Original Story Published by: Dana Givens for Skift
As the black travel movement gains traction in the U.S., with a marked interest in heritage trips to African countries, why do some African tourism boards neglect black Americans in their marketing materials? This tendency was evident in May at Indaba, one of Africa’s largest travel shows in Durban, South Africa.
One underlying reason is that some tourism boards group their U.S. efforts into one box dominated by a generic white American, instead of examining the country’s diversity and targeting smaller markets accordingly.
“We do not have a special program for the African American yet,” said John Ssempebwa, deputy CEO of Uganda Tourism Board. “We are in [the] first stages of research on that … At the moment we have a general approach to this American [traveler] who [wants] to come to Africa.”
White Americans may outnumber black Americans — 77 percent of the population versus 13 percent, according to the U.S. Census — but there’s real potential in black travel spending. According to data from Mandala Research, black Americans spend $48 billion each year traveling and are among the fastest growing segments in the U.S., with 68 percent surveyed wanting to learn more about their history and culture through travel.
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