BOSTON - Monday, April 4, 2022 – Mayor Michelle Wu today announced the extension of the All Inclusive Boston campaign, encouraging tourists to visit the City of Boston. The campaign is anchored by a video showcasing Boston’s diversity. It highlights Boston’s multicultural, local economy and promotes the city as a welcoming and diverse destination with rich cultural enclaves and many untold stories. The goal of the campaign is to increase awareness and drive trips to Boston’s neighborhoods from diverse local and international tourists. The campaign highlights many local, minority-owned and run businesses and organizations. The All Inclusive Boston campaign was created by contractors Colette Phillips Communications, Inc., Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau and Proverb in partnership with the City of Boston.
“When we see our collective connection and shared prosperity as the ultimate goal, we are all stronger,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “We all benefit from more tourism coming to Boston. There is something special for everyone to come and experience here. We want visitors to experience the vibrancy of all of our neighborhoods.”
All Inclusive Boston is a tool to jumpstart Boston’s tourism and travel industry in response to the economic impact of the pandemic. Tourism has traditionally been Boston’s and the state’s third largest industry. In 2019, the greater Boston area received 19.9 million domestic visitors and 2.9 million international visitors. In 2020, COVID-19 devastated Boston’s hospitality industry, impacting a variety of complementary industries, including restaurants, recreation and entertainment, and the hotel industry, which had an occupancy rate of 14.3 percent in Boston. The loss of travel and foot traffic in the City had a particularly severe impact on restaurants, with seated dining 75 percent below January levels on weekdays, and 63 percent below on weekends. This downturn hit minority communities particularly hard, as a large percentage of hospitality industry workers are from BIPOC communities.
The City of Boston awarded $1.495 million for the second phase of the campaign, through a combination of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and City operating funds. The campaign will feature integrated digital marketing on a number of social media platforms as well as print, radio and video components. The campaign will leverage a new partnership with several NBCUniversal local TV stations.
“With an emphasis on spurring an inclusive economic recovery from the pandemic, the All Inclusive campaign allows us to reimagine how Boston is perceived locally and across the globe,” said Segun Idowu, Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. “I am excited to launch Phase II of the campaign and showcase all that this city has to offer.”
Colette Phillips Communications, Inc. (CPC), an award-winning marketing and communications firm, and the first BIPOC-woman owned public relations firm in the City of Boston; Proverb, a Boston-based, minority owned, award-winning creative branding, design, and advertising agency made up of 25 talented, diverse, and strategic creatives; and the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (GBCVB), the city's marketing and visitor services organization created the campaign.
“This campaign is about celebrating, elevating and amplifying the ‘Best of Boston’ - through its rich, vibrant diversity, which is reflected in the people, neighborhoods, small businesses, the arts, and the culinary ecosystem,” said Colette Phillips, President and CEO of Colette Phillips Communications.
"The GBCVB is excited to be involved in the evolution of this important campaign,” said Martha Sheridan, President and CEO of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We've created great momentum since we launched this equitable recovery initiative a year ago, and we remain focused on how to tell a broader, more authentic, and more inclusive Boston story that uplifts all neighborhoods and speaks to all demographics of prospective visitors.”
“Boston started standing up for representation nearly 250 years ago,” says Proverb Managing Director and Founder Daren Bascome. “We see this campaign as a new installment in that tradition. Some may say the All Inclusive version of Boston looks different. Many will say it’s more familiar. Either way, Boston is a magical place. People have always come here to get better and to do better. Proverb is proud to be a part of telling the inside story of the people who make up our city.”
“We are excited to join the City’s “All Inclusive Boston” effort to help shed a light across all of our station platforms about our diverse communities and the vibrant small businesses that shape our neighborhoods” said Chris Wayland, President/GM of NBC10 Boston, Telemundo Boston, NECN and NBC Sports Boston. “We know very well how unique our City and our neighborhoods are and through this campaign, we cannot wait for others to not just learn about our neighborhoods, restaurants and cultural attractions – but to see why they make our City and our region so great.”
In the first phase of All Inclusive Boston, the program generated more than 57 million overall campaign impressions, registered 1.16 million video impressions, a 400 percent increase in web traffic, and 1.1 million social media impressions, including 18,600 Instagram views. All Inclusive Boston’s website is www.allinclusivebos.com.
The goal of All Inclusive Boston is to highlight vibrant small businesses, local attractions and eclectic neighborhood offerings across the city.
This initiative is overseen by the Mayor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, and contributes to the City’s commitment to creating a more equitable Boston. Colette Phillips Communications received the largest non-construction contract ever awarded by the City of Boston to a MWBE in 2020. Eighty four percent of the subcontractors hired for the campaign are minority or woman-owned companies, creating a model for equitable tourism that has earned the campaign international awards, including Best Local Awareness Program for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the inaugural Anthem Awards and Best Creative Destination at the Creative Tourism Awards. The Campaign has generated over 4,000 new visits to the City of Boston since January of 2021, according to Arrivalist data.
List of Subcontractors who identify as Black, LatinX, LGBTQ+ or Woman-owned:
Follow along on social media with #AllInclusiveBos.
Colette Phillips Communications (CPC) is an award-winning marketing and communications firm, and the first person of color and woman owned public relations firm in the City of Boston. CPC has been at the forefront of diversity, equity and inclusion coaching, training, consulting and multicultural communications since 1986. CPC has represented and served as trusted advisors to more than twenty Fortune 500 companies, public and nonprofit sectors.
Proverb is a minority owned agency located in the South End that focuses on building powerful brands and creating a more thoughtful world around us. They partner with innovative real estate developers, cities, hotels, museums, architects, hospitals and other organizations that seek to transform the built environment. Proverb’s diverse creative team takes a deep, research-driven approach because the brands they create make an impact today, but also help form the culture and economic vibrancy of tomorrow.
The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (GBCVB) is the official sales, marketing and visitor services organization charged with the development of meetings, conventions and tourism-related business to enhance the economy of Boston, Cambridge and the metropolitan area. The GBCVB is a not-for-profit, membership-driven sales and marketing organization of almost 1,200 member companies across New England that depend on the visitor economy for their own success and growth.
NBCUniversal Local is home to the largest bilingual TV newsrooms in the country’s top TV markets. The partnership will provide content on-air, online, and on social and digital, reaching audiences and neighborhoods in Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and more.
