The best way to learn about travel and tourism related products, is to actually travel and experience the same things our clients will experience (and travel is also the best part of our job!)
The next best source of information and inspiration is Virtuoso Travel Week, the annual conference we attend. What Paris Fashion Week is to the apparel industry, Virtuoso Travel Week is to the luxury travel business. In pre-pandemic times, more than 6000 travel advisors from across the planet converge in Las Vegas in August (we always marvel that the show must be very good to get people to the desert at that time of year!).
So today, we brave the nightmare that recent air travel has become, and land in a place only slightly cooler than the surface of the sun, to participate in this event. It will give us a chance to renew those relationships we already have with the various cruise lines and land tour companies, and the opportunity to cultivate new ones.
Here are a few of the new trends we’ve got our eye on, and will be trying to learn more about during this coming week:
Explora Journeys. This is brand new cruise line, which welcomes its first guests in May 2023. It’s exciting to be part of new travel product, and we’re really looking forward to doing more business with them. Here’s a link with more details to an article we posted a few weeks ago about Explora Journeys: https://pamperedcruiser.com/your-personal-invitation-to-meet-explora-journeys/
Blue Ribbon Bags. It’s not a big secret the airline industry is in complete disarray right now, and lost bags are a hot topic. This product enables you to track your bags, and if your bag goes astray during travel and doesn’t manage to catch up with you within 4 days, then they give you $1000 (without have to file an insurance claim).
West Africa Itineraries. When it comes to tourism infrastructure, West Africa is the least developed place in the world, and some cruise lines have begun to call in there. If ever you wanted the comfort of a cruise ship, West Africa has got to be the place.
Car Services. You may think the idea of a car service is for the lifestyles of the rich and famous (I certainly did). In reality, this is actually an affordable option that you may wish to consider as an alternative to a short flight. For example, Bob and I had to get between Seattle and Vancouver for a cruise a few months ago. The 25-minute flight for the two of us would have been about $300. For the same cost, we took a car service that delivered us door to door, and we didn’t have to endure the insult that flying has become (it was also faster when you consider your pre-flight wait time at the airport).
The Northwest Passage. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the fabled Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was the holy grail for explorers as an alternative for sailing around Cape Horn in South America. Norwegian Roald Amundsen was the first one to successfully make the crossing, but it took him from 1903 to 1906. Now you can do it in about 3 – 4 weeks. The unique scenery, as well as the remote communities (they don’t have those in Antarctica) you’ll visit along the journey will not disappoint. Greenland, Iceland, and remote parts of Northern Canada offer shorter itineraries with the same natural and cultural wonders.
A note about Virtuoso:
The Virtuoso website, it’s a great resource for trip planning. If you go to www.virtuoso.com and select “Destination”, there are a ton of articles and other resources about hotels, activities, and excursions there.
Today’s Travel Opportunities
West Africa and Atlantic Islands
- Round Trip from Dakar (Senegal) for 14 days with prices starting at $6122 per person.
- Visit Dakar, Goree Island, Cape Verde Islands, Fogo,
- Incredible wildlife viewings from salt-water hippos, manatees, turtles, and exotic birds, on nature safaris in the Bissagos UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The humpback whales breed off the coast of the Cape Verde Islands in the winter months as well.
- Fare includes a land safari out of Dakar where you’ll see giraffe, buffalo, monkeys, gazelles, ostriches and rhinos.
- Departures on November 26, December 8, 2022, and January 1 & 13, 2023
Reykjavik to Kangerlussuaq (Greenland)
- 10-days departing August 11, 2023 starting at $13,200 per person.
- Includes all transfers (even from your home to the airport), round-trip air, one-night pre-cruise hotel, all expedition gear, shore excursions daily, open bar.
- You will visit 14 ports in Iceland and Greenland over the course of 10-days.
- This is a great alternative for those who want to see the arctic, but don’t have time to spend a month on board traversing the Northwest passage.
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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
