November 19, 2024 • 26 mins
Tap in with us as we tour the world with Anita Moreau, the visionary founder and CEO of the Black Travel Summit. 🌍✨
Anita opens up about her incredible journey, revealing how her global travel experiences as a Black woman fueled her mission to create a thriving platform for Black travelers, entrepreneurs, and creators.
Discover:
âś… The challenges she overcame to establish the Black Travel Summit
âś… How it amplifies Black voices in the travel industry
âś… Her secrets to building authentic brand partnerships
✅ The summit’s transformative impact on attendees
Anita also shares her inspiring vision for the future of Black travel, making this a must-watch for fans of travel, entrepreneurship, and community empowerment.
00:10 Intro
00:58 Anita's early inspiration for travel
3:11 The "Why" behind the Black Travel Summit
6:19 Connecting with the right brands
8:44 Traveling to Europe, Asia and Africa
11:39 The power of the Black Travel Summit communityÂ
14:14 Exquisite Travel & Tours: https://exquisitetravelandtours.com/
15:03 Previewing the 2024 Black Travel Summit in Ft. LauderdaleÂ
16:16 The Black Travel Summit Film Festival
20:05 The next big sponsorship and collaborationÂ
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dope.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
It's worth closing this plams DNA dope, It's worth closing
this plams DNA.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
What's good? Everybody?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Welcome to Dope Interviews, brought to you by the Mighty
Native Me and your group. I'm your host of one
Shaw and in the virtual building today. I'm the founder
and CEO of the Black Travel Summit, Anita Moreau. The
Black Travel Summit is an organization that brings together Black travelers,
entrepreneurs and creators to connect them to share and learn
and different have experience, different travel experiences.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Anita, What's good? Family, Welcome to Dope Interviews.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Thank you, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Warren so, thank you for being here. And want to
get into a little bit of your platform, but of
course we need to kind of start at the beginning,
learn a little bit about you and you know, in
my research, I've learned that you've traveled to over you know,
thirty countries and I'm just really encouraged by, you know,
seeing what you're doing with this platform and what places
(00:53):
and experiences brought you to found the Black Travel Summit.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
You know, I, as you know right, I was born
and raised in London to an East African mother. And
a Caribbean father, and so I feel like when you're
born with a diverse background, it it becomes almost innate
in you to not only want to learn about those backgrounds,
(01:20):
but to also, if you are privileged with it, to
travel to those countries as well. So I found myself
as a youth going to those countries. My father's from
the Caribbean but based here in the States, and so
I came here very early young age at seven years old.
As a black person, we have experiences that are a
little different from others, and we know this traveling is
(01:44):
no different. There's often times where we may not feel
welcomed or accepted. This oftentimes that we may see racial
just kind of slurs, graffitied on the wall, et cetera.
But nonetheless, we still travel because I think think it's
within us right. We are migrants and we explore as well.
(02:05):
And so with founding Black Travel Summit myself, I'm not
from the tourism industry. I actually went to school and
got a master's in archaeology. But I've always been intrigued
by our history, our heritage, and our culture and the
contributions we've made to society and the world. Over the centuries, decades, millennia,
(02:28):
and so the Black Travel Summit is essentially just kind
of combination of that passion of mine, in addition to traveling,
and creating a platform and a stage for people within
the community, within the black travel community and the tourism
industry who have contributed to the industry but may not
be seen or recognized for it.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I think it's obviously a very well thought o't answering
a question that you've been asked, you know, a thousand
times before. And I'm just curious though, when starting it right,
what was the overall initial response? How did you overcome
maybe the whyse that you might have received, you know,
and trying to form an organization of this magnitude.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
You know, it's interesting and I'm a very transparent person.
Even in the beginning, I somewhat questioned my why, although
I knew that there was a greater purpose and a
reason for why. I just needed to keep going. Of course,
it's getting out there in front of brands. Especially because
(03:32):
I don't come from the tourism space. I don't have
a tourism background, it was a little bit more difficult
for myself to kind of prove my worthiness to be
in the black travel community, and even more so with
brands as well, when they would ask, you know, why
should we care about this and why is this important?
(03:54):
And you know, sometimes you can't stress the fact that
diversity is important. It's significant. It's it's almost like you are,
you know sometimes whether they say, beating a dead horse
with a stick until something happens, right, and that's something
(04:15):
for us was unfortunately rest in peace, the death of
George Floyd and then of course the pandemic as well.
And so these two different incidences, these two occasions or
events I should say, were kind of the impetus was
behind our growth. And so obviously a lot of brands
(04:38):
were trying to get out there, some of them not
for great reasons, but others because they actually wanted to
do something and push in their respective industries for a diversity.
