Hello, Hola, Bonjour and Ciao,

I hope this  note finds you in good health and good spirits.

In the spirit of sisterhood and collective upliftment, I am writing to share  some travel media related information that recently came my way. I publish this newsletter approximately 3-4 times per year with the goal of informing the African American travel media community about upcoming events, news, calls for submission, residencies and updates on my travel work. Here's hoping your find something interesting or useful within.

I recently updated my mailing list. If you got two copies and/or no longer want to receive this newsletter, please let me know.

2019 Is The 'Year Of Return' for people in the African Diaspora. In the year 1619, the first ship carrying captured Africans reached Point Comfort, Virginia and marked the beginning of the horrendous Middle Passage TransAtlantic Slave Trade. 2019 is the 400th anniversary of that chapter of our history and there are events and ceremonies commemorating that occurrence throughout the Diaspora. I will be making my “return trip” to Africa this year and will be visiting Gambia and Senegal. Please send tips, suggestions and contacts to elaineruthlee@gmail.com. 

Lifting as I climb,

Elaine Lee
elaineruthlee@gmail.com
www.ugogurl.com

Calls for Submission/Travel Media Opps

• VOTE FOR THE BESSIES! The Bessie Awards honor women of impact in the travel space, particularly influencers, creative entrepreneurs, marketers, and industry members who have added a compelling voice to the travel industry. The Bessies are named after Bessie Coleman, the first woman of African-American descent to hold a pilot’s license. Voting open until Tuesday, April 2nd @ 11:59pm ET.  https://witsummit.com/
• Adventure Trip Leader for Millennial Travelers (Central America, Asia, Europe) 3 job openings https://www.under30experiences.com
• Hidden Compass is a literary travel magazine wants true stories, that push “the travel genre and delves into the spirit, culture, history, ecology, perils or residents of a place.” They pay $300 for features. http://hiddencompass.net/
• Amtrak has created #AmtrakTakeMeThere, a new social media residency program that showcases the diversity of Amtrak passengers and their unique train travel experiences. https://media.amtrak.com/2018/11/amtrak-launches-amtraktakemethere-social-media-residency-program/
• Curiosity is a magazine for the conscious travelerIf you’re interested in writing for Curiosity Magazine, please send pitches to pitches@curiositymag.com. Features pay up to $300. Essays up to $150. 
• Travel Noire is accepting community-submitted personal essays, travel guides, thoughtful reviews, and any travel-related writing you're interested in sharing with their audience! They want to hear from you!  https://travelnoire.com
• Travel Noire is also looking for part time editors. Apply through Linkedin.
• EUROPEAN CULTURAL FOUNDATION TRAVEL GRANTS support creative and critical artists and cultural changemakers. http://ecflabs.org/step-travel-grants
• Inspiring Girls - Empowering young women through science, art, and wilderness exploration http://www.inspiringgirls.org

• Pathfinders Magazine - We are looking for lively, original, well written stories that provide a good sense of place, with useful

    information and fresh ideas about travel and the travel industry.  Please          keep in mind that Pathfinders' main audience is African Americans,

    Respond to: info@pathfinderstravel.com

• Griots Republic Magazine (griotsrepublic.com) welcomes pitches and story ideas. 2019 Griots Republic is printing a special collector's Issue “The Elements!” It will include articles about the Fire, Water, Earth, & Air. So pitch your ideas now if you want in. In 2019, they will also be launching an app and new products.  For more info contact: Davita@GriotsRepublic.com.
• OkayAfrica.com is a leading media company, connecting a global audience to the African continent and its diaspora through compelling content and high-profile cultural events. “We're always looking for timely pitches about current events. Please send your pitches to contribute@okayafrica.com.
• The Verge Magazine Overseas Program Search lets you explore more than 7,000 opportunities to volunteer abroad, teach abroad, work abroad or study abroad. www.vergemagazine.com/program-search.html
• Rick Steve's has ongoing request for radio interviews subjects and questions. ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/radio/interviews
• Nomad Magazine always looking for beautiful and interesting stories to publish in NOMADS.  For more info visit: nomadsmagazine.com/submissions​​​​​​
• Tastemakers Africa (TSTMKRS) is looking for curators. Its an online marketplace where you can list, discover and bookepic experiences in African cities. We connect curious travelers to local experience curators who serve a well-connected friends in every African city. 

