Professional Retreats Show Black Travel Movement Gets Down to Business
Photo Credit: A dance class at Encounter Camp is one of the retreat's available sessions for black professionals seeking direction in their careers. Encounter Camp / Francise Fernandez
Skift Take
Somewhere between leisure travel and a career boot camp lies a professional retreat. Now, there's one that acts as a safe space for black professionals.
In the summer of 2017, high in the mountains outside of Los Angeles, a group of adults gathered by a campfire, brandishing sticks with marshmallows on the ends. Above was a night sky full of constellations. Imagine a fireside discussion that could easily wander from an afternoon open-air dance class to the leadership seminar and the struggles that black professionals face at work in America. This relaxed setting was the first annual session of Encounter Camp.
The gathering represents a new arm of the black travel movement, which combats the stereotype that black people don’t travel, when indeed the sector comprises a $48 billion market, according to Mandala Research.
It’s not hard to find a leisure travel experience geared toward black Americans, but Encounter Camp goes deeper, focusing on black professionals. Encounter Camp is filling a void in the market by offering outings about 90 minutes from Los Angeles at Pali Retreat. Existing professional retreat companies aren’t