But then also because people were just trying to get outside,
trying to connect and and the best way to do it,
which is the way that we started we were founded
(04:59):
into that nineteen was vi actually and so that just
kind of helped us to grow a little bit faster
than we probably would have otherwise.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yeah, well, I do a lot of stuff you know,
I think in the you know, black and brown space,
if you will, and I think, you know, when talking
with you know, folks like yourself who are founders and
organizers and entrepreneurs, and then they have the ability to
connect to a brand, you do find that in this
authenticity you know, from some brands, like they are trying
(05:29):
to check a proverbial box. And I think that's I
think it's an interesting juxtaposition because your brand is not
checking a box like what you're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
It's it's clearly with an intent, right.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
But then these brands, other brands kind of come along
with well, hey, you know what, we want to just
pack themselves on the back, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
And when you're starting.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Out right, I guess the question is how do you
know what's a good relationship, what's good money from bad money?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You know, as you're trying to expose and you're trying
to build.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Because a lot of a lot of organizations, especially previous
to our you know, twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, or to
be like, hey man, just just give me the just
give me the bag.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I don't care what your intention is, give me the bag.
I want. I want to be able to get this off.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
How do you, now, you know, run your organization with
the level of integrity that's that's requisite and needed in
this time.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
So it's actually quite it's quite a simple answer. And
I think it's simple not because of who I am,
but I think because of who we are as people.
I feel like in black and brown communities, we are
you know, we say we operate off a vibe for energy,
(06:41):
but you know, it's it's like it's like the saying,
let's say you never remember. You may not remember what
somebody says, but you remember how they make you feel, right.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And so.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
When interacting and engaging with these different brands, it's it's
not hard to know, especially as a black person, when
somebody doesn't like you or rock with you, right. And
so in the beginning of this journey and even up
to this day, there are so many brands that I
meet with on a day to day basis, and I
(07:12):
can instantly just tell that they're trying to check that
box off, right, to fulfill a quota that they need
to fulfill before the end of the fiscal year or whatever.
And so I think just kind of having that discernment
throughout the years and being able to use the skills
(07:33):
that I've you know, been raised with, especially as a
person of color, I think just helped. It helped us
a lot. And for us, yes, the money is important
because especially as a startup and especially as a black
owned business, it's it's hard for us to get by.
There's a major lack of resources, funding, et cetera that's
(07:56):
available to our community. But I think the relationships are
always going to be more important for us because we
are in it for the long run.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I mean, you know, not to oversimplify it, but true,
the vibe check is always, always, always prevalent, right, and
we do kind of just kind of know what the
situation is. In your earlier answer, you know, I got
the sense that again a lot of it was the upbringing, right,
But I want to circle back. Was there a specific
place as in adulthood or otherwise or where you got
(08:31):
to And I was like, why aren't why don't more
black people see this place?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
It is something that like kind of stuck out to you.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Not it's say your favorite vacation or favorite spot where
you went to work or whatever, but something that was
just like, man, I wish more of us saw here.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Gosh, you know, I don't know, and this is just
me being honest. Yeah, I there's a few places where
I've thought that, right, And I've been traveling. Like I said,
I started traveling when I was seven years old. I
first went to Egypt when I was eighteen. It's back
in two thousand and eight, right, I'm dating myself. But
(09:08):
since then it's like Turkey, Portugal, part different parts of Asia,
of Africa, South America, Central America. Of course I was
in Europe, so it was easy for me to get around,
but growing up I was on a journey to find
myself and my roots, and so I always ventured, more
so outside of Europe. But I think the more important
(09:32):
thing is the reason and the reason why I studied
archaeology was to connect the dots and to provide a
just kind of like a greater knowing of our contributions
to world history as well as much as possible to
the community. And so I've spent years researching and even
(09:53):
curating shows on little known Black, Afro Indigenous xpac unities
across the globe. And so when it comes to places
like Thailand, I'm always trying to promote the Manque people
who are the a for indigenous people of Thailand or
the protect of Malaysia or the actor of the Philippines,
And you know, just just moving in that way throughout life,
(10:17):
just to continue to push the narrative that we matter,
We make a difference, and a lot of the things
in this world, the history, the achievements, the civilizations, the
advancements come from us as well.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, that that education piece.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
And I think when most people, I don't want to,
you know, stereotype too much, but when most people think vacation,
they're thinking, oh, you know, beach and whatever the case
may be, and relaxation. But vacation can also mean, you know,
an education at the same time, and some people don't
find education to be fun. But you know, I think
it's important to, like said, to know where you're coming from,
(11:00):
know your history, know where other people, indigenous people are
and that in its own self, is its own experience.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And that's how I view vacation.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I viewed as an experience, not always relaxation, and there's
a time and place for that too, but the experiences
are something that I'm very very much about, so really
really interesting, you know, to kind of hear that perspective
from you, how many people are currently a part of
the community, if you will, and can you share some
of your biggest success stories where people got involved with
(11:30):
the back travel subject and it was like, oh, man,
I wish I would have joined sooner because they had
ended up having an amazing experience by virtue of the
connection and the network itself.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
So our community in general, I guess it depends on
what you define as community. We have a community of
over twenty thousand followers on social media. We have within
that community we have an even closer net community of
loyal attendees that come to the summit every single year.
(12:01):
Our summit technically, you know, essentially sees around one hundred
a few hundred people each year as well. This year
we're expecting no more than four hundred people, and that's
even with the postponement as well. We were actually expecting more.
