It’s a well-accepted travel truth: some destinations are even more impressive in person than they seem to be in photos and video, and others fail to live up to their billing.

But for every Grand Canyon – breathtaking in scale and scope, a real gut-punch upon first glance, no matter how many times you’ve seen it in books or online – there’s a Times Square, frustratingly crowded and criminally overhyped. From Rome to Beijing, here are seven places that don’t need to be shoehorned into your itinerary – and where to go instead.

1. Times Square – New York City

Between the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Rockefeller Center, New York is home to a number of attractions that are arguably better admired from afar than up close, and Times Square, with its maddening crush of gawping out-of-towners, is perhaps the best example. If you can’t resist seeing what the hype is all about, pass through at night when the neon glitz is in full effect... and then make like a local and get out as fast as you can.

The alternative: Go gallery-hopping in Chelsea, catch a show in Williamsburg, graze your way through the Lower East Side, or simply take a stroll through Central Park – really, anywhere but here.

2. Mona Lisa at the Louvre – Paris

Last year, a survey revealed that some 1700 Britons consider the Mona Lisa the most overrated tourist attraction in Europe – a harsh assessment but probably a fair one, especially if you’re visiting just to see that enigmatic smile in person. The Louvre has other treasures in its collection, both lesser-known and highly acclaimed, but the crowds pile up in front of Da Vinci’s iconic work, and it can be tough to catch an unobstructed glimpse – though to be honest, there isn’t much to differentiate the original from the reproductions you’ve seen a gazillion times.

The alternative: Instead of jockeying for space in front of the painting and then calling it a day, broaden your approach: Beyoncé and Jay-Z filmed the video for their song “Apeshit” at the Louvre in 2018, and the museum has a visitor’s trail that hits the highlights, so you’ll spot the star attraction plus a host of other notable pieces as well.

3. Trevi Fountain – Rome

The waterworks made famous by Fellini’s La Dolce Vita and Frank Sinatra’s “Three Coins in the Fountain,” the Trevi is one of modern-day Rome’s most beloved sites – and it has the fanbase to match. Swarms of tourists make the pilgrimage to toss in their loose change on a daily basis, creating gridlock in the small piazza, causing damage to the fountain, and bringing out the touts and pickpockets who prey on those preoccupied with sightseeing and photo ops.

The alternative: To beat the crowds, go at sunrise or after dark when the lights show off designer Nicola Salvi’s skills, or focus on Rome’s other masterpieces instead, like Bernini’s Fontana del Tritone, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, and St. Peter’s Square at the heart of Vatican City.

4. The Great Wall of China

When the Badaling section of the Great Wall reopened in March after months of shutdown, it was hailed as a sign that the coronavirus tide was slowly but surely turning. The Unesco World Heritage site is now operating at a limited capacity, but before the pandemic struck, that stretch of the Wall looked more like a tourist trap than one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. “These days,” Lonely Planet’s Tom O’Malley writes, Badaling ”feels like a tacky ski resort with its cable cars and souvenir stands,” and other sections near Beijing, like Mutianyu, Jinshanling and Simatai, suffer the same fate.

The alternative: It’s a bucket-list destination, so don’t skip it entirely; instead, venture away from China’s capital and link up with a hiking group for a more intimate, less tame approach.

5. Blarney Stone – County Cork, Ireland

Bending over backwards to plant one on a piece of rock that millions of other lips have touched has never been a tradition for the squeamish or germaphobic, especially considering that the potential payoff is just receiving the gift of gab (and catching some pretty nice views of the surrounding countryside from the castle walls). But busloads of people pass through and pucker up each day, and after a brief three-month ban, kissing the Blarney Stone is allowed again – a much less appealing proposition mid-pandemic, even with social distancing, mandatory PPE, and a bevy of stringent cleaning protocols in place.

