Black travel is not a monolith

Abstract

Black travel experiences are not monolithic. In fact, Black travelers increasingly express their dissatisfaction with tokenism and the performative nature of checking the diversity box. To keep an authentic conversation about Black lives in the travel space – the goal of this manuscript is to take a deeper look into the nexus and intersectionalities of Black travelers and how their experiences in the tourism landscape both collide and diverge from each other. As a research team, we interviewed several Black travel influencers, bloggers, and community leaders who all shared one strong message – Black travel is not a monolith. Informed by intersectionality theory and Black geographies, we identified four major themes around the challenges of marginalized identities of Black travelers inclusive of being: Black and a woman; Black and queer; Black across nationalities; and Black with a disability. By bridging the gap between academia and industry, our hope is to curate a future road map for Black travel that values and empowers intersecting identities of Black travelers.

Keywords:

• Black travel
• intersectionality
• Black geographies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 BIPOC: The acronym BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color.

2 REDACTED: Footnote to be added after peer review.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stefanie Benjamin

Dr. Stefanie Benjamin is the Co-Director of Tourism RESET and an Associate Professor in the Department of Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management at the University of Tennessee. Her research agenda lies within the nexus of social equity and critical tourism scholarship exploring marginalized populations’ lived experiences and counter-narratives. Her research collaboration with RESET scholars has resulted in various publications and continues to bridge academia and the travel industry – helping to foster an equitable travel landscape.

Alana Dillette

Dr. Alana Dillette is the Co-Director of Tourism RESET and an Associate Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management at San Diego State University. Dr. Dillette conducts research that explores the intersection between tourism, race, gender & ethnicity. Her work has been published in numerous top-tier peer-reviewed journals as well as in travel industry publications such as AFAR Media. More specifically, she is working on research to gain a better understanding of the Black travel experience in addition to the challenges faced by Black hospitality and tourism professionals.

Evita Robinson

Evita Robinson created the NOMADNESS Travel Tribe, an online social community primarily for travelers of color. NOMADNESS was the first of its kind targeting black and brown millennials, in the newly coined ‘black travel movement’. She now serves as a Contributing Editor of CondeNast Traveler Magazine, keynote speaker, media personality, TED Resident, consultant for Destination Marketing Organizations, and continues her love of seeing the world while writing her first book and developing her own travel television series.