But even with the postponement, we're just extremely grateful for
(12:21):
the amount of people that are still deciding to show
up last minute. And in regards to people who have
been touched or who have felt like they've had this
longing kind of fulfilled by being at the summit, we've
experienced a couple of those. And I think, and I
always say this, that if I could eat fulfillment, if
(12:47):
I could live and survive off of fulfillment, I would
be happy. Because those moments when you have a creator
come up to you with tears in their eyes and
say thank you for seeing me. Moments like that is
what makes it all worthwhile. The work that you've put
(13:09):
in over the months, almost a year, every single event
it takes to plan. It feels like that one statement
is enough, is enough to just say all that work
that you've done was worth it because you made a
difference in someone's life. And there are several people that
say that every single year. Not the same words of
(13:31):
course for Betam, but they always come to us with
some of the experiences they've had and how this has
benefited them in one way or another.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah, some of the old adages are true, Nita. I
think it's just the aspect of the.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Work you do sometimes the long nights and the long hours,
and nobody's really there and understand what it took to
put an event on. But then you do you again,
it's like and it's over in an instant, right, But
the thank you or just you know what I mean
the fulfillment as you're alluding to, can be so so
so rewarning and give.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
You the fuel to kind of keep going.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
We're chatting with Anita Moreau Moreau here from a Black
Travel summ at CEO and founder.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Let's take a quick break here on Dope Interviews with
y'all will be right back.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
It's that time here again, and we're extremely excited to
bring to you our Black Friday sale at Exquisite Traveling Tours,
melts away those holiday blues and booking at adventure that you
won't forget. Check us out on Facebook at Exquisite Traveling Tours.
Also call us directly at nine to five four two
two eight five four seven nine. You can check on
our website at Exquisite Travelingtours dot com.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And we're back here on Dope Interviews, chatting with Anita Moreau.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Anita, so, as you were alluding to before the break,
we're talking a little bit about the actual summit that's
coming up depending on when when.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
People see this, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But going back even during earlier question, Hyatt is one
of the premier sponsors you know for this, so they're
clearly not checking a box here with what you have
going on, talks a little bit about the summit itself
that's coming up, what can people expect to see and
why Hi it is such an amazing partner.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Oh no, of course, And so this year we have
some of the usual kind of events that take place
over the years, and for those who are not familiar,
we tend to start off with tours in the general
kind of community and area, and those tours focus on
black owned businesses, history contributions to the area. And then
(15:25):
we move into our opening reception, speaker series breakouts on
the next day and in addition to our Black Travel
Awards gala where we present our victory awards to six
different categories. And then we move into the expo on
the last day with a closing party of some sort,
whether it be a yacht brunch or a closing reception.
(15:47):
This year is a little bit different. We actually established
a Black Travel Film Festival at some point last year,
and this was something that I kind of was just like,
you know what, this would be a really great idea.
Let me just establis this shit and sit on it
for a minute until you know, we have a little
bit more kind of momentum built up to bring it out.
So this year will be our inaugural Black Travel Film Festival,
(16:11):
which we're really excited about.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
What does that entail? No, tell me what is it?
I'm so intrigued by that.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
So the Black Travel Film Festival, what it does is
and I don't know. I'm sure you're on social media, right,
and I'm sure you see these black travel content creators.
Not all of them are just creating for the gram, right.
Some of them work with tourism boards, some of them
make documentaries, others make vlog narratives, et cetera. It's really
just about recognizing the creative, the visually creative work that
(16:40):
goes into creating while traveling. And so the Black Travel
Film Festival does this, and then it also just kind
of focuses on while traveling, who are we? Who are
we patronizing? What black owned businesses? Are we patronizing what
black communities are recognizing and supporting, et cetera, et cetera.
(17:03):
And so that's why the Black Travel Film Festival was created.
It was almost kind of like an additional arm of
Black Travel Summit, but we wanted to live on its
own eventually. And then this year we also have Wavelength
Wavelength is presented by Black Travel Alliance, who is now
our official partner. Really excited about that. We've worked with
(17:25):
them for a couple of years now and so we're
excited to make it official and Wavelength is now going
to be a part of the summit from this year on.
It was last year as well, but it was virtual.
This year will be the first in person and then
throughout them throughout the weekend. Is pretty much the same
same thing. Connections. We provide people an opportunity to schedule appointments.
(17:48):
We have a conference app that people can connect on
as well, just so that they're making connections pre, during,
and post. It's not just a three or four day event.
It goes on and those connections can continue to be
made thereafter as well. In regards to Yatt, Hiatt, as
you know, has been an extremely significant part of our journey.
