New Boston Tourism Campaign Aims To Fight City's Racist Reputation

BOSTON (CBS) – Acting Mayor Kim Janey announced a new initiative called "All Inclusive Boston" that is designed to attract visitors to the city's tourism and hospitality destinations that have been hit hard by the COVID pandemic. The campaign also aims to shed the city's racist reputation in the process.

Ads will appear in New England and the Tri-State area where potential visitors are within driving distance of Boston.

"Travel and hospitality is Boston's third largest industry, with a workforce that is 70% people of color," Janey said. "Our public health and economic recovery from the pandemic must include the workers and businesses that have taken the hardest hit."

Janey said All Inclusive Boston will showcase Boston as a city "with a new generation of diverse entrepreneurs, innovators, and artists - a city that is welcoming to everyone."

"Boston does have a reputation as being a racist city; we all know that here. And we all have a lot of work to do," Janey said. "I think we have come very far. I am standing here before you as the first black mayor of our city and first woman mayor and that symbolizes how far we've come. But I've been the first to say that we have a lot more work to do."

Colette Phillips of Colette Phillips Communications said competition will be fierce within the tourism and hospitality industries as people from around the country begin to return to normalcy.

"We want people to think of Boston the way we see Boston - inclusive, diverse, vibrant, exciting," she said.

Martha Sheridan, President of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Boston has been hit hard by the COVID pandemic. Revenue is down for the tourism sector as much as 70%, and 80% year over year for hotels.

As a result, many jobs were eliminated and have not yet come back.

"Boston is one of the hardest hit cities as a result of the pandemic, when it comes to the tourism sector," said Sheridan. "This campaign isn't about bringing droves of visitors here tomorrow; nothing could be further from the truth."

Instead, Sheridan said the city hopes to attract people who are planning their summer and fall vacations, hoping they "keep Boston in the consideration set for when they're thinking about where they're going to take their vacations in the future."

"We need to be on that list," said Sheridan.

For more information, visit the All Inclusive Boston website.