African American Tourism Patterns And Marketing Ethnically Focused Tourism In South Carolina

Jeffrey Sizemore

School Name

Governor's School for Science and Math

Grade Level

12th Grade

Presentation Topic

Consumer Science

Presentation Type

Mentored

Mentor

Mentor: Dr. Hudson; SC SmartState Center for Economic Excellence, University of South Carolina

Abstract

The African American population in the United States has grown significantly over the past decade. This has led to a larger concern over African Americans in the marketplace. In the past, and still today, most marketing is focused on the majority population and larger-niche population groups. This creates a void of untouched resources to be had. Even with the rising median income and rising total buying power, there is still a gap between the total number of African Americans and the dollars put towards targeting them specifically. The number one worldwide revenue generating industry is tourism, which creates an avenue on which to focus African American marketing. Two of the largest tourism interests among African Americans are coastal, warm-weather areas and heritage tourism. South Carolina fits this mold. Effective marketing strategies differ from general population marketing in that the most-watched television channels and most-visited websites differ from other population groups. African Americans also respond significantly better to advertisements made with particular characteristics. This research found that there is a large untapped market of African Americans, and found also that South Carolina tour-ism is a good way to fill this void. Future research would need to be conducted to gauge the feasibility of this project, and surveys would need to be conducted to determine the perspective of those affected. Should practicality and support turn out to be positive, a trial run could then be done to determine the effectiveness of this marketing strategy and its possibility of future use.

Location

Owens 102

Start Date

4-16-2016 11:30 AM

COinS
 
Apr 16th, 11:30 AM

African American Tourism Patterns And Marketing Ethnically Focused Tourism In South Carolina

Owens 102

The African American population in the United States has grown significantly over the past decade. This has led to a larger concern over African Americans in the marketplace. In the past, and still today, most marketing is focused on the majority population and larger-niche population groups. This creates a void of untouched resources to be had. Even with the rising median income and rising total buying power, there is still a gap between the total number of African Americans and the dollars put towards targeting them specifically. The number one worldwide revenue generating industry is tourism, which creates an avenue on which to focus African American marketing. Two of the largest tourism interests among African Americans are coastal, warm-weather areas and heritage tourism. South Carolina fits this mold. Effective marketing strategies differ from general population marketing in that the most-watched television channels and most-visited websites differ from other population groups. African Americans also respond significantly better to advertisements made with particular characteristics. This research found that there is a large untapped market of African Americans, and found also that South Carolina tour-ism is a good way to fill this void. Future research would need to be conducted to gauge the feasibility of this project, and surveys would need to be conducted to determine the perspective of those affected. Should practicality and support turn out to be positive, a trial run could then be done to determine the effectiveness of this marketing strategy and its possibility of future use.