(18:12):
I had met a gentleman by the name of Tristan
Dowell a few years ago. I believe it was in
May twenty twenty. It was early twenty twenty, I want
to say, maybe the first quarter of twenty twenty, and
this gentleman was just genuinely I think excited at the
opportunity to just help and even over the years I realized,
(18:35):
you know, and at first you're like, you know, I
don't know if I could trust this person, right, like
what are they trying to get out of it? But
then over time you see, oh, this person just actually
likes helping people and wants to be part of something bigger, right,
And they see what you're doing, the work you're doing,
and how valuable, how important it is as well. And
(18:56):
so with bringing other individuals at Hire Tyrone Studemayer, the
SVP of D and I, Michelle Bontanelli, she is amazing
and our general kind of liaison as well, just seeing
the people behind the brand and how hard they push
(19:19):
for us, even internally, you know, to continue to get
us to support that we need, and to the point
where some of them feel like Black Troublesome is their
own baby as well. They're just as responsible.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
That's amazing, That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Yeah, when you have that intentionality, you know, it's kind
of hard to go wrong. So with Hyatt being one
of the major sponsors and you have, you know, countless others,
I want to transition slightly to is there I want
to say a big fish, But is there another fish
out there, another brand where you're like, you know what,
you know, as we say, you know in our culture,
we're going to put that out there and we're going
(19:57):
to receive that. Is there a brand out there? You
know what that You've been really trying to get with
Black Travel Summit, you know, to be on board what
you have going on for your community, you.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Know what's interesting. And this actually just happened recently, and
I don't know if it would have happened if we
didn't postpone the summit. Are you familiar with Group Black?
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I'm not, but I will be.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Group Black is a black owned media entity over Afropunk,
Essence Festival, She Moisture, et cetera. So they're big players, right.
I do recall a couple of years ago I was
manifesting them. I was manifesting. I was speaking to my husband,
who was my boyfriend at the time, and I said,
you know what this is. I'm just going to put
(20:40):
it out there. I'm going to manifest and and we're
going to work with them. I don't know in what capacity,
but you know, this is where I see us going.
And a few weeks ago, a couple of weeks ago,
Actually it's moved so quickly. They reached out and now
we have a partnership aligned for this year and hopefully
fingers crossed the next year as well. So that's definitely one.
(21:03):
But there's so many brands that we've worked with that
have been consistently supportive over the years as well, like Armor, Waterways, Experience,
Grand Rapids, we Travel visit Lauderdale as well, So definitely
want to send out kudos to them as well.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Yeah, well, I see nothing, but you know positive things
you know for your brand, your your summit, your network
to people associated with it. My wife is an aspiring
travel agent as well now to so I'm encouraging her
to follow. I want to thank your your socials account.
You did repost, you know, one of her videos for
a National Black Travelers Day on November eleventh, and you
(21:42):
know she's really excited. So and with it being in
our backyard, you know, I'm like, hey, we we gotta
we definitely got to check it out last couple of
months before it lets you slide out of here. Anita is, so,
what are your hopes, I guess more or less for
the future. Is it just continued growth, continued sponsorships, you know,
or is there anything you know super laser focused the
(22:04):
nu ones that you're hoping to bring to people in
the community.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Continuing to grow, continuing to get the word out there,
continuing to provide a platform for as many people within
our community as possible. And the reason why I call
this Black Travel Summit is because we exist everywhere, right,
(22:29):
And I think when you're in certain places, blackness is
synonymous with other things, right, Like in America, blackness defines
maybe being an African American or something else, right, But
being black across the globe is an experience, right. It's
something that even if you don't refer to yourself as black,
(22:52):
the world will see you as black. Right Like the
Manique people they refer to themselves as many, but they
are they're black. If they see me, they'd be like, oh,
you're a British Monique.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
They have their own word for it, right.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
So I think blackness and the word is the closest
thing to that experience that we will have as black
people are people of African descent and so and so
I think just continuing to grow, continuing to help people
to explore the globe, to continuing to make people in
(23:28):
our community aware of our presence across the globe as well,
and for us to be able to support them as well,
even economically whenever traveling there and travel travel abroad, you know,
travel the Summit. It's a travel summit after all, and
continuing to grow our relationships so that we can continue
(23:51):
to provide this space for years to come.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Yeah, I think expertly said.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
Finally, where can listeners and people go to connect with you?
Connect with the Travel Summit if they're listening ahead of
this year's version of it, you know, just get to
plug everything you know possible here for our friends listeners.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Here of course. Yeah, so you can follow us at
Black Travels Summit on Instagram, the Black Travel Summit on Facebook,
BLK Travel Summit on Twitter. You can email us at
in for Black Travelsummit dot com, or just check us
out on www dot Black Travelsummit dot com.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
That's right, Get out there, travel.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Make sure you connect with Anita here and her team.
They are doing amazing, amazing work here in this space.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I'm Warrenshaw.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Be sure to hit me up at Shad Sports NBA
or Dope Underscores interview and as.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
All ways, you know what it is. In another dope.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Interview with my new friend Ni Moreau Anita, thank you
so much.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
And out thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Together we stand the vioe.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
We never The vision is one strive for the better,
working as a team, work it toward a dream. It's
not even work when the team is the dream. When
the United front. We got a home in the back,
a band of brothers to counter act. Then he has
one heart in fact, forget what the blood say. Dope,
it's worth flows in his Stam's DNA. So it's doing
for the love, give to the max, Listen to opinion,
(25:16):
but react to facts and remember that together with a ship,
but separate just pieces of it shooting.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Dope.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
It's worth closing his Stam's DNA. Dope, It's worth closing
his Stam's DNA.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
Family represent like a tree with names on it.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
We're free, no change on it.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
Relieve the pain's gone out and see we come together
like questions on the quiz Mota flowing viz man, you
know what it is and if ignorance is blisity, gonna
hate this lesson organize them the like a tropical depression.