The alternative: If you must visit a stone of some sort, the Rock of Cashel – a sprawling ancient fortress with a Gothic cathedral, Romanesque chapel, and beautiful views of Tipperary – is the way to go.

6. Four Corners Monument – Southwestern US

A gimmicky designation for the only place in the US where four states meet at a single point, the Four Corners Monument marks the shared border between Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado – inaccurately, for the record. The Navajo Nation Tribal Park is currently closed until further notice due to COVID, but aside from a market selling native artwork and the monument itself, a quartered circle embedded in the ground at the states’ intersection, there’s not much here anyway, including water or electricity.

The alternative: Explore the four states themselves – in northwestern New Mexico, Chaco Culture National Historical Park highlights the remnants of an ancient civilization; in southwestern Colorado, Ute Mountain Tribal Park features petroglyphs, cliff dwellings, and other archaeological sites; southeastern Utah’s Hovenweep National Monument boasts six prehistoric Puebloan villages perched on canyon rims; and in northern Arizona, the vibrant sandstone formations of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park lend an otherworldly air to the landscape.

7. Stonehenge – Wiltshire, England

A two-hour drive from London, England’s seminal stone circle is a major stop on the tourist-bus route, receiving more than a million visitors a year, so unless you spring for one of the small-group experiences before or after normal business hours, you’ll be making your way around the mysterious sarsens with plenty of company – and that’s not exactly the most nurturing environment to foster a mystical connection.

The alternative: The UK has a plethora of neolithic stone structures, from Cornwall’s Merry Maidens to Pentre Ifan in Wales, all less-visited than Stonehenge, and there are numerous ancient sites around the world with similar connections to the equinoxes and solstices, including Mexico’s Teotihuacán and Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma.

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7 attractions you should skip (and where to head instead)

Let’s start with a disclaimer: however good a hotel or a letting company’s cleaning guidelines are, they still need to be put in place on an individual basis. In other words, it’s a big world - though not currently as big as it usually is - and making generalisations is difficult.

The effort required by individual properties to be as visibly hygienic as possible should be a win-win-win though. The good name of the establishment is preserved, as is that of the company, and the guest receives a safe and relaxing stay.

Hotels, on first glance, offer more obvious hazards than self catering properties - especially if the latter has been empty for a few days and thoroughly cleaned. The fewer people you’re in contact with indoors, the lower the chances of catching COVID-19. Hotels, especially larger ones have lobbies, lounges, lifts, bars and places to eat. And, as part of reopening precautions worldwide hotels like all businesses have had to adapt. See Marriott’s COVID cleanliness FAQs for an example. WHO and CDC guidelines will also give you an idea of the type of measures being recommended and taken.

Many communal spaces in larger hotels now have restrictions on numbers or are closed, either to non-guests or altogether. Areas where the mingling takes place will generally have access carefully managed and be more frequently and visibly cleaned than they were before. Some steps taken, such as lounge closures, may be to reduce costs as much as to prevent virus transmission. Others will be familiar to us all including social distancing, moving guest services online to minimise contact and requiring face masks in communal spaces. Do ask questions: if you want to know more about an individual establishment contacting the General Manager before travelling is a good next step. As with a hotel’s approach to environmental issues like recycling and water management, the degree of engagement you receive when you ask is a good indicator of the seriousness with which these matters are dealt with.

Airbnb and similar services have also, unsurprisingly, been working hard with hosts to meet the expectations of post-COVID travel. Hosts who commit to Airbnb’s Enhanced Cleaning protocol have this flagged up in search results. In other cases, hosts can opt for a booking buffer to leave a property vacant for 72 hours.

Where Airbnb also scores high is the ability to quickly forge that direct connection between the customer and host. Not only can you see what guidelines are in place, but you can check and double check to your heart’s content via messages before you book. Two hosts I spoke to said that while some guests are asking their own questions that are already covered by these protocols, most are trusting that the measures put in place will be effective.

