Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1515188
32 B M & T ••• January/February 2024 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com HEAR the Authentic Sounds of Jazz in Kansas City, KS, Motown & Gospel in Detroit MI's Hitsville USA, true "down home" Blues on iconic Beale Street in Memphis, TN and all things entertain ment in NYC, NY, WALK in the footsteps of a Nobel Prize winning King at the Martin Luther King Jr. national memorial in Washington, DC. FOLLOW the trails of the Black military rangers known as the Buffalo Soldiers who patrolled California's Majestic Yosemite National Park in the early 1900s. JOIN a team of black scuba divers in a community called Africa Town, outside of Mobile, Alabama to explore the recently discov- ered sunken remains of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to enter U.S. shores. MARVEL at the tenacity of survivors from the Tulsa/Greenwood, Oklahoma (Black Wall Street) Deadly Race massacre in 1921, as they display from the ashes of what was one of the most destruc- tive mass murder events on American soil, Tulsa's 7,000 square foot Greenwood Rising museum which stands as a beacon of hope on the Global Stage, attracting visitors from far and near. Today travel is all about Diversity – Equity – Inclusion. Travel Industry reports indicate post pandemic patterns and trends show a growing number of travelers visited a heritage site or museum and/or attended a cultural event during their last travel experience According to Laura Mandala, CEO of Mandala Research: • "36% of all U.S. travelers say that the availability of African- American cultural, historic sites and attractions is either very important (19%) or somewhat important (17%) in their choice of leisure desti- nations." • A recent historic cultural traveler survey found that historic cultural travelers spend about 37% more during their stay than the average traveler in the US. The survey also showed that historic cultural trips were more likely than the average to last at least seven nights and include air travel, a rental car and hotel lodging. Celebrating 250 years of Triumphs & Accomplishments ; The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture In Washington DC and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, informally known as the National Lynching Museum in Montgomery, AL are among the recent Cultural/Heritage sites to join NYC's Apollo Theatre, and other similar venues, reporting a significant increase of SOLOMON HERBERT