My simple list across some mic and ghost peppers because
I'm just a black shoot, growing up to be a shepherd,
moon lightened as a weapon to p ext the children.
Every brother is a father. Dynasties were building Max J
(26:04):
and K Babay and Isai next level of the family
foundation understanding
Dope.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
It's worth closing this plams DNA dope, It's worth closing
this plams DNA.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
What's good? Everybody?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Welcome to Dope Interviews, brought to you by the Mighty
Native Me and your group. I'm your host of one
Shaw and in the virtual building today. I'm the founder
and CEO of the Black Travel Summit, Anita Moreau. The
Black Travel Summit is an organization that brings together Black travelers,
entrepreneurs and creators to connect them to share and learn
and different have experience, different travel experiences.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Anita, What's good? Family, Welcome to Dope Interviews.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Thank you, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Warren so, thank you for being here. And want to
get into a little bit of your platform, but of
course we need to kind of start at the beginning,
learn a little bit about you and you know, in
my research, I've learned that you've traveled to over you know,
thirty countries and I'm just really encouraged by, you know,
seeing what you're doing with this platform and what places
(00:53):
and experiences brought you to found the Black Travel Summit.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
You know, I, as you know right, I was born
and raised in London to an East African mother. And
a Caribbean father, and so I feel like when you're
born with a diverse background, it it becomes almost innate
in you to not only want to learn about those backgrounds,
(01:20):
but to also, if you are privileged with it, to
travel to those countries as well. So I found myself
as a youth going to those countries. My father's from
the Caribbean but based here in the States, and so
I came here very early young age at seven years old.
As a black person, we have experiences that are a
little different from others, and we know this traveling is
(01:44):
no different. There's often times where we may not feel
welcomed or accepted. This oftentimes that we may see racial
just kind of slurs, graffitied on the wall, et cetera.
But nonetheless, we still travel because I think think it's
within us right. We are migrants and we explore as well.
(02:05):
And so with founding Black Travel Summit myself, I'm not
from the tourism industry. I actually went to school and
got a master's in archaeology. But I've always been intrigued
by our history, our heritage, and our culture and the
contributions we've made to society and the world. Over the centuries, decades, millennia,
(02:28):
and so the Black Travel Summit is essentially just kind
of combination of that passion of mine, in addition to traveling,
and creating a platform and a stage for people within
the community, within the black travel community and the tourism
industry who have contributed to the industry but may not
be seen or recognized for it.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I think it's obviously a very well thought o't answering
a question that you've been asked, you know, a thousand
times before. And I'm just curious though, when starting it right,
what was the overall initial response? How did you overcome
maybe the whyse that you might have received, you know,
and trying to form an organization of this magnitude.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
You know, it's interesting and I'm a very transparent person.
Even in the beginning, I somewhat questioned my why, although
I knew that there was a greater purpose and a
reason for why. I just needed to keep going. Of course,
it's getting out there in front of brands. Especially because
(03:32):
I don't come from the tourism space. I don't have
a tourism background, it was a little bit more difficult
for myself to kind of prove my worthiness to be
in the black travel community, and even more so with
brands as well, when they would ask, you know, why
should we care about this and why is this important?
(03:54):
And you know, sometimes you can't stress the fact that
diversity is important. It's significant. It's it's almost like you are,
you know sometimes whether they say, beating a dead horse
with a stick until something happens, right, and that's something
(04:15):
for us was unfortunately rest in peace, the death of
George Floyd and then of course the pandemic as well.
And so these two different incidences, these two occasions or
events I should say, were kind of the impetus was
behind our growth. And so obviously a lot of brands
(04:38):
were trying to get out there, some of them not
for great reasons, but others because they actually wanted to
do something and push in their respective industries for a diversity.
But then also because people were just trying to get outside,
trying to connect and and the best way to do it,
which is the way that we started we were founded
(04:59):
into that nineteen was vi actually and so that just
kind of helped us to grow a little bit faster
than we probably would have otherwise.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yeah, well, I do a lot of stuff you know,
I think in the you know, black and brown space,
if you will, and I think, you know, when talking
with you know, folks like yourself who are founders and
organizers and entrepreneurs, and then they have the ability to
connect to a brand, you do find that in this
authenticity you know, from some brands, like they are trying
(05:29):
to check a proverbial box. And I think that's I
think it's an interesting juxtaposition because your brand is not
checking a box like what you're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
It's it's clearly with an intent, right.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
But then these brands, other brands kind of come along
with well, hey, you know what, we want to just
pack themselves on the back, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
And when you're starting.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Out right, I guess the question is how do you
know what's a good relationship, what's good money from bad money?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You know, as you're trying to expose and you're trying
to build.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Because a lot of a lot of organizations, especially previous
to our you know, twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, or to
be like, hey man, just just give me the just
give me the bag.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I don't care what your intention is, give me the bag.