Ultimately this comes down to how comfortable you are with the risk of travelling. If you’re prepared to get on a train to travel to an airport, then pass through communal spaces to get on a plane and then be in a different country then you’ll probably be comfortable staying in either a hotel or an Airbnb. There are certainly good last minute deals in both accommodation sectors and flexibility in booking.

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Travel may be a little tricky these days, but you can still traverse the globe with these delicious drink recipes to try at home.

Today's non-alcoholic drink hails from Taiwan – Bubble Tea.

What is it?

Take one sweet, hot, caffeinated beverage and add instant fun! Soft, squishy balls of tapioca are the magic ingredient that transform pearl tea from workaday beverage into virtual dessert.

Origins

Who said nothing good came out of the 1980s? In Taiwan, tea-lovers reinvented the humble cup of tea with the addition of boba – dessert-style balls of tapioca – creating an Asia-wide sensation. The prototype spawned a legion of hot and cold variations made with green tea, fruit tea, juices and even coffee. As the popularity of “pearl milk tea” grew, so did the tapioca pearls, and the straws required to drink them!

You'll need (Serves 1)

16 fl oz (500ml) water
2 oz (60g) boba (large tapioca pearls, available from Asian supermarkets)
3 tbs sugar syrup (for preparing the boba)
1 teabag of your favourite tea
3 tbs canned sweetened condensed milk

Method

Step 1: First prepare your tapioca pearls. Heat the water to a boil and slowly add the dry pearls.
Step 2: Reduce the heat and stir gently until the pearls float to the surface. Simmer for 15 minutes on a medium heat, then allow to stand for 15 minutes.
Step 3: Drain the pearls, mix with the sugar syrup, and set aside.
Step 4: Next, prepare your tea the old-fashioned way, steeping a teabag in a cup of recently boiled, but not boiling, water. Set the tea aside in the fridge to chill.
Step 5: To make your pearl tea, pour the chilled tea into a tall glass and stir in the condensed milk, then pour in your tapioca pearls. Serve with an outsized straw for slurping up the boba (or provide a long spoon).

Tasting notes

Bubble tea is not just a drink, it’s an interactive game. You never know which sip will be sweet liquid tea, and which sip will deliver a sweet, sticky ball of tapioca. The giant straw is an integral part of the bubble tea experience, just large enough to accommodate a giant tapioca pearl. If you get lucky and slurp a pearl, you’ll get the frisson of anticipation as the flow of liquid slows, before the pearl arrives suddenly, sweet and soft, in your mouth. If you like tapioca balls, look out for variants with grass jelly and balls of aloe, sago, taro root and egg pudding.

Other recipes:

Mimosa
Sangria
Mango Lassi

This article was originally published in May 2020 and updated September 2020.

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Destination Drinks #33: Bubble Tea

Want a taste of international travel without leaving your kitchen? Why not make a traditional, red-hot chilli from Texas, a dish that has been firing up residents of the US state since the 1800s, if not before.

What is it?

In Texas, this slow-simmered beef dish with its fiery chilli paste is known as a “bowl o’ red”. The more “alarms”, the hotter the chili – five is the maximum.

Ingredients (serves 4)

500g (1lb) beef mince
1 tbs oil
1 cup (250mL) passata
2 cups (500mL) water
½–2 tsp ground cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you want it)
1½ tsp salt
1½ tsp cumin
1½ tsp oregano
1½ tsp paprika
1 small onion, peeled and minced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
Grated Cheddar cheese and sour cream to serve

How to cook

Step 1: Brown the beef in the oil in a large saucepan over a medium to high heat.
Step 2: Add the passata and water and stir.
Step 3: Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Step 4: Simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 5: Serve with grated Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Tasting notes

Texas chili is a hearty meat-and-chilli stew, distinguished from other types of chili by its lack of beans or tomatoes. Though you can sample it at nearly any greasy-spoon diner in the Lone Star State, attending a cook-off is undoubtedly the most authentic way to taste it. Buy yourself a raffle ticket, grab a spoon, and get ready for some heat. The best chilis will be thick and never greasy, with tender chunks of meat and a slow-smoked flavour. The type  of chilli used depends on the cook – popular bets are smoky guajillos; rich, dark pasillas; or singing-hot árbols. Cool your mouth down with a fat wedge of cornbread and a slug of Texas lager.

