Acting Mayor Kim Janey on Monday announced the All Inclusive Boston Campaign, which aims to help the tourism and hospitality industries recover equitably from the effects of the pandemic.
“The goal is to curate new narratives and aspirational content about Boston, enticing a broader and more diverse set of consumers to visit later this summer or fall,” according to a release from the city. “The local focus is a vital part of All Inclusive Boston. The vibrant small businesses, local attractions and eclectic neighborhood offerings across the city are pillars of this campaign. Ultimately, All Inclusive Boston will reposition the city to a new demographic of visitors while spotlighting its rich cultural and commercial assets, including those beyond traditional tourist sites. Mayor Janey is dedicated to supporting all of Boston’s communities throughout the recovery.”
By Mia McCarthy, Reporter Correspondent
April 8, 2021
Mia McCarthy, Reporter Correspondent
Boston’s acting Mayor Kim Janey announced the All-Inclusive Boston campaign during a press conference at Hiberian Hall in Roxbury on Monday. Mayor s Office Photo by Jeremiah Robinson
All-Inclusive Boston, a $2 million marketing campaign aimed at promoting Boston as a multicultural tourism destination to boost the city s hobbled hospitality industry, launched on Monday after months of planning that started under the Walsh administration. Mayor Janey unveiled the push during a press event at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury in which she praised the campaign. For the first time I see our city promoting itself in a way that I feel seen,” Janey said in reference to a video which features local artists and entrepreneurs, many of them people of color.
“Boston does have a reputation as being a racist city,” Janey said. “We all know that here. We all have a lot of work to do. 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.”
Travel and hospitality, Boston’s third-largest industry, has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, Janey said, and has a workforce that is 70 percent people of color. The campaign, “All Inclusive Boston,” is designed to provide an equitable recovery for the industry.
Can a glossy tourism campaign once-and-for-all shed Bostonâs image as a racist city?
Weâre about to find out.
On Monday, the city rolled out its first-ever campaign to market Boston â not events that happen here such as the Marathon, or places to visit like the Freedom Trail or Faneuil Hall â but the actual city itself, and the people who live and work here.
The stars of the $2 million marketing effort â built around the clever tagline âAll Inclusiveâ â are Black, Latino, and Asian-American Bostonians, from restaurateurs to shop owners, who celebrate the cityâs majority-minority status in a minute-and-half video, as well as on billboards.