I want. I want to be able to get this off.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
How do you, now, you know, run your organization with
the level of integrity that's that's requisite and needed in
this time.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
So it's actually quite it's quite a simple answer. And
I think it's simple not because of who I am,
but I think because of who we are as people.
I feel like in black and brown communities, we are
you know, we say we operate off a vibe for energy,
(06:41):
but you know, it's it's like it's like the saying,
let's say you never remember. You may not remember what
somebody says, but you remember how they make you feel, right.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And so.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
When interacting and engaging with these different brands, it's it's
not hard to know, especially as a black person, when
somebody doesn't like you or rock with you, right. And
so in the beginning of this journey and even up
to this day, there are so many brands that I
meet with on a day to day basis, and I
(07:12):
can instantly just tell that they're trying to check that
box off, right, to fulfill a quota that they need
to fulfill before the end of the fiscal year or whatever.
And so I think just kind of having that discernment
throughout the years and being able to use the skills
(07:33):
that I've you know, been raised with, especially as a
person of color, I think just helped. It helped us
a lot. And for us, yes, the money is important
because especially as a startup and especially as a black
owned business, it's it's hard for us to get by.
There's a major lack of resources, funding, et cetera that's
(07:56):
available to our community. But I think the relationships are
always going to be more important for us because we
are in it for the long run.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I mean, you know, not to oversimplify it, but true,
the vibe check is always, always, always prevalent, right, and
we do kind of just kind of know what the
situation is. In your earlier answer, you know, I got
the sense that again a lot of it was the upbringing, right,
But I want to circle back. Was there a specific
place as in adulthood or otherwise or where you got
(08:31):
to And I was like, why aren't why don't more
black people see this place?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
It is something that like kind of stuck out to you.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Not it's say your favorite vacation or favorite spot where
you went to work or whatever, but something that was
just like, man, I wish more of us saw here.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Gosh, you know, I don't know, and this is just
me being honest. Yeah, I there's a few places where
I've thought that, right, And I've been traveling. Like I said,
I started traveling when I was seven years old. I
first went to Egypt when I was eighteen. It's back
in two thousand and eight, right, I'm dating myself. But
(09:08):
since then it's like Turkey, Portugal, part different parts of Asia,
of Africa, South America, Central America. Of course I was
in Europe, so it was easy for me to get around,
but growing up I was on a journey to find
myself and my roots, and so I always ventured, more
so outside of Europe. But I think the more important
(09:32):
thing is the reason and the reason why I studied
archaeology was to connect the dots and to provide a
just kind of like a greater knowing of our contributions
to world history as well as much as possible to
the community. And so I've spent years researching and even
(09:53):
curating shows on little known Black, Afro Indigenous xpac unities
across the globe. And so when it comes to places
like Thailand, I'm always trying to promote the Manque people
who are the a for indigenous people of Thailand or
the protect of Malaysia or the actor of the Philippines,
And you know, just just moving in that way throughout life,
(10:17):
just to continue to push the narrative that we matter,
We make a difference, and a lot of the things
in this world, the history, the achievements, the civilizations, the
advancements come from us as well.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, that that education piece.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
And I think when most people, I don't want to,
you know, stereotype too much, but when most people think vacation,
they're thinking, oh, you know, beach and whatever the case
may be, and relaxation. But vacation can also mean, you know,
an education at the same time, and some people don't
find education to be fun. But you know, I think
it's important to, like said, to know where you're coming from,
(11:00):
know your history, know where other people, indigenous people are
and that in its own self, is its own experience.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And that's how I view vacation.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I viewed as an experience, not always relaxation, and there's
a time and place for that too, but the experiences
are something that I'm very very much about, so really
really interesting, you know, to kind of hear that perspective
from you, how many people are currently a part of
the community, if you will, and can you share some
of your biggest success stories where people got involved with
(11:30):
the back travel subject and it was like, oh, man,
I wish I would have joined sooner because they had
ended up having an amazing experience by virtue of the
connection and the network itself.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
So our community in general, I guess it depends on
what you define as community. We have a community of
over twenty thousand followers on social media. We have within
that community we have an even closer net community of
loyal attendees that come to the summit every single year.
(12:01):
Our summit technically, you know, essentially sees around one hundred
a few hundred people each year as well. This year
we're expecting no more than four hundred people, and that's
even with the postponement as well. We were actually expecting more.
