Diverse Interests 7-1-2004

Philadelphia’s Mother Bethel African
Methodist Episcopal Church

For those charged with finding a welcoming city to host gatherings of ethnic or racial minority groups, the process is getting a little easier. Convention and visitor bureaus in many cities with especially heterogeneous populations have taken an extra step to court the minority meetings market, highlighting their own diversity and enlisting the support and participation of their own residents.
     “A lot of these cities are now recognizing the value of their multicultural heritage,” says Margaret Gonzalez, president of the International Association of Hispanic Meeting Professionals and founder/president of the GVR Public Relations Agency, both based in Houston. “They’re starting to use that as a value-add in terms of bringing groups.”
     Following are some diverse destinations that welcome minority meetings.

Atlanta
About 10 to 15 percent of Atlanta’s 3,000 yearly meetings come from African-American groups. That’s not surprising, given the city’s racial makeup.
     Atlanta is home to five historically black-attended universities, making it perhaps the most influential intellectual hub for African Americans in the nation. The National Black Arts Festival, an annual 10-day event, has helped solidify a presence in the city for African-American art and culture.
     Atlanta’s CVB is networking with more African-American associations to try to attract their conventions. The bureau also is working to bring more African Americans into the hospitality business, according to Bill Howard, vice president of marketing for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Hartford, Conn.
When the Greater Hartford CVB offered to pay airfare, hotel and registration fees for all 80 attendees of the 2003 meeting of the International Association of Hispanic Meeting Professionals, the association couldn’t say no. The CVB went on to host the opening reception and a lunch, as well as provide local entertainment free of charge. “It was expensive,” says Karen Staples, CMP, national sales manager for the GHCVB, “but we wanted to show that this market is very important to our community.”
     Hartford is 51 percent Hispanic and has a Hispanic mayor. The city also is home to large populations of African  Americans, Asian Americans and West Indians. Staples is involved with both the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners and the IAHMP. This year, she is spearheading a marketing campaign aimed at showcasing Hartford’s attractions for minorities, including the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, where Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written.

Las Vegas
The towering occupancy rates in Las Vegas reflect more than just the city’s compelling draw; they represent a tireless pursuit of all kinds of meeting groups. Mya Reyes is new to the 28-year-old post of manager of diversity marketing at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. In this role, she’s helping customize television and print advertisements toward each emerging market.
     Reyes will attend 15 to 18 minority association conventions this year. She also is approaching management at all of the Las Vegas hotels to form a diversity council, comprising one member from each property, which will aim to present a unified front in welcoming different cultures.

Milwaukee
For a heartland city, Milwaukee is surprisingly diverse: The city’s African-American population has reached 35 percent of the total, and the Hispanic population is at 12 percent. It is home to America’s Black Holocaust Museum, remembering slavery and its lasting effects. All summer, the city is alive with cultural festivals.
     The local CVB is in the midst of a major diversity initiative. Besides exhibiting at minority trade shows and producing a multicultural guide to the city,  the effort aims to improve the experiences of minority meeting planners and attendees. To this end, the staff at hotels and local attractions are getting diversity training. In addition, minority-owned businesses are being invited to become CVB members to help promote their services to minority meeting planners.
     “When you bring cultural or ethnic groups to a city, they want to give back to their own community,” says Laurie Nelson-Choice, the director of multicultural development for the CVB. “That could mean hiring a black printer or a Hispanic florist.”
     The initiative is finding success: Both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce are on the books for 2005.

Philadelphia
The Multicultural Affairs Congress in Philadelphia was formed in 1987 with three goals: to attract minority conventions, to bring people of color to the hospitality industry and to provide opportunities for minority-owned businesses. Today MAC is working to build partnerships within the city and without, giving Philadelphia the edge in booking major minority conventions.
     “It isn’t just hiring an African-American salesperson,” says Tanya Hall, executive director of MAC. “It’s our full-circle approach that keeps our phone ringing.” The group attracted $60 million in multicultural group business this year.
      MAC also capitalizes on Philadelphia’s history as a stronghold of black freedom, a haven for Asian immigrants, the home of two Native American societies and the setting of a modern wave of Hispanic culture. Since MAC’s founding, room nights from minority meetings have increased eightfold, and the hiring rate of minority salespeople at city hotels has multiplied by six, according to Hall. “That makes a difference to our customers,” she says.

