectors and needs to rethink its attitudes, policies and actions if it is to overcome the barriers it faces to becoming a truly inclusive industry. Although there are some brands and businesses who do it well, one need only look at the gender pay gap (22% in the travel industry, versus 14% business-wide) to see there is a lot that needs to be done to get its house in order first.
In 2020, we believe there will be more positive movement by the industry to close that gap and to integrate inclusion in a way that is natural and not tokenistic – both internally and externally. At the moment, only around 40% of travel businesses have a defined Diversity & Inclusion strategy for either customers or staff. We expect that to grow to 60% at least next year. As well as the moral imperative (brands should be doing this because it is right to do so), it also makes good business sense. There are plenty of very credible academic studies – as well as a lot of simple anecdotal evidence – which supports the case that a diverse workforce increases productivity, is an engine for creativity and can be a real influence in improving overall company performance. In simple terms, different perspectives are going to lead to different (better) products that will appeal to a more diverse customer base – and competitive differentiation.
There is also established and growing spending power in minority communities that at the moment is being deterred from spending money with brands which don’t – on the basis of their external marketing and employer branding – seem to be a home for them.
What can travel businesses do? It’s a difficult question to answer, but progress would be a time when we don’t have to be called out before we act. This year, we expect to see D&I appear more on the agenda of businesses as the accept that the issue can’t be ignored and they start to talk about how it can be both a top-down, and bottom-up process, with buy in from management and commitment from even the newest member of staff.
Brands need to begin to treat D&I as business critical, and see it as more than window dressing or tweaking a recruitment policy. The first step towards doing so is to build it in to their strategic objectives and then making the delivery of a clear and measureable plan a leadership accountability.