But even with the postponement, we're just extremely grateful for
(12:21):
the amount of people that are still deciding to show
up last minute. And in regards to people who have
been touched or who have felt like they've had this
longing kind of fulfilled by being at the summit, we've
experienced a couple of those. And I think, and I
always say this, that if I could eat fulfillment, if
(12:47):
I could live and survive off of fulfillment, I would
be happy. Because those moments when you have a creator
come up to you with tears in their eyes and
say thank you for seeing me. Moments like that is
what makes it all worthwhile. The work that you've put
(13:09):
in over the months, almost a year, every single event
it takes to plan. It feels like that one statement
is enough, is enough to just say all that work
that you've done was worth it because you made a
difference in someone's life. And there are several people that
say that every single year. Not the same words of
(13:31):
course for Betam, but they always come to us with
some of the experiences they've had and how this has
benefited them in one way or another.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah, some of the old adages are true, Nita. I
think it's just the aspect of the.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Work you do sometimes the long nights and the long hours,
and nobody's really there and understand what it took to
put an event on. But then you do you again,
it's like and it's over in an instant, right, But
the thank you or just you know what I mean
the fulfillment as you're alluding to, can be so so
so rewarning and give.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
You the fuel to kind of keep going.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
We're chatting with Anita Moreau Moreau here from a Black
Travel summ at CEO and founder.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Let's take a quick break here on Dope Interviews with
y'all will be right back.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
It's that time here again, and we're extremely excited to
bring to you our Black Friday sale at Exquisite Traveling Tours,
melts away those holiday blues and booking at adventure that you
won't forget. Check us out on Facebook at Exquisite Traveling Tours.
Also call us directly at nine to five four two
two eight five four seven nine. You can check on
our website at Exquisite Travelingtours dot com.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And we're back here on Dope Interviews, chatting with Anita Moreau.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Anita, so, as you were alluding to before the break,
we're talking a little bit about the actual summit that's
coming up depending on when when.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
People see this, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But going back even during earlier question, Hyatt is one
of the premier sponsors you know for this, so they're
clearly not checking a box here with what you have
going on, talks a little bit about the summit itself
that's coming up, what can people expect to see and
why Hi it is such an amazing partner.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Oh no, of course, And so this year we have
some of the usual kind of events that take place
over the years, and for those who are not familiar,
we tend to start off with tours in the general
kind of community and area, and those tours focus on
black owned businesses, history contributions to the area. And then
(15:25):
we move into our opening reception, speaker series breakouts on
the next day and in addition to our Black Travel
Awards gala where we present our victory awards to six
different categories. And then we move into the expo on
the last day with a closing party of some sort,
whether it be a yacht brunch or a closing reception.
(15:47):
This year is a little bit different. We actually established
a Black Travel Film Festival at some point last year,
and this was something that I kind of was just like,
you know what, this would be a really great idea.
Let me just establis this shit and sit on it
for a minute until you know, we have a little
bit more kind of momentum built up to bring it out.
So this year will be our inaugural Black Travel Film Festival,
(16:11):
which we're really excited about.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
What does that entail? No, tell me what is it?
I'm so intrigued by that.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
So the Black Travel Film Festival, what it does is
and I don't know. I'm sure you're on social media, right,
and I'm sure you see these black travel content creators.
Not all of them are just creating for the gram, right.
Some of them work with tourism boards, some of them
make documentaries, others make vlog narratives, et cetera. It's really
just about recognizing the creative, the visually creative work that
(16:40):
goes into creating while traveling. And so the Black Travel
Film Festival does this, and then it also just kind
of focuses on while traveling, who are we? Who are
we patronizing? What black owned businesses? Are we patronizing what
black communities are recognizing and supporting, et cetera, et cetera.
(17:03):
And so that's why the Black Travel Film Festival was created.
It was almost kind of like an additional arm of
Black Travel Summit, but we wanted to live on its
own eventually. And then this year we also have Wavelength
Wavelength is presented by Black Travel Alliance, who is now
our official partner. Really excited about that. We've worked with
(17:25):
them for a couple of years now and so we're
excited to make it official and Wavelength is now going
to be a part of the summit from this year on.
It was last year as well, but it was virtual.
This year will be the first in person and then
throughout them throughout the weekend. Is pretty much the same
same thing. Connections. We provide people an opportunity to schedule appointments.
(17:48):
We have a conference app that people can connect on
as well, just so that they're making connections pre, during,
and post. It's not just a three or four day event.
It goes on and those connections can continue to be
made thereafter as well. In regards to Yatt, Hiatt, as
you know, has been an extremely significant part of our journey.
(18:12):
I had met a gentleman by the name of Tristan
Dowell a few years ago. I believe it was in
May twenty twenty. It was early twenty twenty, I want
to say, maybe the first quarter of twenty twenty, and
this gentleman was just genuinely I think excited at the
opportunity to just help and even over the years I realized,
(18:35):
you know, and at first you're like, you know, I
don't know if I could trust this person, right, like
what are they trying to get out of it? But
then over time you see, oh, this person just actually
likes helping people and wants to be part of something bigger, right,
And they see what you're doing, the work you're doing,
and how valuable, how important it is as well. And
(18:56):
so with bringing other individuals at Hire Tyrone Studemayer, the
SVP of D and I, Michelle Bontanelli, she is amazing
and our general kind of liaison as well, just seeing
the people behind the brand and how hard they push
(19:19):
for us, even internally, you know, to continue to get
us to support that we need, and to the point
where some of them feel like Black Troublesome is their
own baby as well. They're just as responsible.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
That's amazing, That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Yeah, when you have that intentionality, you know, it's kind
of hard to go wrong. So with Hyatt being one
of the major sponsors and you have, you know, countless others,
I want to transition slightly to is there I want
to say a big fish, But is there another fish
out there, another brand where you're like, you know what,
you know, as we say, you know in our culture,
we're going to put that out there and we're going
(19:57):
to receive that. Is there a brand out there? You
know what that You've been really trying to get with
Black Travel Summit, you know, to be on board what
you have going on for your community, you.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Know what's interesting. And this actually just happened recently, and
I don't know if it would have happened if we
didn't postpone the summit. Are you familiar with Group Black?
