What We Believe In

We believe that by inspiring visitors and locals to experience the region, we cultivate a passion for Greater Cleveland that contributes to equitable growth. And, doing more with greater intention makes Cleveland stronger. Diversity, equity and inclusion is in our organizational DNA — it’s how we operate to advance tourism and Cleveland’s reputation.

In all our work, we are guided by the following principles:

• Contribute to building a strong economy.

• Apply diversity, equity, and inclusion lens to all activities.

• Utilize community engagement and collaboration to seek feedback and represent the visitor’s perspective.

• Invest in enhanced organizational capabilities and capacity while ensuring fiscal responsibility.

As an initial response to the 2020 call to dismantle systemic and structural racism, Destination Cleveland acknowledged our role in unintentionally perpetuating systemic racism through our work. We took inventory of diversity efforts already underway and started building on what we were doing as an organization.

In August 2021, we shared Destination Cleveland’s Racial Equity & Inclusion Roadmap, a set of initial pragmatic actions to ensure our work equitably, inclusively and intentionally grows the travel and tourism industry, improves Cleveland’s narrative and enhances visitors’ experiences