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Have you recreated any of the dishes featured in this series so far? Share your pictures with us on Twitter and Instagram by tagging @lonelyplanet. For more great recipes, check out Lonely Planet’s book The World’s Best Spicy Food .

This was originally published in April 2020 and updated in September 2020.

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How to make Texan ‘five alarm’ chili

The American South is defined by its cuisine, landscape, accent, literature, music and history. In the cities of the Southeast, one can uncover the true American experience, from the sweat-drenched noir of New Orleans to the accept-all-comers diversity of Atlanta and Nashville. These cities also offer the perfect bases to explore this fascinating region further.

Editor's note: Please check the latest travel restrictions before planning any trip and always follow government advice.

Best day trips from Atlanta

Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia
The Georgia Museum of Art is a smart, modern gallery where brainy, arty types set up in the wired lobby for personal study, while art hounds gawk at modern sculpture in the courtyard garden as well as the tremendous collection from American realists of the 1930s. 1hr 15min by car.

North Georgia Wine Country
The Appalachian foothills north of Atlanta are now a recognized viticultural region, thanks to the ultra-quaffable wines produced here. There are more than a dozen wineries to choose from, many with breathtaking mountain views, live music or patios that are perfect for whiling away an afternoon. Pull up a stool at one of Dahlonega’s tasting rooms to sample the best of the region. 2hr by car.

Providence Canyon State Park, Georgia
You might not expect Grand Canyon-style landscapes within an easy drive of Atlanta, but that’s what you'll find at Providence Canyon. The 1000-acre park has hiking trails galore amid its trademark gullies, with cliffs of layered sediment in a rainbow of colors. Stop for a bite and a riverside stroll in Columbus, on the Chattahoochee River. 2hr 20min by car.

See more day trips from Atlanta.

Best day trips from Charlotte

Asheville, North Carolina
In 1890, George Vanderbilt decided to build himself the largest home in the US in the most beautiful location. He chose the rolling mountains near Asheville – along what’s now the Blue Ridge Parkway – where art deco buildings, farm-to-table restaurants and innovative microbreweries now pave the way to his Biltmore Estate. The town is home to a sizable population of artists and hard-core hippies. 2hr by car.

Congaree National Park, South Carolina
Firefly speed dating? Yup. Not only does Congaree National Park have the world’s largest expanse of old-growth hardwood forest and miles of boardwalk trails through languid blackwater swamps, but for two weeks in late May to early June, Congaree becomes a first-date hotspot for a million Photinus carolinus fireflies, who blink in unison during mating season. 2hr by car.

Mount Airy, North Carolina
The inspirational setting for the fictional town of Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show, Mount Airy is as American as the $1.80 bologna sandwich at its Snappy Lunch diner. The surrounding Yadkin Valley’s wine industry has lent an air of sophistication to this old-timey town. Check into the endearingly perfect Pilot Knob Inn to stay in an original tobacco cabin, and canoe on your own private lake. 2hr by car.

Best day trips from Nashville

Lynchburg, Tennessee
Lynchburg – the home of Jack Daniels Distillery – is a veritable mecca for fans of Tennessee whiskey. The distillery is located in a dry county, but you can still sample whiskey drawn from individual barrels during one of their informative distillery tours. If wine is more your speed, pop into the Lynchburg Winery before indulging in a slice of rich Southern gastronomic history at Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House Restaurant. If souvenir shopping is on the list, the surrounding shops are stocked with a delightful assortment of handmade crafts. 1hr 40min by car.

Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Six miles from downtown Chattanooga lies a nature-based triple treat: Ruby Falls, Rock City and the Inline Railway. This adventure is based in Lookout Mountain, a mountain ridge running through Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Go in for a guided cave tour or a 700ft zipline adventure through Ruby Falls, home of the world’s largest underground waterfall. Stroll through the diverse flora and fauna of the Rock City Gardens. Wrap up with a mile-high ride on the Incline Railway, one of the world’s steepest passenger railways. At the top: a bird’s eye from the Lookout Mountain observation deck. 2hr 10min by car.

Lost Sea, Sweetwater, Tennessee
Tennessee may be land-locked, but that doesn’t stop the state from boasting its very own sea. Listed as "America’s largest underground lake" by Guinness World Book of Records, the Lost Sea is a massive body of water located in a historic cave system known as the Craighead Caverns. The lake’s true size is unknown, but you can glide across its four-acre surface and catch a glimpse of the crystal formations and colossal rainbow trout that inhabit the caverns on a boat tour. Nearby, Sweetwater’s revitalized Main Street offers a bake shop full of indulgent Southern sweets, galleries and plenty of antique shopping. 2hr 53min by car.

See more day trips from Nashville.

Best day trips from New Orleans

Barataria Preserve, Marrero, Louisiana
The Barataria Preserve is part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, south of New Orleans near the town of Marrero (and Crown Point). This section provides the easiest access to the encircling dense swamplands. The eight miles of boardwalk trails offer a stunning exploration through the fecund, thriving swamp, home to alligators, nutrias (basically big, invasive river rats), tree frogs and myriad species of birds. 30min by car.

Laura Plantation, Vacherie
Discover Louisiana’s turbulent past at Laura Plantation, a restored 19th-century estate on the west bank of the Mississippi River. It was run by four Creole women, most notably Laura, for whom it is named. A tour teases out the distinctions between Creole, Anglo, free and enslaved African Americans. Culturally and architecturally, this Creole mansion is strikingly distinct from other plantations. 1hr by car.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s capital, is home to a thriving arts community, largely thanks to Louisiana State University. The LSU Museum of Art, within the clean, geometric lines of the Shaw Center for the Arts, holds a permanent collection of over 5000 works and also hosts touring exhibitions. There are lots more galleries on and off campus, many affiliated with the university and its myriad arts courses. 1hr 20min by car.

See more day trips from New Orleans.

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A new “infinite” flight pass will allow travelers in Canada to take as many domestic flights as they like for a flat monthly fee.

Air Canada announced a new “Infinite Canada Flight Pass” that will let pass-holders book travel “without blackout or booking restrictions, make changes or cancellations without penalty, and fly as often as desired for up to three months, depending on the duration of pass purchased”.

So how much will it cost to cruise around Canada at your leisure? Prices start at $2000 per month (excluding taxes), passes are available for one, two or three months. The passes allow for an unlimited number of flights, which can be booked up to one hour prior to the flight, with no blackout dates or booking restrictions, and no change or cancellation fees. However, the passes are only on offer for a limited time - they are on sale until September 23 here.

While the pass might get some Canadians travelling more domestically, the country remains all but off-limits to leisure travel. The US-Canada border is currently closed, and restrictions are in place for discretionary travel – including tourism, recreation and entertainment – for travelers from all other countries.

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The tragic crashes of two Boeing MAX 737s led to the grounding of the plane around the world. Now, a new report from the US government looks at what went wrong - and reveals flaws at Boeing and the US air safety regulator, the FAA. So should we be worried about flight safety? Specialist aviation journalist John Walton breaks down what the report says.

As a rule, air travel is incredibly safe: safer, statistically, than staying home. But it got there through generations of hard work, safety improvement, strong regulation and a dedication to analysing and learning from anything that went wrong.

The 2018 Lion Air and the 2019 Ethiopian Airways crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX killed 346 people and left travelers around the world concerned that flying might not be as safe as they thought.

