A small initiative to help change the group travel industry.

We at TripSchool have watched this week, like everyone else, as the U.S. has reckoned with the injustice and inequality that many in the black community have always faced. We stand against all forms of racism, and by all peaceful, nonviolent acts of protest that exercise a diversity of Americans’ right to demand justice.

In everything that we do as tour operators, guides and trainers, TripSchool has always been a passionate advocate for telling the stories of the marginalized and oppressed in the sights that we visit. Our core belief is that the world is changed through passionate, engaged storytelling, and the variety of stories we tell matters, in ways that effect real change in our guests. That’s part of the power of travel.

But storytelling is not enough. The group travel industry is disproportionately and overwhelmingly white, and there are many people out there who would thrive in this career if they could afford training and knew about the job. Historically, the cost of training has been prohibitive to many who would make amazing guides, and at most of the hiring conferences I attend, I see few persons of color. Ever since TripSchool’s founding, we’ve been committed to offering the most affordable tour director and guide training programs in the industry, to attract as many qualified candidates as possible. But today, it’s time we go one step further.

A NEW INITIATIVE

At the beginning of this year, we launched the first-ever guide training handbook for the Civli Rights Trail, authored by civil rights expert Leon Burnette. Today we are announcing that we are partnering with Leon’s 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Media Arts Institute of Alabama, to raise money for and offer free travel industry training for those who otherwise could not afford to enter this industry.

Our goal is to offer subsidized tour director and guide certification programs and entrepreneurship courses, with the explicit goal of bringing more persons of color into the industry. Through Leon’s nonprofit, we will be launching an outreach campaign to find people interested in this career among new communities that have historically not known about these career paths. We will train and connect them with tour companies to be hired, both in-house and out on the road.

We call upon large tour operators and DMCs to recognize the importance of hiring a more diverse staff of tour guides, directors and personnel. And we personally want to be a force for change in this industry by offering our time and resources to deliver to these tour operators a variety of incredible individuals, trained to high standards.

We hope we can play a small part as a force for positive change in this world. Stay tuned for more information about this initiative.