📌 Inclusive Marketing in Hospitality

Discover how exclusion drives silent churn and what hospitality brands can do to build belonging, loyalty and revenue.

What does “inclusive marketing” actually mean? Do consumers really care about inclusive campaigns? And what is the impact of inclusive marketing on purchase intent and loyalty?

🌞 Hello and Welcome To Hospitality Marketing Insight, I’m your host, Dawn Gribble, and this week we’re exploring how you can make your marketing more inclusive.

Marketing and media often lead us to believe that what we see on our screens is normal. But this idea of normal usually focuses on young, slim couples, perfect families, and polished stereotypes. Real life is much more varied, and guests notice when it is not shown.

Hospitality has always been about welcome. It is the art of making every guest feel seen, valued, and comfortable. That spirit is naturally inclusive, but the world keeps changing, and so do the needs and expectations of our guests. Being truly welcoming today means understanding those changes, listening to different experiences, and reflecting them in how we market and how we serve. Because at its core, hospitality is about belonging, making sure every guest feels they have a place at the table.

Hospitality brands that get inclusion right see the upside: stronger loyalty, higher sales, and access to growing guest segments. Those that get it wrong hand revenue to competitors who adapt more quickly.

In this issue, we’ll break down where exclusion shows up, from disabilities to ageing, body size, gender, and LGBTQ+ representation, and show how brands can shift from tokenism to trust.

📄 On the Menu

• Racial Diversity

• The Muslim Travel Market

• Disabilities

• Ageing

• Plus Size

• Gender

• LGBTQ+

• Marketing Representation Action Plan

• Your Inclusive Marketing Questions Answered

Let’s Check In ☕

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Unconscious bias, lack of representation, and old beauty standards can make campaigns feel exclusive. In a recent survey, over half of travellers from underrepresented groups said they felt excluded or faced discrimination with hospitality brands. This affects more than just social issues. Exclusion also reduces loyalty and spending.

Representation can be as simple as:

• showing multigenerational groups in your imagery

• translating menus or web pages into one extra local language

• highlighting dietary inclusivity or prayer spaces where relevant

These small, visible steps build loyalty. In fact, 59% of consumers say they stick with brands that support diversity. As local markets change rapidly, brands that overlook inclusivity risk criticism and substantial losses.

Currently, 54% of consumers report not feeling fully culturally represented in online advertising, which is concerning, as Ads lacking diversity can alienate underrepresented communities. However, online campaigns featuring more diverse representation have shown higher ad recall of up to 90%.

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✊🏽 Racial Diversity

Over the last few years, we’ve seen plenty of noise online and in the media screaming, “go woke, go broke.” But is this accurate?

According to a recent survey, only 11–13% of consumers oppose brands’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, while 77% say they’d stop or reduce buying from a brand that caves in to anti-“woke” boycotts.

In fact, 42% of Americans wanted to see more racial diversity in advertising.

For brands that listen, the opportunities are vast. 59% of consumers reported being more loyal to brands that promote diversity and inclusion in online advertising. And 73% of consumers said they are more likely to feel personally connected to a brand whose advertising positively reflects their race/ethnicity. Data from Deloitte confirms this, finding that companies with inclusive advertising are 2.6 times more likely to be perceived as innovative. On the other hand, audiences are increasingly punishing brands that fail to adapt.

Remember

• The strongest results come when inclusive values shape both marketing and operations.

• Authenticity is the most critical driver of consumer trust.

• Inclusive representation is now a baseline expectation.

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🌙 The Muslim Travel Market

Muslim leisure travellers have similar motivations to others. They want to experience the culture of their destination… The key difference is that they seek to enjoy these experiences without compromising their basic faith-based needs. It’s not just a form of religious tourism.” Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of Crescent Rating

The global Muslim-friendly travel market is booming, projected to reach $225 billion by 2028, up from approximately $180 billion in 2023, and expected to grow to $410.9bn by 2032.

Yet, faith-aware dining and accommodation options remain underrepresented in the hospitality marketing sector. Consumers from faith-based communities report limited choice and visibility in mainstream advertising. At the same time, brands that highlighted halal symbols in their campaigns saw higher engagement from faith-based audiences.