This week, the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure released a report that outlined the catastrophic flaws in the Boeing 737 MAX, and the equally catastrophic oversight failures at the Federal Aviation Administration (the FAA, which regulates air travel in the US and is the lead regulator for US-designed and -manufactured aircraft).

The report makes for sobering reading: “Boeing’s design and development of the 737 MAX was marred by technical design failures, lack of transparency with both regulators and customers, and efforts to downplay or disregard concerns about the operation of the aircraft,” says the report. Meanwhile, it highlights that “the FAA’s certification review of Boeing’s 737 MAX was grossly insufficient and that the FAA failed in its duty to identify key safety problems and to ensure that they were adequately addressed during the certification process.”

The report ( available online in PDF form) stretches to 238 pages, and it’s a huge amount to digest, including a lot of technical detail. I wouldn’t suggest it for anyone but the most avid of aviation safety buffs. But the basic question many travellers will be asking themselves is this: “should I be concerned about flight safety in the light of this report?”

Anyone who travels by air should: the company that produces roughly half of the world’s airliners has clearly shown massive and systemic safety problems, has been systematically concealing those problems, and its primary safety regulator hasn’t been doing its job.

It’s pretty clear that there are still huge questions about the 737 MAX, both in terms of the flight control systems and in terms of several other elements of the aircraft’s design that have come to light since the aircraft’s grounding in March of last year. Some of those issues are major and fundamental design problems, but some of the issues are the sort of relatively minor problems that are a comparatively quick and simple fix.

One of the worrying parts of the report is the extent to which problems at Boeing seem to extend beyond the 737 MAX, both to other aircraft like the 787 Dreamliner, and to the company’s wider culture. You may remember that the 787 was grounded for several months in 2013 as the result of onboard lithium-ion batteries catching fire, and over the last few months more problems with the aircraft have been revealed.

It’s also very worrying that the FAA has, as the report puts it in bold and italic type, “failed to ensure the safety of the traveling public”. The report highlights cultural problems, excessive delegation to Boeing, conflicts of interest, undue pressure, poor communication and insufficient rigour in its work.

But at the same time, I wouldn’t have concerns about flight safety on other aircraft at this point. If that seems contradictory, I understand.

Here’s what I mean: across aviation, the FAA isn’t the only regulator. Europe’s EASA, Transport Canada, the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority and other regulators certify aircraft for use by their own airlines. In the past, this was in essence a rubber stamp of the FAA’s approval. With the revelations about the FAA’s failures, they’re taking a much harder line on both the 737 MAX and wider Boeing problems.

I’ve flown on the 737 MAX. I wouldn’t fly on one again for the moment. And it’s those international regulators’ approval of the MAX — and other Boeing aircraft — that I’ll be waiting for until I get on one again.

John Walton is an international aviation journalist, follow him @ thatjohn .

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Rare Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins are making a comeback in the waters of Hong Kong. Scientists say their numbers have increased in recent weeks thanks to a pause in high-speed ferry traffic as the pandemic slows transport in the area.

For years these dolphins, otherwise known as Chinese white dolphins, or pink dolphins, have avoided the Pearl River Delta in Hong Kong in order to stay out of the way of the high-speed ferries that cut through the waters daily. But now researchers say the number of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in the area has jumped by 30% in recent months, ever since boat traffic was suspended in February due to the pandemic.

Dr Lindsay Porter, a senior research scientist with the University of St Andrews, told Reuters that these waters, which were once the most congested waterways in Hong Kong, have become more dolphin-friendly amid the pandemic. "I’ve been studying these dolphins since 1993 and I’ve never seen anything like this dramatic change before, and the only thing that changed is 200 ferries stopped traveling before."

Dr Porter has been working with local conservation groups, including WWF Hong Kong, to study the dolphins in the Pearl River Delta. Drones have been dropped in the water to monitor their activity, which includes socializing, splashing about on the water and sex, reports the Guardian.

