How one entrepreneur built and sold a travel media company for seven figures
Photo credit: Medium
When Zim Flores founded Travel Noire in 2013, she was betting on something the mainstream travel industry doubted: that Black travelers represented a significant, underserved market hungry for content that spoke to their experiences.
She was right. Travel Noire grew into one of the most influential Black travel media platforms, and Flores sold the company for a reported seven-figure sum—proving that Black travel content isn't a niche interest but a major market opportunity.
Seeing the Gap
Flores' journey began with observation. As a traveler herself, she noticed that mainstream travel media rarely featured Black faces, Black perspectives, or destinations of particular interest to Black travelers. When coverage existed, it often felt tokenistic or focused on trauma rather than joy.
She founded Travel Noire to fill this gap. The platform featured stunning photography of Black travelers, destination guides written from Black perspectives, and content that celebrated the experience of traveling while Black rather than apologizing for it.
Building a Media Empire
Travel Noire quickly resonated with an audience that had been ignored for too long. The platform grew through social media, with Instagram serving as a primary channel for its aspirational travel photography.
But Flores didn't stop at content. She developed:
- Group trips that brought the community together in real life
- Travel resources including visa guides and destination rankings
- Brand partnerships that connected Travel Noire with major travel companies
- An app that made the platform's content accessible on mobile
Her business acumen matched her editorial vision. Travel Noire wasn't just beautiful—it was profitable.
The Exit
In 2018, Travel Noire was acquired by Blavity, a digital media company focused on Black millennials, for a reported seven-figure sum. The acquisition validated what Flores had always believed: that Black travel media is a real business with real value.
The exit also demonstrated a path for other Black travel entrepreneurs. Flores showed that it was possible to build a travel media company serving Black audiences and sell it for significant money—a template others have since followed.
After Travel Noire
Since selling Travel Noire, Flores has remained active in the entrepreneurship and travel spaces. She speaks about building businesses, serves as a role model for aspiring founders, and continues to advocate for greater diversity in media.
Her legacy extends beyond the company she built. She proved a market existed, created a model for serving it, and opened doors for the Black travel media ecosystem that has flourished since.
What Zim Teaches Us
Zim Flores teaches us that our experiences have economic value. The things we know about traveling while Black—the destinations that welcome us, the businesses that serve us, the experiences that transform us—are worth money.
By building and selling Travel Noire, she showed that Black travel content isn't charity work or activism alone (though it can be both). It's a business opportunity for those bold enough to seize it.
Zim Flores proved Black travel sells. Learn about Zim and other Black history pioneers, then explore our upcoming trips and experience travel designed for those who demand excellence.
