The Problem
The travel industry is a key component of the economy in the United States. In 2019, domestic and international travelers spent $1.1 trillion ($1,127 billion) in the U.S. Viageur’s aim is to appeal to women travelers, BIPOC travelers and the LGTBQ+ community.
When traveling, there are two major questions that these communities need to answer:
- 1.Where can I go?
- 2.Is it safe for me?
Women Travelers
With over $15 trillion of spending power worldwide and $61 billion in the U.S., women are known to spend more than men when traveling and drive explosive growth in the travel industry. Women make 80% of all travel decisions, regardless of who they travel with, who pays for the trip and where they go. When you add in online travel purchases, the amount rises to 92%. Behind every decision, safety closely follows at hand when considering the destination and whether to travel alone.
BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Travelers
While the research is limited to the entire landscape of BIPOC travelers, U.S Black travelers provide key indicators of the breadth of the communities’ spending power. They spent $109.4 billion on domestic travel in 2019. When international leisure travel is added to that figure, U.S. travelers spent $129.6 billion that same year. Another highly influential factor in their decision-making process is whether the destination is perceived as safe for Black travelers. In a survey conducted by MMGY Global's second and final phase of “The Black Traveler: Insights, Opportunities & Priorities” research report, 71% of U.S. and Canadian respondents each felt safety was extremely or very influential to their travel decision, while 58% of U.K./Ireland respondents felt similarly. Safety includes the likelihood of experiencing racism/racial profiling, animosity, and rudeness related to their race or culture.
LGTBQ Travelers
LGBTQs spend more on travel than the general population and take more trips. LGBTQs are also far more likely to travel internationally. LGBTQ travelers make up 7% to 10% of the travel industry—about $1 billion in the USA alone and more than an estimated $218 billion in annual consumer spending worldwide. LGBTQ+ travel safety varies a great deal among destinations around the world. LGBTQ+ travelers may encounter challenges in specific destinations where sexual orientation, and gender identity, and expression, are criminalized or marginalized. These issues can affect everything from the travelers’ ability to show public displays of affection to sharing a hotel room bed to whether they can legally use dating apps in their destination.