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I'm not, but I will be.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Group Black is a black owned media entity over Afropunk,
Essence Festival, She Moisture, et cetera. So they're big players, right.
I do recall a couple of years ago I was
manifesting them. I was manifesting. I was speaking to my husband,
who was my boyfriend at the time, and I said,
you know what this is. I'm just going to put
(20:40):
it out there. I'm going to manifest and and we're
going to work with them. I don't know in what capacity,
but you know, this is where I see us going.
And a few weeks ago, a couple of weeks ago,
Actually it's moved so quickly. They reached out and now
we have a partnership aligned for this year and hopefully
fingers crossed the next year as well. So that's definitely one.
(21:03):
But there's so many brands that we've worked with that
have been consistently supportive over the years as well, like Armor, Waterways, Experience,
Grand Rapids, we Travel visit Lauderdale as well, So definitely
want to send out kudos to them as well.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Yeah, well, I see nothing, but you know positive things
you know for your brand, your your summit, your network
to people associated with it. My wife is an aspiring
travel agent as well now to so I'm encouraging her
to follow. I want to thank your your socials account.
You did repost, you know, one of her videos for
a National Black Travelers Day on November eleventh, and you
(21:42):
know she's really excited. So and with it being in
our backyard, you know, I'm like, hey, we we gotta
we definitely got to check it out last couple of
months before it lets you slide out of here. Anita is, so,
what are your hopes, I guess more or less for
the future. Is it just continued growth, continued sponsorships, you know,
or is there anything you know super laser focused the
(22:04):
nu ones that you're hoping to bring to people in
the community.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Continuing to grow, continuing to get the word out there,
continuing to provide a platform for as many people within
our community as possible. And the reason why I call
this Black Travel Summit is because we exist everywhere, right,
(22:29):
And I think when you're in certain places, blackness is
synonymous with other things, right, Like in America, blackness defines
maybe being an African American or something else, right, But
being black across the globe is an experience, right. It's
something that even if you don't refer to yourself as black,
(22:52):
the world will see you as black. Right Like the
Manique people they refer to themselves as many, but they
are they're black. If they see me, they'd be like, oh,
you're a British Monique.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
They have their own word for it, right.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
So I think blackness and the word is the closest
thing to that experience that we will have as black
people are people of African descent and so and so
I think just continuing to grow, continuing to help people
to explore the globe, to continuing to make people in
(23:28):
our community aware of our presence across the globe as well,
and for us to be able to support them as well,
even economically whenever traveling there and travel travel abroad, you know,
travel the Summit. It's a travel summit after all, and
continuing to grow our relationships so that we can continue
(23:51):
to provide this space for years to come.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Yeah, I think expertly said.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
Finally, where can listeners and people go to connect with you?
Connect with the Travel Summit if they're listening ahead of
this year's version of it, you know, just get to
plug everything you know possible here for our friends listeners.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Here of course. Yeah, so you can follow us at
Black Travels Summit on Instagram, the Black Travel Summit on Facebook,
BLK Travel Summit on Twitter. You can email us at
in for Black Travelsummit dot com, or just check us
out on www dot Black Travelsummit dot com.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
That's right, Get out there, travel.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Make sure you connect with Anita here and her team.
They are doing amazing, amazing work here in this space.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I'm Warrenshaw.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Be sure to hit me up at Shad Sports NBA
or Dope Underscores interview and as.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
All ways, you know what it is. In another dope.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Interview with my new friend Ni Moreau Anita, thank you
so much.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
And out thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Together we stand the vioe.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
We never The vision is one strive for the better,
working as a team, work it toward a dream. It's
not even work when the team is the dream. When
the United front. We got a home in the back,
a band of brothers to counter act. Then he has
one heart in fact, forget what the blood say. Dope,
it's worth flows in his Stam's DNA. So it's doing
for the love, give to the max, Listen to opinion,
(25:16):
but react to facts and remember that together with a ship,
but separate just pieces of it shooting.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Dope.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
It's worth closing his Stam's DNA. Dope, It's worth closing
his Stam's DNA.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
Family represent like a tree with names on it.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
We're free, no change on it.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
Relieve the pain's gone out and see we come together
like questions on the quiz Mota flowing viz man, you
know what it is and if ignorance is blisity, gonna
hate this lesson organize them the like a tropical depression.
My simple list across some mic and ghost peppers because
I'm just a black shoot, growing up to be a shepherd,
moon lightened as a weapon to p ext the children.
Every brother is a father. Dynasties were building Max J
(26:04):
and K Babay and Isai next level of the family
foundation understanding
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