Black Travel Summit Rescheduled to Curate Culture, Community and Connection
Empowering, Inspiring, and Uniting the Black Travel Community at The 2024 Black Travel Summit this November
Black Travel Summit’s third global summit has been rescheduled to November 21-24 in Ft. Lauderdale, F.L. This year, a fourth day has been added to provide even more events designed to empower, educate and connect Black travel professionals and enthusiasts.
To-date, Black Travel Summit (BTS) has conducted two webinars, 40+ virtual events, three live mini summits, two global summits, and brought together over 10,000 of the Black travel industry’s most renowned experts, influencers and partners to exchange and generate ideas about collaborating and expanding Black involvement in tourism.
“The Black Travel Summit was beneficial to me because as a creator finding my space, I felt very welcomed and a part of something bigger than me.” Jameela Malcolm
The Vision of Black Travel Summit
The founder of this organization, Anita Moreau, naturally became a leader in the Black travel space over time. An archeologist by trade who has been traveling since age seven, Moreau has a knack for curation and passion for supporting fellow Black travelers. “When I started Black Travel Summit, I had already learned so many brands through my initial travel ventures and BTS was my way of bringing them together,” she said. “I just started it because I felt compelled to, something made me feel like I had to do this.”
Black Travel Summit (BTS) was incorporated in the winter of 2019. Then COVID happened, but like any determined Black woman, Moreau pivoted and the summit went digital until 2021. The webinars provided a travel community when everyone was stuck inside and generated excitement for the first in-person event in 2021.
Lots to Learn
This year’s speaker series is loaded with heavy hitters with tons gems to share. Jubril Agoro of Passport Heavy will speak on the importance of Black travelers telling our authentic stories and . Ime Umoh will host a workshop on drones and travel photography. (Coincidentally, we sat next to each other this past week at Nomadness Fest. He’s really knowledgeable and a cool dude.) On Saturday there will also be classes on investing in travel real estate, building your tribe and protecting you brand and intellectual property. On Sunday there will be a business expo to meet brands that are allies for Black travel and Black-owned businesses in the travel space. And later in the day there is a pitch competition where I, Lil Ol’ Leslie, will be competing with other travel start-up companies for a $5000 grant.
Collaborations for the Culture
During the summit, attendees will have an opportunity to connect with like-minded travel professionals during various events including speaker sessions, the Black Travel Awards Gala, Kemetic Yoga and the organization's inaugural Black Travel Film Festival. The Black Travel Alliance is also hosting Wavelength for Creators in-person in collaboration with BTS on November 22. I attended the virtual Wavelength sessions last year and got great insight from reps at Hilton, other creators and various tourism boards and landed my FIRST paid trip for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival in Florida. So, this event is definitely worth it. During Wavelength, attendees can participate in group networking sessions and meet with tourism boards for New Orleans, Barbados and Miami as well as representatives from Hyatt, Ama Waterways and Colorado’s Vail Resorts.
One example of the business potential at BTS is the connections Duke & Dame made during the 2021 summit. This Black-owned spirit company now has their award-winning salted caramel whisky available across several Hyatt, Hilton, MGM and Sandals Resorts properties and onboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.The brand was also able to grow their previous relationship with Carnival Cruise Lines to be offered on their worldwide fleet.
Content creator Jameela Malcolm, Jemazing Travels on Instagram, is looking forward to attending BTS again. “The Black Travel Summit was beneficial to me because as a creator finding my space, I felt very welcomed and a part of something bigger than me,” she said. “Just meeting so many new people, gathering with familiar faces, having conversations about things that appeal to me as a Black travel content creator was so important, encouraging and inspiring.”
The weekend also includes a speaker series; several tracks for creators, leaders, and entrepreneurs, the BlackAF tour which shines a spotlight on Black-owned businesses in town; a pitch competition and the Black Travel Awards Gala. To view the full list of events, take a look at the 2024 Black Travel Summit Agenda and be sure to grab your tickets today.
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