Celebrity Cruises Teams Up With Famed Photographer Annie Leibovitz to Showcase Diverse Travelers

Celebrity Cruises is making waves in travel marketing by launching a platform filled with diverse media materials — with the help of famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The cruise line launched its "All-Inclusive Photo Project" (AIPP) this week in an effort to help travel companies address the lack of diversity in marketing materials. The new open-source online library includes images of a diverse collection of models enjoying a vacation at sea.

"During the pandemic, we were reflecting on Celebrity Cruises' own marketing efforts, brand positioning, and how we wanted to come out of the pandemic as a much stronger brand," Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, CEO of Celebrity Cruises, shared with Travel + Leisure. "We identified a need, and with it, an opportunity to do more in this regard, and, as we looked around at the travel landscape, we were inspired to encourage and support others in our industry to join this important journey with us."

The models are a "diverse group of individuals, representing different ethnicities, sexual orientations, abilities, and sizes," Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, CEO of Celebrity Cruises, told T+L. Off-camera, they are musicians, artists, activists, refugees, and change-makers, representing groups typically not seen in marketing campaigns.

The collection includes work from Leibovitz and other major photographers like Naima Greene, Giles Duley, and Jarred Seng.

The artists are all from diverse backgrounds and were chosen "both to celebrate and champion the work from these communities, and to provide a lens through which the marketing campaign would come to life," Lutoff-Perlo added.

Any travel company can log onto the AIPP and choose an image of Abby Chava Stein, the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community, relaxing on a poolside lounger or Jillian Mercado, a fashion model with muscular dystrophy, enjoying a culinary experience at sea.

The photo library is accessible online and Lutoff-Perlo said that Celebrity will continue to add new images over time.

Cailey Rizzo is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure, currently based in Brooklyn. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at caileyrizzo.com.