According to WWF Hong Kong there are about 2500 in the entire delta, but the group said they have observed a "worrisome decrease in the number of young dolphins" in Hong Kong's waters. "I sometimes feel that we’re studying the slow demise of this population, which can be really sad," Dr Porter told Reuters. Chinese pink and white dolphins in Hong Kong are particularly vulnerable to sewage and chemicals that are dumped into the harbour daily, as well as overfishing, boat traffic and coastal development.

WWF Hong Kong has been advocating for the government to designate Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and to declare a development-free Dolphin Conservation Management Area in the western and southern Lantau waters by 2024, so that pink and white dolphins have safe feeding and socializing habitats.

In a statement, the group said: "these threats have had a major and cumulative impact on the population for years. It is necessary to take a proactive approach in order to conserve the remaining population of the species before it’s too late."

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An in-depth series of studies has been commissioned by a top New York-based research group to address the issue of diversity in travel. MMGY Global has come together with a number of travel advocacy organisations to tackle the under-representation of specific communities in the travel industry, in a series of studies that will push for drastic change. The first study to be released will focus on the experience of Black travelers.

Several Black travel groups are working with MMGY Global on the study on Black leisure travelers, and Black meeting professionals, i.e. those involved in travel event management and hospitality. One of the groups steering that ship, alongside the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals and the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers, is the Black Travel Alliance — a group of international content creators who advocate for equal opportunities and "meaningful representation of Black voices" within the travel industry.

BTA's president Martinique Lewis tells Lonely Planet the team is involved in every aspect of the study and is dedicated to ensuring that it creates long-term change that goes beyond just market research, change that will see Black travelers being taken seriously across the board. "We were really serious about how it would look for this survey to come out, especially now. And we were serious about the partners MMGY brought in, we were serious about the people we chose on the steering committee," she explains. "We want to make sure that anybody going through with this survey is not just committed for this moment. We need to be committed, period. When all the hype dies down, what will the travel industry do to contain and amplify Black voices? We really want the industry to understand how important this group of travelers is."

Despite Black Americans contributing more than $60 billion annually to the travel industry, their stories and voices continue to be sidelined. And it's not an issue that's specific to the US. Frustratingly, this issue is repeated around the world in all spaces of the industry from storytelling to publishing and from conferences, to tourism boards, exhibitions and industry panels.

For tourism to move forward it has to fill in these gaps. The study aims to do that by identifying the needs, behaviours and concerns of these under-represented groups; using data from a random sample of 4500 Black travelers from the US, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and the UK to provide solutions. As MMGY's CEO Clayton Reid points out "as companies begin to evaluate their approach to diversity, equity and inclusion internally, the study will also examine the ways in which the industry needs to create products, experiences, services and marketing campaigns that connect with the needs of diverse markets."

"We want to make sure we move beyond just making the emotional argument because we've been going in circles," says Ursula Petula Barzey, BTA's Research Committee Chair. "Every time something big happens, like for example with the murder of George Floyd, we get to this point where people post black squares to show solidarity but we don't move the conversation along to the next step. And we want to do that. When there is data that makes a clear business case to make changes then we hope that more destinations, organizations and travel brands will move the needle and do something."

The results of the report, The Black Traveler: Insights, Opportunities & Priorities, will be published in late October. Find out more here.

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All Stories

7 attractions you should skip (and where to head instead)

Ask LP: what’s the safer option - a hotel or an Airbnb?

Destination Drinks #33: Bubble Tea

How to make Texan ‘five alarm’ chili

The 12 best day trips in the US Southeast

Canadian airline offers an unlimited flight pass

Should you be concerned about air safety after the new Boeing 737 MAX report?

Rare pink and white dolphins return to the waters of Hong Kong

How a new study aims to amplify Black voices and experiences in travel

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