I see so few African American (Black) tourists, why? (timeshare, airplane, passport)

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by ParadigmShift302

Gotcha, rgraye1971. So for you, and your family its based on interest.

Here's an article written in '08 in regards to 'minority' travel:

"In tandem, the African-American market is seen to grow at the same pace, more or less. Today’s 40.7 million African-American population accounts for 13.4 percent of the total US population. It is the second fastest growing minority group, with a spending power of $798 billion annually, projected to grow to $1.1 Trillion by 2011. “Their travel expenditure is approximately $30 billion annually, accounted for by 75 million person trips yearly, with 44 percent of person trips for leisure, 10 percent spending money on group travel, each spending about $1000 per person on travel excluding transportation,” said Haymore.

Traveling Latin and African-American minority markets to grow in number and spending - eTurboNews.com

And this explains why I consider it rubbish to lay blame to money issues!

Here are some other links worth checking out:

BBC NEWS | Europe | Boom for black tourism in Paris


Racial discrimination a reality for black tourists, researcher finds - Noteworthy news: from staff and news wire reports - University of Florida - Brief Article | Black Issues in Higher Education | Find Articles at BNET

Why is it that Blacks don’t travel? | Blackinformant.com - African-American culture, news commentary, politics

"Simply put, if we can save enough money to go to places like the Caribbean, Las Vegas, etc., we can do the same for places like Europe and beyond. It may cost a little extra, but it is something that I know we are quite capable of doing. Bottom line, it is all in how we manage our money (which is a whole issue in of itself)."

Again, whoever wrote the above pretty much echoes what I said before!

I managed to read some of this. I could understand many African-Americans feeling like they wouldn't be welcomed. Some places actually do have major issues with racism, Russia being on of the most extreme cases. Some blacks feel like traveling isn't for them. If there are images in the media degrading blacks, this can have an adverse effect in how people think of themselves. With that said, the generational curses in the African-American community need to end. Doing things like traveling abroad are a part of that.
I liked the article about Blacks traveling to Paris. Richard Wright lived there and that does make me proud.

[gea12345]

[quote=Oregon Transplant;4812502]Why is being a tourist so uncommon among the African amercians?

To be honest, most Italian Americans, Irish Americans, Polish Americans and Jewish Americans, and African Americans do not travel!

Most people do not travel even to the city. Most americans don't leave their neighborhoods!!

Most people travel to foreign countries to visit family!

Most (english speaking) Americans do not like traveling to a country where they do not speak English!

Most Americans do not travel and do not speak a foreign language.

The small percentage of Americans that do travel, travel to resorts or cruise shipping or countries where their relatives came from like Ireland, England and France! Spain is high up there as well as well visited destination of europe!! As well as, Israel, for religious and cultrual and political reasons!!

Low on most Americans list is Russia...who wants to visit there except russians and political science majors!! And Russians are racist/prejudice against a lot of people not just African people.

Most Americans make less than 40,000 a year!

Most Americans take vacations in America!! they use trains, busses, r.v.'s, cars, planes, etc...

Most European Americans and AFrican Americans And Mexican and Hispanic Americans use their hard earned money to visit family! This may be midwest, south, etc...

Most Americans who have the luxury of foregn travel are couples who do this as a hobby!

Most Americans prefer to visit family, neices, grandneices, etc...!!

Most Americans travel to Walt Disney or Florida or Atlanta, Mexico or the Carribean!!

Most Americans cannot afford to stay in SAFE Resorts, which cost your credit card an arm and leg.

Most Americans prefer not to use their credit card to pay for vacations they can ill aford. This is a mentality of the young American, who has watched too many MTV abroad or travel shows and believe they can have it all, the great job, nice clothes, two cars, nice house, vacation every year, pay off rising college debt, rising elementary and secondary school debt, and save for their retirment at the nice old age of 55 after paying off all of their credit card debt, hospital debt and their parents nursing home debt!! Get real!! The economists are predicting that americans are going to have to start to live within their ACTUAL means!!

Most Americans who travel, who dont' have money, and stay in youth hostels are single, dont' have children and aim to please themselves. We are rare.

Most Americans dont' like budget traveling! To them traveling is only worth it to have the best. They don't want to spend a thousand dollars traveling across the world to watch a bunch of poor people, speaking a foregin language, eating food they are not used to.

Most americans who travel are spending money they have not saved and are living on borrowed money from banks through their credit card.