REACHING THE GAY MARKET

When the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force hosted the 2002 meeting of its annual Creating Change conference, one of the most publicized and well-attended conventions in the gay and lesbian activist community, the group decided to forego more famous lavender meccas such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City. Instead, the event went to the city of Portland, Ore., whose hearty helping of gay-friendly neighborhoods and venues, as well as fine restaurants, shops and galleries, are the focus of the city’s newest publicity campaign, aimed directly at the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) market.

Portland is far from alone in  its efforts. Across America, an increasing number of cities are actively reaching out to gay and lesbian travelers, individually and en masse. The recent spate of efforts, from pamphlets and websites to new gay-focused components of local CVBs, should pay off, according to Thomas Roth, president of Community Marketing Inc., a San Francisco-based market research company dedicated to assessing trends in gay travel.

“Gay and lesbian consumers tend to vote with their wallets,” Roth says, “and when apples are compared to apples, we will prefer a destination, product or service that welcomes the gay community.”
Among those destinations displaying their apples, Roth notes, are several cities whose unique advantages and sincere hospitality are enough to give the old standbys a run for their convention industry money.

Chief among them, report industry analysts, is Philadelphia, which has dedicated $300,000 per year over the next three years to gay and lesbian marketing, to be supplemented by another $200,000 gathered from local businesses. Among the city’s outreach projects is last month’s premiere of a gay-targeted television ad, dubbed a U.S. destination first by media analysts.

Roth and others also offer high praise for Minneapolis, a destination whose smaller budget is made up for by its singularly enthusiastic approach to gay and lesbian marketing. With a unique emphasis on GLBT conventions, Minneapolis reaches out to potential business by distributing its Gay Minneapolis materials at all local conventions, not only those whose focus is gay-related. 

Analysts cite cities such as Bloomington, Ind.; Columbus, Ohio; New Orleans; and Seattle as places to watch in the movement toward more gay-focused marketing. “If you were booking a convention 10 years ago,” recalls Scott Seitz, president of New York City-based gay marketing firm SPI Networks, “you could go to one of three cities, and there you could stick to one neighborhood or one block. Now, you have a multitude of cities all over the United States, not just on a coast, and countless neighborhoods that are fun to play in and safe to walk in. There definitely are some very healthy, very positive developments taking place.” - MORTON D. ROSENBAUM

A cultural festival in Phoenix

Phoenix
The Greater Phoenix CVB’s Multi-Cultural Affairs Department is different from most. Its goal is not only to bring in minority meetings, but also to spread diversity awareness among hotel employees and to become an active part of the city’s multicultural fabric.
     The CVB’s BEST (Bureau of Excellence in Student Training) program brings minority high school students into the hospitality industry. A quarterly breakfast series educates the local hospitality industry about the importance of the multicultural market.
     This March, the bureau hosted its first all-multicultural fam trip. The payoff: In the past nine years, the Multi-Cultural Affairs Department has brought in 142,000 room nights.

The Old Courthouse in St. Louis

St. Louis
St. Louis’ history is replete with both African-American and Latino traditions, and the city’s attractions showcase those cultural roots. African-American attendees especially enjoy the Scott Joplin House and the Black World History Museum. Hispanic visitors might be interested to learn that St. Louis was founded in Spanish territory. An influx of Latino residents has created a sizeable Spanish-speaking community, which last year prompted Annette LaTorre Conrad, director of executive meetings and group tour sales, to focus on recruiting Hispanic meetings.
     Both Conrad and Valerie Watson, director of national accounts (and the main contact for African-American meetings), are hosting familiarization trips, attending trade shows and buying targeted advertising. One fruit of their labors: this May’s biannual meeting of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners, a sought-after group for its members’ decision-making power.

The Alamo in San Antonio

San Antonio
San Antonio is one of the original multicultural meetings destinations. Thanks in part to its relative proximity to the Mexican border, the city’s population is almost 60 percent Hispanic.
     In addition to the city’s Riverwalk, San Antonio has all sorts of venues that showcase Latino history, such as El Mercado, a huge Mexican market, and La Villita, the arts community on the site of the town’s original settlement.
     The CVB has dedicated staff members who network with minority associations, host events for planners and attend these groups’ trade shows.