Black Luxury travel is important. Seeing Black faces on social media, staying in beautiful places with exquisite accommodations, a top-of-the-line travel wardrobe and enjoying exclusive services, is more than simply inspiring. It is important, necessary even. Indulge in pre-flight meals at your airline’s lavish lounge to prepare for a long flight, and enjoy a receptionist holding a tray with champagne-filled glasses when entering the hotel. A concierge for one room, ready to make the inhabitants’ wishes their command. Having access to Tesla and BMW loaner cars or chauffer’s to explore the city or town. Spas with outrageous services. These things often make luxury travel generally feel out of reach for the general population around the world. Black Luxury travel is important because it provides privacy and seclusion, and sets the stage for social change while encouraging the healing needed to lead to breaking generational curses.
Privacy and seclusion are almost guaranteed with luxury travel. According to Business Wire, “privacy is the new ultimate luxury” and one of the top priorities of luxury travelers. It is general knowledge among Black travelers that there are some countries where Black people are treated like celebrities. The locals of the small villages may have never traveled themselves, therefore never having seen a Black person, or anyone with braids, weave or any kind of dye in their hair. Even though their curiosity can be charming, getting a break from the attention, with the professionalism that is offered in luxury accommodations, is important. The less positive reason for the importance of privacy and seclusion is being mistaken for an employee simply because of the color of their skin. Feeling comfortable while traveling can be hard to find without privacy and seclusion.
Self-care and being served or serviced in a luxury environment is important for healing the soul and breaking generational curses. Americans, in general, work longer and harder than those in other countries. Enslaved, Black ancestors were constantly at work, or on call to be of service to someone else, never truly able to care for themselves. True rest and relaxation were not an option. Self-care was unheard of. Today, that mindset of always having to work, or to be of service to someone else is carried deep within, making it difficult to stop working or serving and start caring for self. Luxury travel focuses on self-care. Skiff reminds its readers, “Boil it all down, and it’s easy to see why wellness tourism has become a $639 billion industry, as the wants of this group of travelers vary from intense hikes to relaxing massages to personal training.” Yoga retreats, spa resorts, holistic healing getaways and sleep resort vacations provide some of the deep self-care that can lead to soul healing profound enough to evoke the un-linking of generational curses.
Social change is where it began. Today, seeing other Black guests at luxury hotels on vacations is an exciting thing. Normalizing luxury travel by seeing people who look similar in luxury settings inspires others to seek the same, encouraging the dream and cultivating the reality for those outside looking in. Evita Robinson told Travel Weekly, “we re-did a whole dataset, going into our community and surveying 5,300 of our members to come up with a quantitative and qualitative report on what the Bipoc (Black, Indigenous and people of color) travelers are looking for, their desires and how and whether they’re represented in marketing. The highest percentages came in saying we need to be able to see ourselves in a place.” Racial equality in the luxury travel industry isn’t far off. Black representation on websites and in written material is beginning to show more diversity. Continuing to utilize luxury travel accommodations, airlines and activities, regardless of the number of Black people currently participating will help continue the process of normalization, therefore pushing social change.
Black luxury travel is important because it provides the privacy and seclusion required to let one’s guard down, the self-care needed to break generational curses, and the inspiration for social change. Show up to luxury. Indulge in positivity. Savor the fine service. Do the little things like asking for a late checkout. Or, lounging in the provided robe and slippers. Or, saying yes to the upgrade to club level. Black travelers belong in luxury travel. So, pull up.
