A new consumer study from the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) reveals the preferences and needs of an underrepresented market in the travel space: adventure travelers of color.
This segment, which accounts for approximately $51 billion in annual revenue, represents approximately 36% of U.S. outbound adventure travelers over the age of 18 who are taking an average of 2.5 trips per year.
The 56-page report, which was sponsored by payment company Flywire and the Dominican Republic Tourism Board and is free to download, was conducted in an effort to better understand what drives this market and how to better reach them while preparing for tourism’s eventual recovery.
“The consequence of doing a poor job of engagement with this community is making a brand damaging mistake,” says James Edward Mills, a journalist, author and key contributor to the report findings. “In the current ‘cancel culture climate,’ many organizations would rather do nothing at all than risk, despite their best efforts, the prospects of doing something horribly wrong or offensive. The reality is the world is changing. If we fail to address the needs of these new customers, adventure travel destinations and the industry as a whole could become culturally irrelevant.
The findings clearly show what a miss this has been in terms of economic opportunity, and highlights why representation matters in all facets of our businesses.
The report revealed several activity interests, preferences and market opportunities in this space. Notably, the majority of respondents report preferring soft-adventure activities such as hiking and camping, while more than half of Black travelers participated in hard-adventure activities including mountain biking, climbing, kayaking, rafting or scuba diving.
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Key findings of the survey include:
- Two of the 2.5 trips taken annually (on average) by this group are international.
- On the road, these outbound travelers are spending comparable amounts of money to their white counterparts, but they are spending more on in-destination offerings such as dining, tours, shopping, entertainment and transportation.
- Most adventure travelers of color book paid group activities prior to arrival; they are also interested in trying one or two new activities.
- Social media is the No. 1 source of travel inspiration for this group, followed by travel-specific publications and television.
- Most of these travelers prefer to book flights and hotels through web-based channels; some 30-40% prefer an in-person or phone conversation.
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“For too long, the travel industry has not spent time or money on meaningful quantitative and qualitative research on travelers of color, including adventure travel,” said Shannon Stowell, CEO of ATTA. “The findings clearly show what a miss this has been in terms of economic opportunity, and highlights why representation matters in all facets of our businesses. We're excited about the power of this data and the expert insights to show how important it is that the ATTA and our industry work for better representation of the diversity of people in the world in which we live.
The Details
Adventure Travel Trade Association
www.adventuretravel.biz
