What to Know About the First National Black Travel Day

Born and raised in London, Anita Francois says that she’s been a traveler since the age of 7. As fond as her memories on the road are, she also remembers being in the minority during her travels — and seeing other Black people wasn’t common, she says.

As a graduate student at University College London, Francois studied archaeology with a focus on the African diaspora. As she learned more and more about little-known communities of Afro-Indigenous people around the world, her interest in representation heightened. Then, around 2015, she happened upon the Black Travel Movement.

To say she was heartened by seeing world travelers who looked like her — and who were calling their peers to action — would be an understatement. Inspired, she wondered what working in the travel industry might look like, and in 2018, she started her first travel brand, which ultimately became Black Travel Summit (BTS). Founded in 2019, the summit aims to create a space where travel advisors, entrepreneurs, tour operators, organizers and more within the Black travel community can be recognized and celebrated. A face-to-face event was necessary to build the connections and support systems Francois hoped to foster.

We are a community that operates off of vibes and energy and also word of mouth, because when we don't see representation, we go ask our friends.

BTS takes place this month in Miami, and another point of pride for CEO Francois is the first-annual National Black Travel Day, set for Nov. 11. We spoke with Francois about why the date matters, and more.

You've said that having the Black Travel Summit be an in-person event was crucial. Can you explain why?

Part of our mission is to create a space in which individuals within the Black travel community could be recognized — in person, physically. I used to travel to conferences, and I would see about 1% of people looked like me, so this was also the motivation.

With the first travel brand [I started], I compiled almost a directory, where people from all backgrounds could support — through bookings — operators and travel advisors in the Black community. It’s common that people within our community have some difficulties getting [a business] off the ground, whether that be with raising capital, or something else. So, I wondered, “What is a more effective way to communicate to the outside world that we exist, and we are here?” And that's how the Black Travel Summit was born.

We are a community that operates off of vibes and energy, but also by word of mouth, because when we don't see representation, we go ask our friends. For example, when I go to a travel website — let’s say for New Zealand — and I only see white faces, or non-Black and non-brown faces, I’m going to have to speak to a friend of mine who’s been to New Zealand, or find a travel advisor who truly understands my concerns for safety when traveling.

And how can I do that? How can I really do that, when I feel the need to communicate with people in person a little bit more?

And that makes the in-person Black Travel Summit an important opportunity. Tell us about who’s usually in attendance.

We cater to all individuals in the tourism industry. We have people who have started therapy brands for flight attendants within our community, people who have started clothing lines for travelers within our community and we do get an overwhelming majority of travel advisors to the event. Tour operators, planners and suppliers also come to connect.

We want to create opportunities, and use the summit as a catalyst and ecosystem for cultivating those relationships in and outside of the Black travel community.

Our mission is to support and empower the Black travel community, but also to create opportunities with and for the Black travel community. We know the world is wide, we know we are not the only people in this world, and we know it's important to work with one another to excel. So we’re not saying this event is only for Black travel professionals and Black travelers; we want to create opportunities, and use the summit as a catalyst and ecosystem for cultivating those relationships in and outside of the Black travel community.

What sort of content can attendees expect?

We have an exciting array of speakers this year. Martinique Lewis from Black Travel Alliance will be joining us, as well as influencers such as Karl Shakur, Sharinda Williams-Simmons and Tee George.

They are gathering to discuss topics that are important to them, but in a way that attendees can participate in, too. We will cover what we need to do within our community, and also outside of the community, in order to work together. We have discussions about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) opportunities in the collective media; trends in the Black travel space; dispelling myths about adventure travelers within our community; building wealth; the power of partnerships; and technology.

For our workshops, practitioners and travelers attend, but so do corporate representatives. We do have brands, convention and visitors bureaus, hotels, airlines and cruise lines that come.

Black travelers spend billions of dollars in this industry, and if these numbers are happening without a focus on advertising to Black travelers, imagine those numbers when we do focus on Black travelers.

So we sit with them, face to face, and talk about what sustainable tourism looks like for the Black travel community. How do you include us — in your tours, your marketing efforts and opportunities to work with you? We also have topics catered towards the aspiring entrepreneur, maybe the person who wants to become an influencer, which has become an interesting and beneficial role in this day and age, because it's how a lot of our marketing gets done. So connecting these people with brands is part of our mission as well.

The primary thing is that we, as members of the tourism industry, need to think about changing our gaze, about what we do and what we can do to engage with the demographic of Black travelers. Black travelers spend billions of dollars in this industry, and if these numbers are happening without a focus on advertising to Black travelers, imagine those numbers when we do focus on Black travelers. We highlight this — that we are here, and we are global.

You’ve helped establish National Black Travel Day, set to commence on Nov. 11 this year. Tell us about the day, and the meaning behind it.

We chose the date because it’s the birthday of Barrington Irving, who was the first Black person to circumnavigate the globe by plane solo [in 2007]. For our first National Black Travel Day, we are going to be connecting with press and players in the community in Miami-Dade County at Red Rooster. We thought it was important to create an intimate space where we can celebrate this day — why it’s needed, and what our vision for it is.

My vision of the day is for it to be spent celebrating Black travelers and Black travel professionals, celebrating diversity and thinking about what more we can do to diversify the space. To me, this looks like brands showing their support and commitment to DEI, as well as highlighting the achievements of Black travel professionals, each and every year.

I think the industry needs this — there have been some amazing brands showing their unwavering commitment to the Black travel community over the years, but there have been some that have given us less and less attention, and others that haven’t said anything at all. So this day should recognize the Black travel community’s spending power, and our contributions to the tourism sector.

So often our contributions are rarely shown — in travel, in history. I also hope the day will be an opportunity for more and more Black travel professionals to be highlighted and approached for partnerships. This is a yearly reminder of a commitment that should be embedded in every company’s’ ethos.

Who is already showing that commitment to the Black travel community?

I always mention Hyatt, and it’s not because they’re one of our sponsors; it’s because they are one of the most human brands that we have ever worked with and have shown so much support. There’s a consistent commitment, and a history there — the “Hotel of Hope” in Atlanta was the first hotel to open up its doors during the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1967.

Our ultimate goal is to diversify travel, yes, but also to diversify how people see us as individuals, and then diversify who is in the room and at the table.

Then, there's initiatives they implement, such as Change Starts Here being just one; it’s an amazing initiative and campaign where they show who they support, who they work with and also what they're doing within the youth community.

We need to see that we’re welcome, wherever we travel and whoever we work with to book our trips. But there’s still a need to address the racial problem that Black people face when we travel, that a lot of people do not, such as being harassed or name-called. And I like to use this example. Imagine seeing a Black person — man, woman, adult, child, a non-binary individual — smiling on a billboard while on a beach.

Although it sounds simple, it’s an image that helps to shift the perception of Black people in a world that’s used to seeing us in the news or in movies often affiliated with crime. Our ultimate goal is to diversify travel, yes, but also to diversify how people see us as individuals, and then diversify who is in the room and at the table.

Current data shows that 7.5% of travel advisors are Black. What does that number mean to you today?

That statistic is Black advisors in the U.S., and it’s fluctuated over time, going up and down in the last decade. This number, to me, shows how little Black travelers are targeted. When I think of the advisors in our community specifically, they usually become an advisor to travel more while making a living, but also to help other people in our community travel more, and to know they have those opportunities. The more access we have to the idea of travel, and that it is accessible to people who look like us, the higher that figure will grow.