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When I was growing up, my parents' idea of a vacation was traveling by car to visit family. I think it is largely a cultural thing. I save money in a fund to pay for vacations. I drive rather than fly, but flying with two small kids is a pain. I love to drive and my boys and I get a kick out of making lots of fun stops, exploring, and having impromptu picnics.
BTW, I'm black, in my thirties, middle-class...
I'm black, in my late twenties, lower middle class.
Growing up, my parents only had a few weeks of vacation and they were used to drive from New Mexico to Florida so we can visit our family. When I got older I'd stay the whole the whole summer. We've visited Disney and most of the Florida theme parks. When my brother moved to AZ we visited the Grand Canyon. When my other brother moved to PA we visited the DC & NY; did all the tourist things. As an adult I've gone on cruises with my friends to various islands.
So i'd say me and my family travel; we just don't do the go golfing, lounge on the beach in Europe type of travel.
Black folk travel! lol A whole bunch actually. When we do travel i think we tend to go to more metropolitan areas as opposed to back packing through Europe. There are also tons of events that go on world wide that draw a lot of us (music festivals,conventions,conclaves etc) Blacks traveling from city to city has never been a problem. We tend to drive more and stay with family and friends than fly in and stay at hotels. I personally know about 46 friends who would be completely and totally P.O'ED if i came to their city for whatever reason and stayed at a hotel without calling them first lol. I think it's a cultural thing. Either that or i have some really overbearing friends and family.
I also think that you'll begin to see an uptick in young AA's traveling the world as millennials get older. The view of the world and the things that we are "expected" to do in adulthood have changed a teeny bit as compared to previous generations. For ex) im 30 and have been to Paris,Toronto,Dominican Republic,Ibiza and Jamaica and many of my friends have been more places than i have. Now that im in my 30's my itinerary on world travel locations will definitely change but im still well traveled compared to some of my cousins and even my Mother.
Now i BY ANY MEANS do not come from privilege, i grew up in the hood, and not too many folks in my family have finished college, but for my friends and I who themselves come form similar backgrounds, traveling the world just seemed like something your supposed to do or at least have some sort of experience with, even if its somewhere as close as Canada or Mexico. To me that's a generational thing. Some of my friends aren't even in college and are very blue collar. Just rack up some vacation time and lets plan for next year type of cats. Not saying that AA'S it have never had this type of attitude towards traveling but it's definitely a lot more common than it was say 20 years ago, which is a good thing. And i DEFINITELY see and hear about more AA families traveling to foreign places than i remember growing up. Again im speaking from my own socioeconomic background.
Also sociologically speaking, i think In current times there is now a face to black travel compared to about a decade and a half ago. When thinking about traveling a few years back it conjured up images of a suburban white family or someone of privilege. Or someone trying to be "bougie". Now with the advent of sites like Tumblr and FB you see that it's not that serious to travel to exotic or foreign locations and that those places are very accessible to you as a AA consumer. NOT SCREAMING INDUSTRY WIDE RACISM or anything like that AT ALL. Just saying... yall know we American's are coaxed and enticed to buy into images of all sorts of things, travel included. When there are no images geared to you or speak to you as a person,for some people the need doesn't even exist.... . Therefore, traveling to Spain becomes something that "white folks do". And that's not so say that AA's are LONGING to travel to Spain or anything. Most are looking at the situation like "why would anyone want to go to Spain?" because the image hasn't been sold to them.
Sorry so long but subjects like this and the different nuances between them fascinate me to no end!
wonderful reply (even if it was two years ago). LOL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by stationplay
Black folk travel! lol A whole bunch actually. When we do travel i think we tend to go to more metropolitan areas as opposed to back packing through Europe. There are also tons of events that go on world wide that draw a lot of us (music festivals,conventions,conclaves etc) Blacks traveling from city to city has never been a problem. We tend to drive more and stay with family and friends than fly in and stay at hotels. I personally know about 46 friends who would be completely and totally P.O'ED if i came to their city for whatever reason and stayed at a hotel without calling them first lol. I think it's a cultural thing. Either that or i have some really overbearing friends and family.
I also think that you'll begin to see an uptick in young AA's traveling the world as millennials get older. The view of the world and the things that we are "expected" to do in adulthood have changed a teeny bit as compared to previous generations. For ex) im 30 and have been to Paris,Toronto,Dominican Republic,Ibiza and Jamaica and many of my friends have been more places than i have. Now that im in my 30's my itinerary on world travel locations will definitely change but im still well traveled compared to some of my cousins and even my Mother.
Now i BY ANY MEANS do not come from privilege, i grew up in the hood, and not too many folks in my family have finished college, but for my friends and I who themselves come form similar backgrounds, traveling the world just seemed like something your supposed to do or at least have some sort of experience with, even if its somewhere as close as Canada or Mexico. To me that's a generational thing. Some of my friends aren't even in college and are very blue collar. Just rack up some vacation time and lets plan for next year type of cats. Not saying that AA'S it have never had this type of attitude towards traveling but it's definitely a lot more common than it was say 20 years ago, which is a good thing. And i DEFINITELY see and hear about more AA families traveling to foreign places than i remember growing up. Again im speaking from my own socioeconomic background.
