NOMADNESS Travel Tribe, a travel lifestyle brand determined to show that “travel has no racial, gender, religious, economic, or interest limitations,” has curated a travel festival for millennials of color called AUDACITY Fest.
Travel among people of color is on the rise. There are many groups and movements, just like Travel Noire, forming to encourage and inspire people who are underrepresented in travel industry marketing to get out and see the world.
According to Huffington Post, it’s estimated that the African-American community spends about $50 billion annually on travel and leisure with a large chunk of that spending coming from black women. However, the travel industry still spends very little marketing to the black community in comparison to how aggressively it targets white travelers, baby boomers, and other groups.
We had the chance to speak with Evita Robinson, CEO of NOMADNESS LLC., about AUDACITY Fest and the thinking behind the movement:
Travel Noire: How was AUDACITY Fest created?
Evita: I play with my brand and community. I truly do. As a creative, I am always throwing ideas out to the team, and encourage the same. Some make sense. Some don’t. This is a case of a dream that made sense and found its ideal timing.
After my TED Talk and a sharp increase in my keynoting, the end of 2017 became this time of reflecting on how things were changing for us. NOMADNESS Travel Tribe was turning six and I am all about innovating and making sure we don’t look like anyone else in the industry. The festival had always been on my mind. 2017 we took a hiatus from group trips to allow me to slow down enough for the TED Residency, really look at was and wasn’t working within my team, ways to innovate, and truly grow up as a brand.
That year working on events proved to be the push I needed to ask the question to my team: Am I crazy to think we could bump the festival up a couple years and do it in 2018? It was a collective, “Nah, you aren’t crazy.” And here we are.
TN: What is the vision for the festival?
Evita: To bring black and brown folks who travel the world together. My business model, and my personal stance as a leader, has always been about creating and putting community first. Always. It begins and ends with community for me.
AUDACITY Fest has created a vessel for us to do that in a larger way. These people will commune and also be educated by the people who make up both the bedrock and the future of the Black travel movement. Through programming, vending, and sponsor experiences we have something for every type of traveler: adventure, culinary, immersive, budget, luxury, and self-care.
AUDACITY Fest is set to take place this Saturday September 8, from 12pm to 7pm PST. It will be held at the Jack London Square Lawn in Oakland, California.
If you are in or near the Oakland area this is an event that you don’t want to miss. You can find more details for this event including how to get tickets, via the Instagram page: @audacityfest or @nomadnesstribe.