Most African Americans like myself who travel yearly, do it because we want to explore the world. Most Americans do not want to explore the world, they are very HAPPY with good ole America!! or their Backyard!!

Additionally, if half of my family were to travel on the same plane with you, you would have no idea that they were African American, so looks can be

deceiving!!

Most Americans, travel to europe, and the cheapest foreign fares are to England and France, where American travel most! If people like yourself and others were to contribute to an Airline maintaining flights to low cost flights to Africa, you would see more Africans on the planes!! And more Americans African and European flying to AFrica!!

The biggest non-european destination from America is India!! to my knowledge!! You will see many Non-Europeans flying!! Why?? To see family!!!!! Not to spend money seeing the world!! This is a fascination shared by a minority of Americans!! Traverlers are a rare breed! and most people do it while they are young, if their parents can afford it!!

And to my mind, cruise ships and beach and ski resorts is not traveling, but just moving your beer /wine party to a more exotic location, which you then pay for the rest of the year in monthly credit card payments!! Or if elderly, is a hobby, that most elderly people cannot afford!!'

Most people in the past 30 years have jumped on the bandwagon of traveling for their honeymoon and spending a fortune to have a hollywood wedding and these people are in debt from these choices even after the divorce. This is the one time they travel for their lifetimes! Most people spend their money on their children, children's schools, grandparents nursing homes, etc..not bouncing around the planet!!

Most people who have the money to travel and I mean saved money, not credit card, are living out a recent fad, since now days you see 16 year olds traveling without a chaperone. This was unheard of just 20 years ago!!!

20 years ago, people who travelled were hippies or the very wealthy!! or business people!

20 plus years ago, business Americans did not travel the way we do now! Why because we were more self sufficient and had our factories here in United State, not in Maniilla, Mexico or Hongkon, so less need to travel!

Most Business Americans hate traveling after they have done it for a few years, and quickly try to transition to a stateside only job!!

Traveling every year is a new Past Time of Americans with discretionary income!! Most Young Americans Traveling, their Parents are paying for it!! And if you ask their Parents did they travel to foreign countries when they were young!! They will tell you NO! One Italian American mother told me, that she was very uncomfortable with her daughter doing it, but since all of her friends were doing it, she relented. And the further she had been as a teenager was Atlantic City with her brothers!!!

Personally, I have travelled across America, to French and English Canada, I speak French, I lived in France for three years; visited Switzlerland, Brussels, Costa Rica, India, and Spain so far!!

Ignorance and myopic assumptions are a terrible thing and a good book should be used to cure this problem! Never make assumptions based on a narrow set of values!! A brain is a terrible thing to waste!!

good luck in your travels and happy trails!

THESE ARE NOT FIGURES, BUT ONE GUY FROM OREGON WHO MAKES ASSUMPTIONS WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT AMERICANS AND THEIR TRAVELING HABITS, LET ALONE AFRICAN AMERICAN OR HISPANIC AMERICAN TRAVELING HABITS!! AND HOLY MOSES, AFRICANS DO NOT SUFFER FROM MEDICAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE FEAR OF FLYING THEN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING!!

It is elitist to think that just because most Americans are not flying off to foreign countries that they are less for it! Foreign travel is fun, but it will not grow your vegetables any quicker or put meat on the table! And many companies are cutting back on foreign travel and most americans wish for the days when we were more self-sufficient, and had manufacturing jobs, rather than them sent to foreign countries!! There are many more important things in life to Value, than whether you went to Cancun last year!

[thepinksquid]

I'm white, but at my previous job many of my co-workers/friends at work were black. When they talked about going on vacation, the VAST amount of time it was to visit family/go to a family reunion/wedding/etc.

Most always they drove, even to relatively far locations (I was in Florida) such as Missouri, DC, the Carolinas, etc. To me it seemed that vacation time was primarily used to see family, rather than leisure time to go somewhere for the sake of sightseeing.

I would think that black people travel probably near as much as other races, but since they may travel by car/go to places not deemed "vacation spots" the figures may be underrepresented.

[Ginger_beauty]

Wow, I am a 75% African American 25% Native American 18 year old female and I have been to so many places for my age.

I've been to:
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, North Caroline, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Canada, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Canada.

I wasn't born rich either. My mom works at Wal-Mart and my dad works at this shipping factory, but I still managed to get out there and see the world, all thanks to big school field trips, having relatives that live out of state, vacations, friends, college tours, and most of all, my sense of adventure and passion to get out there and see the world. Anyone could do it but some people just don't want to do it.

