Support Black Travel Alliance

Table of Contents

What We Do

Alliance. Amplification. Accountability.

We encourage, educate, equip and excel black travel professionals in education, media, and corporate positions. Our three pillars of the community are alliance, amplification, and accountability. As travel authors, bloggers, broadcasters, journalists, photographers, podcasters, social media influencers, and vloggers, we unify to amplify. We also aim to provide training and business support to our members, as well as hold destinations and travel brands accountable on the issue of diversity in travel marketing and storytelling.

With professional resources and a vast network, Black Travel Alliance is positioned as the organization that is trusted by the industry to directly connect brands with black travel media, conduct and report research that supports insights and analysis on the black traveler and the state of the industry in relation to black travel professionals. We also provide knowledge and training to the industry to help brands connect with black travelers online and through traditional marketing.

Our Mission

The mission of Black Travel Alliance is to support Black content creators around the world and increase their representation in the travel industry via various avenues such as employment, conferences, and media.

Content Creator Kofi Dotse on computer working by the beach — Photo Courtesy of www.instagram.com/kofigramm

Our Vision

With our three pillars of alliance, amplification, and accountability, we strive to create a world where Black people are supported and accurately represented in the travel industry.

Samantha O'Brochta at The Treasury in Petra, Jordan — Photo courtesy of Samantha O’Brochta of @callmeadventurous.

What We’ve Accomplished

WAVELENGTH

In December 2020, we brought together 118 Black content creators and 28 brand representatives, representing 19 travel brands and Destination Marketing Organizations for a virtual networking session.

We held a second virtual event in May 2021 with 20 travel brands and Destination Marketing Organizations and 129 registered content creators from 10 countries.

Here are some testimonials of the event:

Content Creator Testimonials

Black Travel Alliance’s Wavelength was great. I liked that there were opportunities to schedule times to speak with brands for one-on-one meetings. Scheduling meetings before the event gave me time to research and prepare for my meetings in an effort to secure future brand partnerships. I felt like the mix of available brands to speak with and learn about was good. I enjoyed Wavelength and I look forward to the next one. – Jasmine (The Jazzy Nation)
Wavelength was the first time I was about to connect with brands as a smaller content creator. The event fit my speed perfectly and was the best way for me to connect with others. – Shermee
Appreciated this unique opportunity to meet with travel boards that are genuinely interested in the tourism of POC – @TravelingBlackWidow

Brand Testimonials

Wavelength provided the Tempe Tourism Office with an excellent opportunity to connect with Black content creators, introduce them to our city and explore future partnerships. I would highly recommend it to other destination marketing organizations. – Toni Smith, Director of Communications
WAVELENGTH is a great networking event where our destination was able to connect with Black content creators. It was excellent to be able to share the Tempe Tourism Office story of Tempe, Arizona with creators who may not have considered or heard of Tempe before. We’re working to continue to share our destination with all travelers and are looking to creators to experience Tempe and share the own story of #OurTempe
Wavelength was a great opportunity to connect with brands and creators around the country. It was fun, interactive and definitely benefited my brand!

Black Travel Grant

MMGY Global partnered with the Black Travel Alliance (BTA) and the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP) to award 30 financial grants totaling US$70,000 to Black travel organizations and content creators. These grants were funded by proceeds from the sale of The Black Traveler: Insights, Opportunities & Priorities, a groundbreaking research report created by MMGY Travel Intelligence on behalf of Black traveler advocacy organizations to identify the needs, behaviors and sentiment of the Black travel community. The newly awarded funds are in addition to US$30,000 in report proceeds that have already been distributed to the BTA, NCBMP and the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers (NABHOOD) to support their organizations.

These funds were awarded in July 2021.

Monthly Webinars

Each month, we hold hour-long webinars for our members. Our goal is to teach them skills to help them in their content creation businesses.

Here are some of the events we’ve held:

Black Travel Research

We’ve completed two major projects in 2020/2021:

The #PullUpForTravel campaign announced alongside the organization’s launch on June 16th, 2020, requested travel brands and organizations publicly share 2019 KPIs on Black representation in their companies and activities in five major areas: employment, conferences & tradeshows, paid advertising/marketing campaigns, press, and philanthropy.
The Black Traveler Study in partnership with MMGY Global
- Phase I (published November 2020): The Black Traveler: Insights, Opportunities & Priorities report provides insights into the leisure and meetings segments of the U.S. Black travel economy. It analyzes findings from MMGY Global’s 2019 Shifflet TRAVEL PERFORMANCE/MonitorTM, which surveyed 4,800 Black leisure travelers within the United States, and a survey of 200 members of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals in 2020 (NCBMP).
- Phase II (published January 2021): Profile of the Global Black Traveler shares insights from a new custom survey with 3,635 respondents from six countries: United States (n=1,631), Canada (n=500), France (n=501), Germany (n=503), and United Kingdom (U.K.)/Ireland (n=500). The survey delves into the decision-making process for vacation planning and uncovers the barriers and experiences that Black leisure travelers encounter across international markets.

What We Have Planned

More monthly educational webinars
Scholarships for Black Content Creators
Continuing Black travel research
Hire permanent staff to progress the work that so far has been done by members of the volunteer Board