NEWS: The Culturist Group Launches to Help Travel Brands Attract Multicultural Consumers
Danny Guerrero, an Award-Winning Inclusivity In Travel Trailblazer and Advocate Established Minority-Owned Multicultural Brand Marketing Communications Practice
January 31, 2022 (Los Angeles, CA) - Danny Guerrero (He/Him), a travel and hospitality brand marketing and communications veteran, and advocate on the growing influence, and needs of underrepresented travelers today launched The Culturist Group, a minority-owned brand marketing communications and advocacy practice he founded specifically for travel, tourism and hospitality industries. CULTURIST, the flagship consultancy was founded to guide travel brands and destinations that struggle to effectively translate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) imperatives into measurable multicultural marketing communications strategies that address the growing needs of consumers who increasingly value inclusion and belonging.
“I launched CULTURIST to continue to advocate for a more inclusive industry by empowering travel brands and destinations to better connect with emerging multicultural travelers like myself. Research tells us that multicultural marketing is no longer a niche practice and brands who want to remain competitive in leisure travel must adapt,” noted Guerrero, Principal, and Founder of The Culturist Group.
In his previous role with integrated travel marketing and research company, MMGY Global, Danny initiated and led groundbreaking research studies supported by travel industry giants including Hilton and Tripadvisor on Black, Latinx, and other underrepresented travelers, earning him the ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award by the World Travel and Tourism Council in 2021 for the advocacy and philanthropic efforts tied to these studies. In his role at MMGY, Danny noted that in 2019 underrepresented travelers had accounted for 45% of all travel spend, with domestic U.S. Black travel spend at $109.4 billion and Hispanic domestic travel spend reaching $113.9 billion in 2019.
“It is clear from my life experience, and my professional work presenting research findings on underserved travelers across the industry that we are in a cultural revolution where travel is increasingly a space for individual and collective growth and empowerment. The most successful travel brands need to apply consumer truths and build culture-forward marketing communications to grow affinity the way other industries have done successfully,” says Guerrero.
The 2020 U.S. Census shows that 100% of population growth in the U.S. over the last 10 years is multicultural growth. A 2019 survey by the Association of National Advertisers' Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM), which studied 10,000 multicultural consumers revealed that culturally relevant marketing is a key driver of brand affinity and intent. In fact, highly culturally relevant ads increased brand lift by 50% and purchase intent by 267%.
“Multicultural marketing is mainstream marketing. And culture is now king/queen. By focusing on cultural relevance, we create brand strategies and messages that connect people, culture, and message and create success for our clients,” concluded Guerrero.
Recently, Danny Guerrero was named to the Black Travel Alliance Advisory Board and the Travel Unity Advisory Board in January 2022. He speaks frequently at travel industry conferences on the needs of underrepresented travelers and the importance of culture.
Follow Danny at the following industry events:
Keynote Speaker: ‘How Culture-Forward Brands Will Reach New Generations of Travelers’ at the Arival 360 conference in San Diego, California on February 4, 2022.
Facilitator & Presenter: ‘Understand, Identify and Connect with Diverse Travelers’ at the 2022 Travel Unity Summit Southeast in Atlanta, Georgia on March 23, 2022.
Speaker: ‘Representation of Latinos/x in Travel’ at the 2nd Annual Latino Travel Fest on March 25, 2022 (Virtual).
For more information or to request an interview, visit www.culturistgroup.com or contact Michelle Rodriguez, 360viewPR at michelle@360viewpr.com.
About The Culturist Group
CULTURIST is the vision of Danny Guerrero (He/Him), an award-winning 20+ year multichannel marketing expert and thought leader. The Culturist Group is a minority-owned multicultural brand marketing and communications practice and platform developed to create a more inclusive travel industry by empowering brands and destinations. Prior to founding The Culturist Group, Danny spent 10 years building and leading integrated marketing agency teams across branding, advertising, digital, and communications practices, and another 10 years leading client-side marketing and communications programs for prominent destinations, hospitality, and travel brands. CULTURIST clients seek to demonstrate progress against diversity marketing objectives, and more importantly, to deepen connections with existing audiences, grow new audiences and properly engage underrepresented stakeholders through authentic connections deployed with multichannel travel marketing focused on the importance of culture.
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