African-Americans Lead in Top Travel Statistics Both Internationally and Locally
Recently while on vacation in South Florida I noticed more and more people who seemed to look just like me both ethnic and age wise. It was quite apparent that more millennial aged individuals were either traveling due to leisure or for work purposes and they were living unapologetically about it too.
During my wonderful trip exploring the beautiful beaches in Miami and Fort Lauderdale I had the opportunity for the first time ever to travel using the popular Uber transportation system. My travel companion and I opted to use UberPool, which allows you to carpool with other riders who may be going on the same route as you or to a nearby destination.
While on my various UberPool rides, I met many Black travelers from all over across the USA and had the opportunity to speak with them about their various different travel journeys and experiences.
“I am traveling from California. I travel alone the majority of the time as it gives me the flexibility to explore destinations I’ve never been to,” said 25-year-old Ebony Watts of Long Beach, California.
Like Ebony, I met another traveler Jerome Curry from Boston who also enjoys traveling alone for leisure. Curry believes that traveling alone allows him both flexibility and the freedom to come and go as he pleases.
According to Curry, “Working in corporate America can be very draining and also demanding. Traveling is my way of releasing stress.”
Both Watts and Curry are not alone when it comes to traveling for leisure solo. According to BlackChickOnTour.com, solo Black millennial travelers have increased to 26% compared to a staggering 13% years prior. Reasons attributed to the increase in solo travelers are due to an increase in household income as millennials are now starting to see an increase in salary and yearly merit pay raises.
While research suggests that more Blacks are traveling for leisure, more African-Americans are also traveling internationally leading in top statistics of overseas travelers.
“Over the last three years, the increase {in intent to travel} among African-Americans traveling internationally has been pretty significant, going from an increase of 3% to 19% which suggests that more African-Americans are taking their travels internationally.” said Stephen Cohen, Vice President of the travel research group MMGY Global.
Just as research suggests that more Blacks are traveling internationally, top travel destinations for African-Americans are Ethiopia, Senegal, Egypt, Sudan, South Africa, Namibia, Ghana, Morocco, Dubai, Brazil, Jamaica and now Cuba since Americans can now legally travel to this country.
“If you ever get the chance to travel anywhere in the world, travel to Cuba! The culture is rich, the Cuban cigars are amazing and the scenery is beautiful.” said 29-year-old Justin Campbell who is a native Florida resident
So the next time you are thinking about traveling, keep in mind that you are not alone and as research shows, you will fit right in, as you will see more Blacks exploring similar destinations as you are.