      https://beta.tastemakersafrica.com/home

Travel Trade and Travel Writing Events

• African Travel Market have decided to collaborate with US based Africa Diaspora Awards to organize a conference of Africa- Africa Diaspora Tourism Conference, which will take place on the 23rd of September 2019 as part of the 15th Akwaaba African Travel Market in Lagos.

• TPOC 2019 Conference and Trade Show

Travel Professionals of Color’s 17th Annual Conference & Trade Show from MAY 15-19th, 2019 is in MEMPHIS, TN! https://www.tpocassociation.com/

• Women in Travel Summit -WITS ‘19 from May 3-5, 2019 in Portland, Maine!
• The 42nd Annual World Tourism Conference will take place 22-26 July, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa
• National Black Book Festival Oct. 24-26, 2019

Houston, Texas www.nationalblackbookfestival.com

• 1st inaugural #TPG Awards, which was something like the Oscars of travel was hosted by The Points Guy on Dec. 4, 2018 onboard the USS Intrepid in Manhattan. https://thepointsguy.com/news/announcing-the-first-annual-tpg-awards/

Travel Media Information

• Airbnb’s launched its inaugural ‘Black Travel List’ which highlights the movers and shakers in the black travel industry. https://travelnoire.com/inaugural-airbnb-black-travel-list/
• The 2018 African American Traveler Study has come out. The report takes a deep dive not only into demographics and trip planning behavior, but also into activities and interests of African Americans.  It shows that African-Americans spent nearly $63 billion on tourism last year. The top state-bound spots were Florida, New York City, and Atlanta, while the Caribbean held first place for international destinations at 38 percent, followed by Mexico at 26 percent.  mandalaresearch.com/reports
• Onieka The Traveler is the Chief Travel Guide for @AlamoRentACar for 2019
• Conde Naste Traveler showcased Cheraé Robinson of Tastemaker Africa as a maverick in the travel industry. https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/people-changing-the-way-we-travel She is also featured as a rising star on BET network.

• Before the Green Book, These Resorts Offered Hidden Safe Havens for Black Americans https://www.history.com/news/green-book-black-travel-resorts-jim-crow

• 10 Badass African Influencers To Check Out: https://www.essence.com/lifestyle/travel/10-badass-african-influencers-you-need-to-follow-right-now/

• I tried to travel it away: Mental health tips for travelers by Ashley S. McGirt MSW https://www.ashleymcgirt.com

• Finding My Brave Space: A Black Girl's Tale of Wanderlust by Kimberly Raina James Ed.D.

• New Film - The Last Act of The Civil Rights Movement: The Embrace of the Earth https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-way-home-returning-to-the-national-parks/

• Phil Calvert a.k.a @Philwaukee is the first black male to have his own show on the Matador network! It premiered in January 21 and hel smashes negative stereotypes as he tours Europe! Congratulations Phil!

• Fascinating article by Ethelene Whitmire entitled. "Traveling While Black Across The Atlantic Ocean" https://longreads.com/2019/01/22/traveling-while-black-across-the-atlantic-ocean

• A Well Read Black Girl - https://wellreadblackgirl.com/

• MinorityNomad.com, website of Erick Prince, Photographer, Philanthropist, and World Traveler.

•  Black Meetings and Tourism is creating a New Green Book (NGB), a mobile app and digital directory. Their pending newgreenbookfortravel.com website will soon provide space and rates for advertising and submitting listings.

• Where’s the Travel Writing for Black Women? This article by Sarah Enelow came our several years ago but it is still relevant. It came to my attention again recently and it I thought I would share it.

