For the Wildlife

Explorers looking to stray from the usual sightseeing routes or tropical destinations and go off the beaten path are in luck as high-end travel companies begin to offer more journeys that embrace wildlife and nature.

Enjoying 24 hours of daylight on a cruise through icy waters, standup paddle boarding in the vicinity of pink dolphins and trekking through a national park to appreciate the sight of tigers and elephants are just a few of the many exceptional offerings from luxury travel companies.

“Travelers are now more than ever looking for extraordinary moments filled with authenticity and personal value,” says Sarah Casewit, co-founder of curated experiential travel company Naya Traveler. “It’s no longer enough to check off the must-see list, or come home with a suitcase full of souvenirs. They’re seeking personalized experiences that go beyond the tourist sightseeing route, in favor of opportunities to engage with locals and their traditions.”

When it comes to the exact locations that allow for unique, nature-driven travel, destinations all over the globe have a lot to offer, but Casewit notes that a few particular locations are of high interest lately. “These destinations attract a similar traveler profile due to the adventurous nature of the experiences, complete with adrenaline-filled activities,” Casewit says, noting that clients usually look for rustic chic lodges and a high-end glamping experience that infuses unique cultural elements including music, art or cuisine to complement the journey.

According to luxury travel company Natural World Safaris, one such location is Norway — experience life under the midnight sun with 24 hours of daylight while cruising the icy waters of the Svalbard Archipelago. “Great for those seeking a niche experience with an interest in wildlife, polar regions and conservation efforts,” is NWS’ Polar Bear Explorer trip, starting at $9,305 for 11 days.

Set sail north from Longyearbyen aboard some of the smallest expedition ships to cruise these waters with just 12 passengers for a uniquely intimate voyage. “This small ship expedition isn’t possible to book yourself, plus NWS offers the expertise of specialist leaders including National Geographic photographers,” says Will Bolsover, NWS founder and managing director.

The Polar Bear Explorer journey includes walking and sailing through incredible landscapes, fjords and waterfalls, and searching for colonies of walrus, polar bears and other marine mammals. The small ships are perfect for exploring the icy waters, creating the opportunity to have unrivalled up-close encounters with Arctic wildlife.

For a warmer destination, adventurous families looking for a multi-activity break can venture to Costa Rica for NWS’ 10-day, tailor-made trip, starting at $3,520. The excursion can include activities such as whale-watching, observing turtle nesting on the beaches, learning more about the species found in Costa Rica at butterfly, frog and iguana farms and exploring tropical Tortuguero, home to tapirs, jaguars, monkeys, sloths and more.

The safari is full of adventure, with jungle walks, horseback riding and canoeing, as well as the chance to witness four species of primate in Manuel Antonio National Park. If Bolsover had to pick just one experience that every client or visitor must take advantage of in Costa Rica, he says: “It has to be zip lining through the jungle canopy.”

Marine wildlife and tropical birds abound in Peru, where Naya Traveler offers a three-night journey in Puerto Maldonado combined with three nights aboard River Cruise in Iquitos starting at $900 per person per day. The country has three distinct regions, one of which is the virgin rainforest, which covers about 60 percent of the country and is rich in a biodiversity that is native to the Amazon. Journeying from Iquitos, travelers can explore the rainforest from the river on an intimate cruise, or stay in a missionary-style hacienda on the banks of the river in Madre de Dios.

“Visitors can cruise along the Amazon River and witness the meeting of the waters, standup paddle with pink dolphins surrounding them, and fish for piranhas at night,” says Casewit. She recommends taking a “night safari” through the Amazon rainforest, where travelers can see the animals that come out at night.

Across the South Atlantic Ocean in South India, Naya Traveler’s six-night journey consists of trips to Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Coorg, starting at $600 per person per day. This journey can be curated to include trekking alongside a tribal villager through Periyar National Park, a wildlife sanctuary that is home to some of India’s most majestic creatures including tigers and elephants, riding a skiff through the backwaters of Kerala to see locals living in equilibrium with nature, or spending the night on a traditional houseboat in the backwaters of Kerala.

Cultural diversity and a rich heritage abound all throughout South India, including Kerala, where language, music, art, cuisine and architecture can vary from one state to the next. The region also boasts a varied topography, with rolling hills, winding backwaters and tropical valleys to explore during the trip.

The land throughout the Southernmost continent in the world is barely touched by humans, offering breathtaking scenery and wildlife. Travelers can ride among whales, pinnipeds, albatross and penguins, and take a flight over the Geographical South Pole on a journey through Antarctica with Naya Traveler’s ‘The White Desert by Cruise’ trip.

