Increasingly, travelers are looking for vacations that give them unique experiences beyond poolside lounging without skipping out on the opportunities to indulge in luxurious amenities or high quality food. For your most active clients who want it all from adventure and gourmet dishes to rest and relaxation in the lap of luxury, these new itineraries debuting in 2018 are right up their alley.
Adventures With a Cause
National Geographic Expeditions and G Adventures are teaming up yet again to expand their partnership and and bring eight new tour options to adventure-seeking and wildlife-loving travelers.
Starting in 2018, National Geographic Journeys will include safaris in South Africa and lesser-known areas of Botswana and Tanzania as well as explorations of Bali, Borneo and Mongolia that delve deeper than the typical tourist destinations.
Tours with National Geographic Journeys are designed as hands-on experiences that allow travelers to have the structure and security of a group tour led by a G Adventures guide, while still enjoying some flexibility along with built-in opportunities to immerse themselves in the destination’s culture and interact with locals.
These tours are also a great fit for the more conscious traveler as guests have the opportunity to visit projects and community initiatives that improve local livelihoods and protect natural or cultural heritage. A portion of the proceeds from all bookings of National Geographic Journeys also goes directly to the nonprofit National Geographic Society.
For more information, visit gadventures.com or nationalgeographicexpeditions.com.
Take a Walk
For clients looking to slow down during their travels and take time to immerse themselves or simply stop and smell the roses, Butterfield & Robinson’s recently expanded options for walking trips in Europe will do just the trick.
Butterfield & Robinson’s already robust portfolio of walking trips allow travelers to soak in the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of their destinations as they move on foot and make pit stops at local gems. After noting a 20 percent average increase of yearly walking departures, Butterfield & Robinson decided to add three new itineraries to its offerings: Basque Country Walking, Holland Walking, and Cotswolds Self-Guided Walking.
In the Basque Country Walking itinerary, guests will start their adventure in France, visiting small mountain villages as they hike through the Pyrenees Mountains before heading down to the beachside city of San Sebastian, Spain where the most Michelin star restaurants per capita are located.
The Holland Walking journey gives guests a quintessential Dutch experience starting with a tulip farm tour, traditional lunch, and time to wander among windmills before exploring the Wassenaar woodland. The walk ends with a trip to Leiden where travelers can rest their feet while enjoying a cheese and seafood tutorial.
For clients who prefer a more independent experience set at their own pace, the Cotswolds Self-Guided Walking tour is for them. While walking across five counties of this rural south English area, guests will experience meadows, woodlands and gardens with plenty of opportunities to indulge in local dishes including ripe produce and ales.
For more information, visit butterfield.com.
Gaze at the Big Five
Going on an African safari is probably on the bucket lists of many of your clients, and with Bush Whisper Expeditions‘ custom and preset itineraries, the possibilities to fulfill that dream are endless.
Bush Whisper Expeditions can take your clients’ travel dates, preferred accommodations, and budget along with a list of what they’d like to see and do and use that information to create a tailor-made African safari ranging from budget experiences to five-star luxury. For clients who would rather leave things up to the experts, Bush Whisper Expeditions also offers over 20 tour packages across southern and eastern Africa. Soon to be offered in 2018 are Bush Whisper Expeditions’ 12-Day Namibia Explorer tour and the 8-Day Wildlife & Cultural Safari.
On the Namibia tour, your clients can expect to climb some of the world’s highest free-standing sand dunes, sea kayak with seals and dolphins, spend time on private game reserves, camp inside the world’s fourth largest national park, and visit a UNESCO World Heritage site as well as the Big Cat Research Center run by the AfriCat Foundation.
The 8-Day Wildlife & Cultural Safari will take guests through South Africa on a trip that blends cultural immersion with activities to enjoy nature. Highlights include game drives and game walks, hiking through an ancient Cyad Forest, visiting the Modjadji Cultural Camp, which is home to a matriarchal dynasty that has lived in the area since the 1600’s, and more.
For additional information, visit bushwhisper.co.za.
