I think we’ve all wondered at one point how “the other half” lives and travels (just watch Matt Damon in The Talented Mr Ripley to see what happens when that curiosity gets the better of you) and this week, Luxperience was one of the hottest tickets in town for the travel trade industry.
From what I’ve seen, one of the key pillars of luxury travel is having access to destinations that few are able to visit. It’s probably why expedition cruising is on the rise and why Antarctica is the top emerging destination for luxury holidaymakers, according to a new report from Virtuoso.
“Never before have we had such a well-travelled populace, a group of people that have had decades of opportunity to see and experience,” Heritage Expeditions CEO Aaron Russ said at Luxperience this week.
“They probably started when they were backpackers and they’ve evolved and developed as their wealth has changed [and] their lifestyles change, but they’ve continued to seek and explore over time.”
Meanwhile, I attended a dinner with Aqua Expeditions founder Francesco Galli Zugaro, who described his small ship company as more similar to “private yachting than the cruising industry”. After all, these are experiences with 40 passengers maximum, some with an impressive one-to-one crew-to-guest ratio.
Zugaro is obsessed with searching the world for remote destinations to take his guests next and just released his latest itineraries in East Africa, specifically Seychelles and Zanzibar, which depart in December 2025.
“I’ve done 16 safaris in my life so far, and every single one is affirmation that experiential travel really stems from Sub-Saharan African safaris because there’s always been a wildlife nature component…and guests are always accompanied by naturalists,” he said.
“I’ve always wanted to do something in Africa. I’ve spent three weeks on Lake Kariba looking at Zimbabwe on the Chobe River between Botswana, Namibia and the Refuji River in Tanzania,” he said, as he regaled me with his adventures in the region, such as discovering Aldabra, the second largest atoll in the world with the largest giant tortoise population.
Moving on from Antarctic expeditions and luxury cruising experiences, Web Travel Group’s had a rocky time this week. First, it announced that it was in a trading halt, then on Wednesday arvo, it was revealed that there were some accounting issues and the company owes approximately $32 million more to suppliers as of 30 Sep 2024.
However, the change should “not be material to the company’s earnings and financial position” and the company’s results will be released on 27 November.
Our Publisher Damian Francis attended the Australian Airports Association National Conference in Brisbane this week, where he shared the news of Sydney Airport’s $200 million upgrade of T2. As a result, according to CEO Scott Charlton, passengers will be able to shift from kerb to airside in less than 15 minutes. It’s the first upgrade that the terminal will have had in 30 years.
“These changes will boost our security screening rates by 113%, increase our hourly baggage processing by 300 bags per hour, and when this upgrade is formally completed by the end of next year, we expect our passengers to go from the kerbside to the airside in less than 15 minutes,” Charlton said.
Meanwhile, Tourism Australia announced new members, including Penny Fowler, who has been appointed Chair and Ian Horne, who was made Deputy Chair, replacing Michael Issenberg and Jeffery Ellison respectively.
In other news, ATIA CEO Dean Long was elected as Co-Vice Chair of the World Travel Agents Association Alliance (WTAAA), after serving as treasurer for a year. He chatted with us this week about how he will be sharing with WTAAA insights into the local initiatives that ATIA has spearheaded, such as work it has done around real-time payment risks.
And lastly, don’t forget to book your ticket to Bon Voyage the must-attend end-of-year-party hosted by Travel Daily! It’s a great chance to celebrate 2024 with your industry and it will take place on Thursday 28 November at 12-Micron in Barangaroo, Sydney.
See you there!