Also sociologically speaking, i think In current times there is now a face to black travel compared to about a decade and a half ago. When thinking about traveling a few years back it conjured up images of a suburban white family or someone of privilege. Or someone trying to be "bougie". Now with the advent of sites like Tumblr and FB you see that it's not that serious to travel to exotic or foreign locations and that those places are very accessible to you as a AA consumer. NOT SCREAMING INDUSTRY WIDE RACISM or anything like that AT ALL. Just saying... yall know we American's are coaxed and enticed to buy into images of all sorts of things, travel included. When there are no images geared to you or speak to you as a person,for some people the need doesn't even exist.... . Therefore, traveling to Spain becomes something that "white folks do". And that's not so say that AA's are LONGING to travel to Spain or anything. Most are looking at the situation like "why would anyone want to go to Spain?" because the image hasn't been sold to them.
Sorry so long but subjects like this and the different nuances between them fascinate me to no end!
I've noticed the same thing. Last year I went to Colorado Springs and did'nt see one black person the whole time I was there. Also visited the Treasure Coast of Florida same deal. But when I thought about and looked at US Census figures it made sense. Blacks are only 12% of the US population and the vast majority either live in the Deep South- Alabama, Mississippi, etc. or live in a major city like NYC or DC. I live in Missouri and most black people here are either in Kansas City or St. Louis. Talking to black people I know I've noticed when they travel they tend to frequent places with a sizeable black population. I guess its a comfort and safety issue.
No it doesn't. If you look at the percentage of Asians and the Asians you see traveling, does it make sense to you?
I think the black people probably simply don't have a travel to see places culture. They spend their money elsewhere.
Why is being a tourist so uncommon among the African American Community? I understand that the Middle to Upper Class African American population of America is booming but they seem to be spending their money on something other than travel.
I travel in my job and see Airports and Hotels all over the country. I rarely see Black people on Airplanes or at Hotels. (yes there are some but maybe 1%)
When I travel to scenic areas, parks and museums I rarely see Black people. When I go to historic sites I do not see any black people.
Why is this true?
Interesting to see this old thread resurrected. There is a financial element that can't be ignored. It would be interesting to see if there was any difference after adjusting for socioeconomic differences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TCMlover
I've noticed the same thing. Last year I went to Colorado Springs and did'nt see one black person the whole time I was there. Also visited the Treasure Coast of Florida same deal. But when I thought about and looked at US Census figures it made sense. Blacks are only 12% of the US population and the vast majority either live in the Deep South- Alabama, Mississippi, etc. or live in a major city like NYC or DC. I live in Missouri and most black people here are either in Kansas City or St. Louis. Talking to black people I know I've noticed when they travel they tend to frequent places with a sizeable black population. I guess its a comfort and safety issue.
There is a comfort issue in parts of the United States, certainly. Overseas that disappears, but then even American tourists are often outnumbered by tourists from Europe and Asia--even assuming black people were 12% of US int'l tourists, you would not see a lot of them overseas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Journey2LS
I dont agree with any of these comments. I am black and have travelled all over the world and so have my family and friends. I have been to non black places like Austria and Luxemburg and never felt uncomfortable. I have never felt unwelcomed at a national park even in places far away from my "community" like when I went to Denali on my birthday or Crater Lake last year. I also love cruises and hanging out by the beach....I was raised in Florida, it is in my blood. And I also love to stay at hotels. I will be staying at The W in Seattle this weekend with my friend. Race is not a factor when it comes to where I will vacation.
I've been to a lot of distant places, as well. Prague was a little uncomfortable, but didn't hamper the visit. Being accosted by rural Turks visiting Istanbul was kind of funny--"çikolata!" I've been mistaken for a resident in Paris. That doesn't necessarily happen when I travel in the U.S.
To be honest, I see very few American tourists in my travels overseas, period. I'm sure they are there, but I don't generally come across many. I do, however, come across quite a few Europeans and even a fair amount of Africans (a lot of Nigerians and South Africans for some reason). Still, I've seen black American tourists in Australia and Turkey (I always get "the nod" from other black folks, which usually leads to a discussion about nationality, etc.
Within the US, I definitely see black American tourists more often. But, then again, I see more of them when I stay at more humble hotel/motels vs. when I'm at the Hyatt or Marriott. This likely has something to do with socioeconomic status.
Considering the average Black Person is not flying all over the world with a Masters Degree (nor is the typical White Person!!), I would hope to hear from middle class working class black folk to get their perspective.
In your original question you seemed more interested in the "booming" middle to upper class African Americans.
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