Photo Credit: Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir
The London World Travel Market (WTM) is considered one of the most influential travel and tourism events globally. It attracts professionals from around the world and was first launched more than 40 years ago (in 1980).
This year, more than 5,000 exhibitors from over 180 countries attended the event, (from 5th to 7th November) which was held at the ExCeL London.
Some of the most important topics discussed during the event were among others sustainable tourism and travel technology. The WTM provided extensive networking opportunities, with pre-scheduled meetings and also various networking events on site.
Furthermore, it provided many opportunities to discuss important topics and to learn something new, since there were many interesting speakers and panel discussions.
One of the panels was “The Global Pathway to an Inclusive Future: Going From “Say“ to “Do“ with the speaker Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir. She is the founder and director of Moonlight Experiences which is an award-winning company dedicated to celebrating queer travel and culture.
Additionally, Aisha is the owner and director of “The Common Press”, a queer intersectional bookstore in London that is ranked among the Top 10 independent bookshops in the city. She has played a pivotal role in developing diverse campaigns and festivals over the last 12 years, working with communities, institutions, and companies to create them all within an intersectional framework.
AfricaNewsAnalays’ travel editor, Niels Bartels, was on site during the event and interviewed Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: What does Moonlight Experiences offer ?
Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir: Moonlight Experiences is a LGBTQ+ travel company. We showcase the best of a certain destination city. I started up in London. We are now in various cities. Our idea is to showcase how diverse and inclusive our community is because often we don’t hear those positive stories. It is also about generating revenue for LGBTQ+ businesses and then use around the cities. I tend to take people on tours, on experiences and also to get them to integrate with the community, so they can learn better. We get a lot of women that go out with us at night because they feel safer. It’s all about sharing a sense of environment and community.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: What inspired you to start Moonlight Experiences ?
Aisha: I didn’t see that representation anywhere. A lot of tours were (only) dedicated to gay white men. It is really important to be diverse and inclusive. We get a range of people that travel. We get a lot of queer women, lesbian, trans, black people, people of colour…I didn’t see those services represented at all.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: Organizing those tours comes along with certain challenges. What are some of the biggest challenges ?
Aisha: The biggest challenge is finding people that can support the business. The other part is visibility. A lot of people who aren’t sure about the business don’t want to support it. It is very community driven. I am glad that now more people and businesses want to support it.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: What do you do in order to make sure that the destinations which you chose are friendly for your target group ?
Aisha: I think it is important to remember that the LGBTQ community is everywhere. They are resilient. They have always lived in different environments. The Middle East is no different.
There’s a big LGBTQ community in the Middle East. There are lot’s of activists that are trying to advance and create change. So what we do is, when we are in these destinations, when we receive those people, it is about support. It is really important to keep supporting our community internationally, even when things don’t look good at the surface level. If you go to a destination and the money that you are using can go back to the community so that they can support themselves or defend themselves, that’s where the change starts to happen. A lot of money can go to that, for example for supporting legal aid or housing for queer people.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: What type of travel experience do you offer that cater especially for the needs of LGBTQ people ?
Aisha: We do a lot of nightlife experiences, a lot of historical experiences where people can learn about our community in a way that is a lot more authentic. We do online LGBTQ education for organizations and companies. For that, we do invite drag kings and drag queens so that they can be part of that learning. It is really important to engage with the community but also to have a more immersive experience. It helps to make people understand a bit better about the community.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: What do you do when your clients during a trip face discrimination ? How do you handle such situations ?
Aisha: I think it is about ensuring that the destinations and the partners we work with are trained and understand our community. We tend to use LGBTQ friendly partners or LGBTQ partners in general. It is all about providing support and the resources people need to help them overcome it or to limit that happen. It is not something that you can totally not have because there is always a chance that it might happen.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: Can you give us an example of a trip that really went well or a wonderful moment which you still remember ?
Aisha: I had two travelers from India that came to London. They wanted to go out. They didn’t read the description properly and they realized it was an LGBTQ experience. They were then a bit nervous. It was a shock to them to be in a venue of LGBTQ people and to see a drag king and all the things we love about our community. They wanted to leave but then they realized that it is a safe environment and that it is a place where they can connect with people and then within two hours they didn’t want to leave. They were then talking to everybody and interacting and you could see how their ideas started to change. The way they started to connect with the community was absolutely beautiful. I think there is a lot to be said about what you hear about people versus actually being in a room with them, actually connecting with them. We often have certain perceptions of what people are or what destinations are and actually sitting down and talking to people that prejudice will slowly start to go away.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: What are your ideas for the future ? Is there anything new that you will soon launch?
Aisha: Me and my wife are currently working on a new business and trip to cater more for queer women, black people and people of colour. There will be more of that to come in the future.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: Thank you for the interview.