How The ABC Travel Greenbook helps clients and agents support black-owned businesses
A new guide listing black-owned travel businesses around the world could prove a handy tool for agents and their clients. Abra Dunsby speaks to its creator, Martinique Lewis
Did you know that Switzerland hosts a Black Film Festival each year in October? Or that clients visiting Tel Aviv can take a black history tour?
A new book, The ABC Travel Greenbook, created by Martinique Lewis, has compiled such experiences around the world, to celebrate black-owned businesses and encourage black clients and their allies to support them on their travels.
Lewis, who is also a diversity in travel consultant and president of the Black Travel Alliance, was inspired to create the book after reading about Victor Hugo Green, author of The Negro Motorist Greenbook.
Hugo Green’s book was published annually from 1936 to 1964 (his year of death) and listed the establishments that black people could visit without fear of discrimination in the segregated US.
“It was the black travel bible of that day – it kept people from losing their lives. Victor Hugo Green was a pioneer in the travel space and the reason black people were even able to travel in the US. I thought, why aren’t we celebrating him?” explains Lewis.
At the same time, Lewis was travelling around the world as a travel influencer and discovering black culture and history in unexpected locations.
“I was travelling and having amazing experiences and discovering people who looked like me in places I never expected. I wanted to make sure that other black people have these experiences when abroad and connect the diaspora globally.”
The ABC Travel Greenbook, which takes Hugo Green’s original concept and extends it to take on an international scope, aims to “highlight Black-owned businesses – not only to keep the black dollar [and pound] circulating but to really celebrate black culture,” Lewis explains.
INSIDER KNOWLEDGE
The ABC Travel Greenbook took three years to research and complete, with Lewis travelling to certain destinations herself, as well as including recommendations from colleagues and locals on the ground.
“I joined Facebook groups for black expats around the world and monitored discussions on there about when there was a new black-owned business opening, or when there was a Black Film Festival taking place and I was able to include what’s trusted in these spaces. [The book] is full of information and businesses you can’t find on Google,” she says.
She believes the book could be used by travel agents, tour operators and tourist boards to highlight unique and authentic experiences to clients, and to incorporate them into itineraries. “I’ve had lots of tour operators thanking me for the book, saying, ’I didn’t know how to appeal to the [black travel] market or what to recommend’.”
Lewis adds that many of the black-owned businesses in the book are currently struggling due to Covid-19 and the resulting lack of tourism, so by recommending them to socially conscious clients, agents can allow them to get back on their feet when travel resumes.
“In places like Honduras and Colombia, they can’t feed their families right now as there’s no tourism. When people are ready to travel again, these are the places they should go to help out,” she says.
Businesses included within the book include everything from African safari lodges to black history tours in London.
With the book already a bestseller on Amazon, Lewis is not only planning a second edition, to be released on 23 August next year, but is also devising an app that will allow clients to connect with locals while on holiday.
“It does my heart well to see the positive response [the book] has gotten from so many people,” says Lewis, adding that she believes its success was also driven by the Black Lives Matter movement.
The response has been just as positive from allies as it has been from black travellers, she adds. “It’s been well received by so many people – and not just people who look like me. It’s a tool for black travellers and travellers who care about the black travel narrative.”
Martinique Lewis highlights some of her favourite Black history tours from the book to recommend to clients
Experience Real Cartagena: Experience Real Cartagena's nine tours are run by local Cartagena tour guide Alex Rocha, who explains the city's history. One of the tours takes clients to the first free slave town in world, Palenque. The operator pays UK agents 10% commission for bookings. experiencerealcartagena.com
Black Heritage Tours, Amsterdam: Jennifer Tosch's tour of Amsterdam reveals the Black community of men, women and children that lived in Amsterdam as early as the 16th century as slaves to wealthy merchants. blackheritagetours.com
Black History Walks, London: There are 12 walking tours of London to choose from, each run by an expert tour guide who will help clients uncover the 3,500 years of Black History in London through interactive discussions. blackhistorywalks.co.uk
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