What does Halal really mean?

Halal is an Arabic term meaning “permitted” and extends to more than just food, it covers everything from prayer facilities, availability of water in toilets for washing and ablution, gender segregation options, as well as an environment and experience free from “forbidden” acts, including alcohol and gambling.

Case Study

The Hong Kong Tourism Board recently launched a Muslim-friendly initiative to drive the development of halal tourism facilities, encouraging restaurants, hotels, and attractions to obtain halal certification and adding prayer rooms to better welcome Muslim travellers. This faith-aware marketing move garnered favourable coverage as Hong Kong strives to become an inclusive destination. In a statement sent to Al Jazeera, the board said it wanted to

“encourage restaurants, hotels, attractions, venues, and other establishments to review their Muslim-friendliness, while promoting the importance of Halal certification among the trade”,

Remember

• The Muslim travel market is projected to reach $225 billion by 2028 and $410.9 billion by 2032, with 230 million annual arrivals.

• Faith-aware hospitality (halal food, prayer spaces, alcohol-free options) is still underrepresented but strongly demanded.

• Certification and visible signals of inclusion improve engagement and trust among Muslim travellers.

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🌻 Disabilities

Disabilities are among the most underrepresented areas in hospitality marketing, even though they affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide. This group spans physical, sensory, and cognitive conditions: from mobility impairments and vision or hearing loss to neurological differences, chronic pain, and age-related decline.

Globally, more than 2.2 billion people live with some form of vision impairment, a number that will rise sharply as populations age. At the same time, 15–20% of people are neurodivergent, including those with autism, ADHD, or dyslexia, while millions more live with conditions such as dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, brain injuries, and anxiety disorders. Together, this shows both the scale and the breadth of disability — and the importance of recognising visible as well as hidden needs.

Despite this, disability remains overlooked in campaigns and service design, leaving guests excluded both visibly in advertising and invisibly through inaccessible digital touchpoints. For marketers, the risk is not visible backlash but quiet exclusion, where potential guests are lost before a brand even knows they were interested.

In advertising, disability is still poorly represented. Millions of people rely on mobility aids, yet they are rarely shown in campaigns. This lack of visibility weakens brand connection, while the opposite is proven to work: ads that authentically portray disabled people improve trust and relatability , and campaigns that highlight accessibility features drive positive sentiment.

Yet too often, brands still treat disability inclusion as a side project. McKinsey found that many companies frame accessibility as a CSR initiative rather than a core part of marketing strategy. The result is a missed opportunity: campaigns designed with accessibility in mind achieved 30% higher ad recall and consistently improved both guest experience and marketing performance.

Representation in campaigns is only one part of the challenge. The other is functional access across digital touchpoints, where marketers have the most direct responsibility.

The data is stark: 95.9% of homepages tested in 2023 had at least one Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG 2.0) failure, and more than 96% of the top one million websites had detectable accessibility errors. Progress year on year has been negligible, leaving most hospitality websites and booking engines effectively closed off to large numbers of potential guests.

When these barriers exist, guests with accessibility needs often churn silently. They don’t complain; they simply don’t return. These barriers can be as straightforward as websites that cannot be navigated with screen readers, booking engines that fail keyboard testing, or menus without accessible formats.

Not all accessibility is about physical design. Pace design matters too. Older guests, anxious travellers, and neurodiverse people often want slower options such as unhurried check-in, quiet dining hours, or relaxed booking flows. Highlighting these in marketing shows you understand different needs and helps guests choose confidently.

Remember

• Disabilities affect hundreds of millions of travellers and must be reflected in marketing communications.

• Silent churn is the major risk: guests encountering inaccessible digital touchpoints simply disappear.

• Digital accessibility and authentic representation strengthen trust, improve sentiment, and lift ad recall by 30%.

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🗝️ Join Me in the VIP Lounge 🔒

You’ve seen how unconscious bias, exclusion, and accessibility gaps shape hospitality marketing.

Inside the VIP Lounge, explore:

• How ageing, body size, gender, and LGBTQ+ inclusion reshape brand trust

• Marketing Representation Checklist

• Your inclusivity questions answered

Upgrade today to unlock the full playbook and stay ahead of competitors who are moving first.