Multicultural Travel News

The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) announced its newest enhancements for the destination's visitors looking to embrace African heritage and cultural offerings with an upgraded website, along with a new edition of the accompanying guide book, "Greater Miami and The Beaches Black Visitor Guide". "Miami has a proud history of welcoming culturally diverse travelers to the destination and offers unique experiences for our visitors and residents alike to embrace the vibrant and rich culture here," noted GMCVB President and CEO William D. Talbert, III, CDME. "Our newest Black Visitors Guide is the latest installation in pronouncing the GMCVB's commitment to those visiting Miami and our partners that celebrate the African heritage culture." The Mayor of Miami Beach, Matti Bower said, "The new Black Visitors Guide showcases Miami at its very best for those of African descent and the city of Miami Beach is honored to support Greater Miami and the Beaches as well as the Black Hospitality Initiative of Greater Miami with this launch." The Black Visitors Guide can be accessed at http://miamiblackvisitorguide.com.  Read more >>

The TRYP by Wyndham select-service hotel brand announced the launch of the brand's revamped consumer website, www.tryphotels.com, available in five languages: English, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. It is TRYP by Wyndham's first new global marketing campaign since the Wyndham Hotel Group acquired the brand last year from Melia Hotels International of Spain. By reintroducing the new website in-language, the brand now better accommodates travelers in key feeder markets and connects with its customers in their own language. The website will be updated frequently to feature brand promotions and offers aimed at consumers who shop online for urban hotels in key cities globally.  The new "This is My TRYP" campaign, created by the brand's marketing agency, Miami, Fla-based Navigant, is part of a broad, multifaceted effort to market TRYP by Wyndham as a global cosmopolitan brand that resonates with travelers around the world. The select-service mid-priced brand currently caters to business and leisure travelers in cosmopolitan cities including Madrid and Barcelona in Spain; Paris; Lisbon, Portugal; Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Montevideo, Uruguay. Visit www.tryphotels.com.  Read more >>

This winter, from November 5 - January 2, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History & Culture in Baltimore, Maryland presents its new exhibition, IndiVisible: African American Lives in the Americas.  Developed by the Smithsonian Institution, the exhibition explores the historical and contemporary stories of peoples and communities in the U.S., the Caribbean, Central America, and the northern coast of South America by shedding light on the dynamics of race, community, culture, and creativity and addressing the human desire to belong. With compelling text and powerful graphics, the exhibition includes accounts of cultural integration and diffusion as well as the struggle to define and preserve identity. Stories are set within the context of a larger society that, for centuries, has viewed people through the prism of race brought to the Western Hemisphere by European settlers. By combining the voices of the living with those of their ancestors, the exhibition provides an extraordinary opportunity to understand the history and contemporary perspectives of people of African and Native American descent. For more information, visit www.africanamericanculture.org.    Read more >>

This spring the Helsinki City Tourist and Convention organized a familiarization trip to Helsinki for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) travel agents in co-operation with the Finnish Tourist Board and Hotel Kakslauttanen in Saariselka, Lapland. Corporate responsibility is one of the strongest trends in the travel industry right now, and it is also a part of Helsinki's tourism strategy. According to research, the GLBT segment generates more travel income per person and travels more than other tourist groups. As a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), Helsinki also participated this May in the association's congress in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. For more information visit www.visithelsinki.fi.  Read more >>

The Staten Island Museum presents an overview of almost four centuries of African American history in their video and audio exhibit, Portraits of Leadership: African American Entrepreneurs of Staten Island. Showing the voices and faces of Staten Island's African American Community, the wit, wisdom and entrepreneurial spirit, and deep roots of this prolific community are highlighted. The film features Councilwoman Debi Rose, film-maker Gerald Barclay, the Morris family, Patricia Anne Taylor, and several other community leaders. The exhibit now thorough November 1 was curated by Jeanine Otis with photographer Willie Chu, guest historian Cynthia Copeland, and folklorist Chris Mulé. For more information, visit www.statenislandmuseum.org.    Read more >>

In 2012, the world's attention will be on Jamaica with the concurrence of three significant happenings: the country will celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence; its athletes, some the world's fastest runners, will be showcased in the upcoming Summer Olympics and Jamaica tourism will reach out to the Jamaican diaspora inviting them to "come home" to visit. Recently, Multicultural Travel News attended the 21st Annual Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX) convention and had the opportunity to interview the Jamaican Tourist Board's (JTB) Director of Tourism, John Lynch, to learn more about these upcoming events and initiatives.   Read more >>

With its diverse history and celebrated arts, Jamaica offers a great multicultural experience for visitors.  The capital and largest city, Kingston, is home to the Bob Marley Museum, African Heritage Museum, the National Gallery and Institute of Jamaica.  The city also has tours of many authentic Reggae studios where well-known hits were created.   Read more >>