Imagine trying to book a reservation at a Bed & Breakfast and being rejected, not because of credit issues, but because you are black. Sadly, this is happening often with online vacation booking sites. So two black entrepreneurs started their own vacation booking web sites that offer vacation booking services -- without discrimination.
The two new web sites are Innclusive.com and Noirbnb.com. The sites are "creating a welcoming and safe platform for people from all walks of life" to enjoy a vacation home. Together, the web sites have a goal to better serve the black community and represent the future of travel for African Americans.
Discrimination in vacation booking
A Harvard Business School study recently found that African-American guests had a lower chance than white guests of being approved for a vacation booking by Airbnb. Airbnb is an online marketplace that enables people to list, find, then rent vacation homes for a processing fee. They have been busted on Twitter and media outlets such as Buzzfeed, Slate, Yahoo, and others for their racism and discrimination.
The incidents include bookings rejected after sending in a photo from a black guest trying to book a vacation rental, racial slurs against black guests, and the one that really drew attention, cops being called on a black family renting a vacation house because they thought the house was being robbed.
Solving the problem
One practice that Innclusive.com is doing differently is preventing hosts from seeing pictures of their guests until after the booking has been approved. The company's rules prevent the host from booking with anyone else if they cancel a booking after seeing the guest's photo. Both companies were created out of a need to stop racism in the vacation rental industry.
For more details about both sites, visit www.innclusive.com and www.noirbnb.com
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