Black Meetings and Tourism

July / August 2015

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B M & T ••• July/August 2015 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 4 I am excited to announce that I have joined with several travel industry vet- erans to form a new LLC. The Black Traveler, LLC will create a multi-sided trav- el platform for Black travelers, travel agents and travel and hospitality vendors. A new website, BlackTraveler.net will be launched in early September – and have its debut at the Annual legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Congress in Washington. The fast growing "Buy Black" move- ment that is emerging out of the efforts of several influential Black leaders to gener- ate sustained economic development in the Black community was the inspiration for establishing this new travel platform designed to organize and develop the Black tourism industry in the U. S, Canada and around the globe. We are going to put the lessons we've learned from other sharing-economy busi- nesses such as Uber and AirBnB to use within the Black community. BlackTrave- ler.net will facilitate direct contact between Black travelers who want to enjoy travel that is specific to their own unique needs with Black-owned travel businesses who have a far greater sensitivity to those needs. Travel is not a one-size-fits-all busi- PUBLISHER'S MESSAGE Solomon J. Herbert Publisher/Editor-In- Chief E-Mail: BMandTMag@aol.com ness, so our new platform will enable Black travelers to book directly or to request the assistance of a Black travel agent for more complicated travel. The new website, BlackTraveler.net is being built on an Internet-based travel plat- form developed by Vancouver-based Visits & Trips Network. The platform will enable BlackTraveler.net to take advantage of social media, crowdsourcing and social- sharing features so the new website can rollout quickly across North America. Information about the new service will be available at the Black Meetings & Tourism booth at the BM&T Global Travel Pavilion, a high visibility designated section of the ALC Exhibition Showcase which is devoted to domestic and international trav- el and tourism related businesses & servic- es. Guests are urged to stop by the BM&T Global Travel Pavilion, complete a short survey so they can be entered into a prize drawing, pick up a few keepsake give- away gifts, and learn more about BlackTraveler.net. BlackTraveler.net is currently in the process of establishing and building rela- tionships with an array of organizations within the African-American community. The benefits of such partnerships will be numerous, not the least of which is that organizations whose members book through BlackTraveler.net will receive a per- centage of all commissions generated by the purchase of airline tickets, hotel rooms and other travel related services. So not only will their members receive great serv- ice and competitive prices, but by booking through BlackTraveler.net they will also generate income for their organization. Discussions are already under way that will hopefully lead to agreements with Travel Professionals of Color (TPOC), National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers (NABHOOD), and the 12,000-member Empowerment Temple, headquartered in Baltimore and headed by Dr. Jamal Bryant. If your organ- ization is interested in participating in this win-win program, contact our office at (818) 709-0646 for more information. Black Meetings & Tourism is published bi-monthly by SunGlo Enterprises, 20840 Chase St., Winnetka, CA 91306-1207 •Telephone: (818)709-0646/Fax: (818) 709-4753 Copyright 2015 by SunGlo Enterprises. All rights reserved. Single Copies, $6.00 Subscriptions $45.00. Postage Paid at Pasadena, CA. •Postmaster send address changes to Black Meetings & Tourism, 20840 Chase St., Winnetka, CA 91306-1207.

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