Reflections from the 1st International Meeting on Afro-Tourism in Portugal

Afro-tourism is no longer an emerging industry. It's profitable, it's global, and it is being driven by Black travelers — especially solo Black women — who are reclaiming movement, memory, and leisure as birthrights.

The 1st International Meeting on Afro-tourism in Portugal made this unmistakably clear. The gathering brought together leaders from Portugal, Brazil, and Lusophone Africa to discuss cultural connection, tourism strategy, and the economic power of the African diaspora.

Black people at the center of Afro-tourism's growth

A central truth surfaced repeatedly:

Black people are the culture, the history, and the value that make these destinations desirable — and we must be at the center of how this industry grows.

Brazil is already demonstrating what this looks like at scale. The country welcomed a record 6.65 million international tourists in 2024 and is on track to reach 8 million in 2025. These numbers exceed previous tourism peaks during the World Cup and the Olympics! Solo Black women travelers are widely recognized as a key force behind this surge. Brazil has responded by intentionally designing campaigns, itineraries, and cultural experiences that speak directly to us.

But strategy must be matched with equity.

Tania Neres, who leads Afro-tourism, Diversity, and Indigenous Peoples at Embratur (the Brazilian Tourist Board), outlined a crucial point: Afro-tourism is not simply about packaging Afro-descendant history or offering “cultural tours.”

It is about ensuring that Black people — our safety, our dignity, our leadership, our economic participation — are non-negotiable priorities.

This matters most in places like Salvador, where Afro-descendant culture is the heart of Brazil’s global cultural identity. Salvador is a place where the food, music, dance, spirituality, and memory of the African diaspora define the landscape. Yet Afro-descendant people, especially Black women, continue to earn less and hold fewer decision-making roles in the tourism sector. The culture is profitable. The people who carry it are underpaid.

Brazil is leading the way in Afro-tourism by doing what works:

• Investing directly in Black entrepreneurs.

• Elevating local cultural leaders as central narrators of place.

• Building tourism economies that honor the communities that sustain them.

• Ensuring Black safety, opportunity, and joy are guaranteed — not optional.

  
  

Tourism was described at the meeting as “the industry of peace,” where people learn to recognize one another’s humanity.

But peace is not passive. Peace is built. And it cannot coexist with racism, homophobia, sexism, misogyny, ageism, or discrimination against disabled people.

If the tourism economy depends on Black culture — then the tourism economy must also uphold Black wellbeing.

At Strategic Disruption, this is the work we advance through our global retreat series, cultural exchanges, and convenings across the African diaspora. Our retreats are designed to center Black history, culture, and joy while actively supporting Black entrepreneurs, guides, artists, and cultural practitioners in the places we visit. We collaborate with local leaders to co-create experiences that strengthen community economies, expand networks of solidarity, and challenge tourism models that extract from Black places while sidelining Black people. We move with the understanding that travel is a tool for both healing and power-building across the diaspora.

The takeaway is simple and powerful: Afro-tourism is thriving.

The global market is responding to the influence, taste, creativity, and movement of Black people worldwide — especially Black women. The question now is whether the industry will continue to profit from Black culture or begin to invest in Black people.

Strategic Disruption Consulting will continue to work alongside cultural leaders, policymakers, storytellers, and creative entrepreneurs who are shaping a tourism future rooted in dignity, memory, and economic justice. The diaspora has always traveled. Now we are traveling with intention, and reshaping the world as we move.