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7773934

• Black Women travelers to follow on instagram

https://www.essence.com/lifestyle/travel/10-dope-black-women-travelers-to-follow-instagram/

• 11 Leading Black Women in Travel

https://travelnoire.com/influential-black-women-travel/

• African travelers to follow on instagram

https://travelnoire.com/african-travelers-follow-on-instagram/

Afrocentric Travel News/Info

• Alaska Airlines is partnering with Sisters of the Skies to increase pilot diversity at their airlines
• In honor of the 'Year Of Return,' African Diaspora Tourism and Yates Tours will take descendants of former enslaved Africans on a triumphant return to their ancestral home of Ghana, West Africa to Celebrate PANAFEST 2019, July 25th through August 3rd. Ghana is offering dual citizenship to African Americans.
• Four women from Antigua recently completed a grueling rowing competition, heralding them as the first all-black women’s rowing team to cross the Atlantic Ocean. https://www.indy100.com/article/black-women-antigua-island-girls-rowing-atlantic-race-8698271
• beGirl.world - is an organization that empowers teenage girls through global education and travel. Founded in 2014 as a vehicle to teach and expose the next generation about cross-cultural learning, careers in travel, careers that travel and study abroad programs.
• Delta Airlines to Serve Wine from Black Owned Winery, i.e. Brown Estate, the first and only black-owned estate winery in California’s Napa Valley.
• World’s Largest Museum Dedicated To Black Civilizations Opened In Senegal in December - https://www.africa.com/worlds-largest-museum-dedicated-to-black-civilizations-opens-in-senegal/
• Author Calvin Alexander Ramsey Sr. has written a play and a musical based on the Green Book. http://calvinalexanderramseysr.com/
• These Black American Women Are Making Boss Moves Overseas - https://madamenoire.com/1045233/these-sisters-are-making-boss-moves-overseas-heres-how-you-can-too
• If you haven’t done so already, check out this Washington post article by Rhonda Colvin, “TRAVELING WHILE BLACK - Some Americans are afraid to explore their own country, concerns that evoke the Jim Crow-era Green Book” wapo.st/traveling-while-black

Travel Writing Tips and  Info

• Meet the 52 Places Traveler for 2019 - For the second year in a row, the New York Times is sending one lucky traveler to all 52 destinations -  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/27/travel/meet-the-applicants-for-2019s-52-places-to-go-traveler.html
• Successful Travel Stories: 9 Questions to Ask Before You Pitch https://www.pitchtravelwrite.com/successful-travel-stories.html
• 101 Publishers that Pay for Travel Writinghttps://www.freedomwithwriting.com/freedom/uncategorized/101-travel-publishers-that-pay-writers/
• 7 TIPS FOR TRAVEL WRITERS

   communikait.com/2017/11/7-tips-travel-writers

• Ever dream of being a travel writer??? Well here is an website full of tips. dreamoftravelwriting.com -  It also has a travel magazine database. http://www.travelmagazinedatabase.com
• What We See When We Look at Travel Photography -  One of the most thought-provoking perspectives on travel photography and travel writing that I've ever come across. NYTimes.com - nyti.ms/2dsmRjD
• Off Assignment—a home for the tales that writers gather en route to official stories—to prove it. Forged by today’s top journalists, essayists, and travel writers, Off Assignment is a publication dedicated to candid storytelling about moving through space. www.offassignment.com
• The Struggle Is Real -- The Reality of Travel Writing

huffingtonpost.com/david-duran/the-struggle-is-real-the-_b_8482092.html

About Elaine Lee

Elaine Lee is the editor of “Go Girl: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure". She is also a  San Franciso/Bay Area based lawyer, globetrotter, and travel journalist. She has visited 61 countries and completed two solo trips around the world. Her travel writings have been showcased in numerous national magazines, anthologies and webzines. She has shared her love of travel on many local and national radio and TV shows.  Her website ugogurl.com is a leading portal for information on black travel, black travel writing and travel media information.

Be on the look out for my newly revised website. I will be sending you a notice soon!

elaineruthlee@gmail.com

ugogurl.com