‘I’m often the only black person in the room’

The travel industry needs to rethink its recruitment methods to become more representative of people from black and minority backgrounds, according to the woman responsible for marketing the Caribbean in the UK.

Carol Hay, who runs the Caribbean Tourism Organisation UK Chapter, said: "There have been many events that I have attended over the decades that I have been involved in travel and tourism and there have been hundreds of guests there.

"On some occasions I have been the only black person in the room and in others I may be among a small cluster. Considering how important tourism is to black countries, in the Caribbean, Africa and other parts of the world, why are we so under-represented?"

Hay, whose company McKenzie Gayle Limited took over marketing for the CTO last year, was speaking to TravelMole’s Graham McKenzie in a video discussion about the Caribbean’s tourism plans post-Covid.

Asked by McKenzie for her personal views about the Black Lives Matter movement, Hay said: "Black lives have always mattered and we should always continue to matter, but the focus is on black lives right now because of what we have seen, predominantly in the US but also other parts of the world. It’s an important message and one that I support."

She said many educated and professional black people are not being hired or promoted in travel.

"It starts at opportunity. Black people place a lot of emphasis on education, so the average young black person who wants to enter the industry is likely to be qualified – even over-qualified.

"For some reason they are not making it past the interview stage. They’re not getting an interview or, if they get an interview they are not getting an opportunity. I think all of that has to change.

"I’m an advocate of diversity, inclusion, racial fairness and equality. What I don’t want is the Peter principle where people say: ‘OK we will bring in a black person, we will give them that and hopefully they might not do well, or they might’.

"We just want to be treated fairly. Take colour out of it and when you have a vacancy just interview people based on skills, knowledge and experience and the fit for your organisation. But that fit can’t only be based on colour. It’s important to have equality and it would make a massive difference to tourism and the United Kingdom."

She added: "Tourism is about diversity, it’s about culture and heritage. The more that’s reflected in the workplace, the more true we can be to what tourism is about.

"I don’t understand people who want to go to certain parts of the world, yet outside of that vacation experience they have no desire to engage with people who reflect that side of the world."

By Lisa James, Deputy Editor (UK)