LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Tourism is working to increase the number of Black leisure travelers to the city. Prior to the pandemic, Chief Operating Officer of Louisville Tourism Cleo Battle said 11% of the city’s annual visitors were Black. As incoming CEO, he wants to increase that.

Wednesday morning, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer welcomed the city’s first tourism industry conference since the pandemic hit. The majority of attendees were part of the African American Travel Conference (AATC), which had delegates who plan group and individual travel trips for their clients.

“Deb’s Travel Club is a group of like-minded travelers, mostly African American females, who normally travel solo, but are looking for a group option to travel with so they don’t have to travel alone,” said attendee Debora Ervin, who owns Deb’s Travel Club and said she has up to 200 clients per year.

Louisville Tourism is showing Ervin and the other delegates attending the conference the city in hopes they’ll recommend their customers travel to bourbon city.

Charles Presley, founder of Group Travel Family that operates AATC, said there are 125 delegates in attendance March 30 - April 1, 2021 for the conference.

“Everybody you see here goes back to their home in 25 states, and they have groups of people that follow them on tours. So these people can bring tens of thousands of tours back to Louisville,” Presley told Spectrum News 1.

Battle said hosting the AATC is part of a larger strategy that’s been a few years in the making.

“There was a report in the fall that determined the U.S. African American leisure visitation is about $109.4 billion, in terms of economic impact, and so we want to grow our piece of that pie,” Battle explained. 

Before the pandemic, Battle said of the 19 million annual visitors Louisville had, 11% were Black. 

“I think we’d like to see in the next two or three years that number get closer to 15%,” Battle said. 

Battle said Louisville Tourism hasn’t specifically targeted that market before.

So as a strategy over the past two years, Louisville Tourism has been building the Unfiltered Truth Collection that highlights aspects of Louisville’s Black history and heritage. The timing of its launch this week was meant to coincide with AATC.

“I just think it’s a great opportunity, whether you are a visitor or a local, to just understand more about what created the fabric of the community we are today,” Battle said.

There are eight different experiences around Louisville, such as the Black Heritage in Racing exhibit that launched Monday at the Kentucky Derby Museum. 

Some attractions also bring history to life, such as having Louisvillian Tom Bullock serve you a cocktail at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience in downtown. Bullock was the first Black American to write and publish a cocktail book.

Battle said visitors will still go to the normal attractions that draw people to Louisville, such as touring Churchill Downs or going on a bourbon tour, but this enhances the experience.

“So then when you tell your neighbor there’s a little bit more depth to telling the story of ‘Man, I had a fantastic time in Louisville. Let me tell you about some of these stories,’ and that’s what creates repeat visitation. That’s what creates that neighbor saying, ‘I’m going to plan a trip to Louisville myself,’ ” Battle explained.

Ervin said she has clients that may have never thought of Louisville as a destination, but the Unfiltered Truth Collection now could change that.

“By me coming here and finding out about all of the wonderful things that they can do along the lines of African American history, then it gives me the opportunity to have that in my back pocket and offer that to my clients as a new destination for them,” Ervin said.

The entire Unfiltered Truth Collection launches Saturday, April 1, 2021 for the public. These are the participating locations that have the attractions, exhibits, and experiences:

• Evan Williams Bourbon Experience
• Kentucky Center for African American Heritage 
• Frazier History Museum
• Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory
• Historic Locust Grove
• Kentucky Derby Museum (two offerings here)
• Roots 101 African American Museum

Some locations offer their experience every day while others only offer it on certain days. Check out the Unfiltered Truth Collection website for more info.