Forget the stereotypes. I know white spanish, and asian people who haven't been to half the places I've traveled.

The racism thing is party true, for example having gone to the Missouri countryside, the Texas panhandle, and to a small town in New Hampshire. I can DEFINITELY say the racism there is insanely high, and I will not be going to those places again. I know if it was the 1940s those people would've gotten out their shot gun in a minute ha ha. I simply live and learn.

But overall it is a good experience and if people don't want to travel, let them alone.

As for me, I plan on going to Hawaii, Northern California, Oregon, Italy, back to Canada, and perhaps to Egypt, in my lifetime. ^_^

I guess traveling runs in my blood and is something I love doing... though the plane rides can get very tiring... especially when the airlines are experiencing delays. -_-

<3

[thepinksquid]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

It would be very strange if most southerners were afraid of heights because the busiest airport in the world is in Atlanta.

Not to split hairs but the Atlanta airport is so busy due to the amount of transfers/airline hubs that it has... not necessarily because of local travel originating from there.

On another note, that really makes me sad that a reason black people may not travel is because of fear of racism. I forgot some parts of the US are still backwards in that sense sometimes... :/

[gea12345]

THESE ARE NOT FIGURES, BUT ONE GUY FROM OREGON WHO MAKES ASSUMPTIONS WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT AMERICANS AND THEIR TRAVELING HABITS, LET ALONE AFRICAN AMERICAN OR HISPANIC AMERICAN TRAVELING HABITS!! AND HOLY MOSES, AFRICANS DO NOT SUFFER FROM MEDICAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE FEAR OF FLYING THEN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING!!

It is elitist to think that just because most Americans are not flying off to foreign countries that they are less for it! Foreign travel is fun, but it will not grow your vegetables any quicker or put meat on the table! And many companies are cutting back on foreign travel and most americans wish for the days when we were more self-sufficient, and had manufacturing jobs, rather than them sent to foreign countries!! There are many more important things in life to Value, than whether you went to Cancun or paris or ethiopia last year!

[Bevil]

I have never noticed any of this. When I have traveled and was on a plane or at tourist destinations, I feel like I saw a little bit of every population.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by thepinksquid

Not to split hairs but the Atlanta airport is so busy due to the amount of transfers/airline hubs that it has... not necessarily because of local travel originating from there.

On another note, that really makes me sad that a reason black people may not travel is because of fear of racism. I forgot some parts of the US are still backwards in that sense sometimes... :/

Changing flights in Atlanta is one thing to take in mind. With that said, I can't remember ever meeting a southerner who was afraid of heights.

As far as African-Americans and the subject of traveling, I can speak for myself when I say this: I have always wanted to travel to other places and see other places. It has sort of been ingrained in me. I moved around alot as a child and I miss seeing different places. I remember being 9 or 10 years old and I wanted to travel to the Far East. At age 13 I wanted to travel to Russia. When I got older, I started hearing about how people of African descent were being beaten up and even murdered by Neo-Nazi skinheads in major Russian cities and the police would almost never do anything about it. That made me scared of traveling to Russia. I still have a spirit of traveling in me. I still want to see places all over the world. I have read about those places and wanted to go to those places myself. I read an article about some blacks feeling like traveling wasn't a "black thing" or "not being for black people". As a teenager, I had a feeling it was like that, but I kind of ignored it. I don't own a passport because I don't have the money to travel anywhere, but that is one thing I aspire to have and to do.
I could understand African-Americans being weary of racism as far as traveling is concerned. Racism cuts across every continent.

[Weekend Traveler]

Next time I go to a National Park, Hockey Game, NASCAR. Museum or the Opera I will do a check and see if at least one in ten are black!

[fatmancomics]

Haven't read the entire thread yet but my wife is black and her family did most of their travelling outside of the country. The only time they traveled within the U.S. was to visit relatives or friends and when they did that they stayed with them instead of in hotels.
The fact of the matter is that the majority of the country is not welcoming to black people and, no matter how many posts there are on these forums about how "things have changed" they haven't changed that much.
My friend from work who is also black went to Disney World last year and he told me that he was getting stares from the white people everywhere they went and that he even heard some under-the-breath racist comments. Keep in mind that most of these people were also tourists from other states so why would you voluntarily submit yourself to that kind of behavior when you can take a cruise to the Bahamas or fly to Europe and be treated better.
My brother-in-law took his family to Honduras and loved it. He said he was treated even better there than he was treated in a four star hotel in the Bahamas.