“Cruise through Drake Passage with Antarctica on the horizon, take a dinghy to walk on Earth’s White Continent, witnessing Emperor Penguins breeding,” Casewit says of the trip, consisting of 10 nights starting at $1,300 per person per day. The excursion can also be altered to travel from South Africa to Antarctica by private jet and stay in luxury pods for eight nights, starting at $80,000 per person.

If you’re looking to explore more than a single continent in one sweeping trip, Natural World Safaris’ 18-day multi-destination experience, starting at $37,391, takes travelers on a journey from the red African deserts to Antarctica’s white landscapes. This safari expedition includes activities such as quad biking across the deserts of the Makgadikgadi Pans, a hot air balloon flight over the sand dunes of Sossuvlei, and discovering the desert-adapted wildlife of the Kalahari.

Each day offers a unique experience, such as flying in by jet to land on an ice-runway in Antarctica, where you can spot penguins and trek on the tundra. Bolsover says, “This is a finely-tuned safari which is coordinated to maximize on time and uses the expertise of the team to ensure the best experiences in each destination.”

No matter what destination your wildlife-oriented journey brings you to, Casewit recommends taking advantage of a travel company to enrich the experience, noting “These trips are designed to provide a unique space for clients to discover a destination through the eyes and knowledge of those who know it best.”

Photo courtesy Jack Oughton.

DUE TO THE EVER-CHANGING MOOD OF HIGH-END DINERS, HOTEL MANAGEMENT CONTINUES TO ADAPT TO NEW AND EXCITING CHALLENGES WITHIN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE SECTOR OF LUXURY TRAVEL. IN A RECENT POST BY TEXAS MEETINGS + EVENTS, EXECUTIVE CHEFS AND MANAGEMENT MEMBERS DISCUSS TRENDS WITHIN THE WESTERN REGION OF US THAT ARE BECOMING UNIVERSALLY SEEN IN HOTELS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

Photo by Jack Oughton.

One example of this is the convention center’s relationship with local company Java Pura as a coffee vendor. “In telling people about it, it’s roasted down the street and it’s available across Texas,” Bupp says. “What a great story to tell, and consumers love hearing about it.”

HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES & DIETARY RESTRICTIONS

Chefs at multiple hotels and resorts spoke about an increased desire to develop menus with healthy options for attendees. For breakfast, often groups are looking for healthy options and “light action stations,” as they “want to see how the food is prepared,” says Christof Syré, executive chef at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas.

In regards to particular ingredients, grains such as quinoa, farro and sorghum have gained a new spotlight, as well as cold oatmeal and avocado toast topped with smoked salmon or a poached egg. Salmon has been a strong ingredient for Ruffy Sulaiman, executive chef at Hilton Americas-Houston.

“When we do a lot of tastings, each time we have salmon in the tasting, salmon always wins,” Sulaiman says. He credits the interest in salmon because it’s loaded with Omega 3 and appeals to most health-conscious eaters.

Coinciding healthy options are dietary restrictions, a complicated but rewarding challenge that the hotel industry finds itself constantly working toward accommodating, says Sulaiman. “It allows us to be as creative as possible to make sure that we take care of those folks.”

Photo courtesy Swastiverma.

A new offering from one luxury travel company is inspiring clients to change the way they travel by transforming a standard journey into a game full of unexpected scenarios with strangers, intellectual puzzles and physical experiences.

By: Kelly Potts

Philippe Brown, founder of Brown + Hudson, knew that it was time to shake up the way people travel when a client came to his company and mentioned that their kids are more excited to play computer games at home than they are to experience new destinations. Enter The Great Game — a tailored journey that includes challenges, clues, puzzles and chance encounters to help you discover a location in a completely new and engaging way. “We started researching the particular games the kids were playing and the mechanics of how those games become utterly addictive and engaging,” Brown says. “We had to take everything that’s so messed up about these computer games and translate that to the real world, to include varying levels of challenge, prizes and a sense of competition.”

For this family, and many others, Brown notes that the issue wasn’t where they should travel, but rather how they should travel. The Great Game can range from physical stimulation to intellectual challenges, but every trip encourages clients to travel in a way they’ve never traveled before. “We turn it into a game and then the client has a better chance of seeing a place with new eyes or childlike wonder,” he says.

Where you play the game is totally up to you, though Brown does recommend you allow enough time in a destination that offers much to experience, such as Downtown Buenos Aires or Patagonia, for example. “Places that are more intense offer a richer palette,” he says. “To get the full benefit of the trip, it’s better to have it be longer than four days because then you really get into it.”

Before embarking on this unique getaway, there’s a planning process that Brown compares to working with an architect. “We get to know you, get a feeling of what you’re looking for and make sure we ask the right questions so we get the trip right,” he says. “We believe that before getting excited about places, the client is the destination.” The trip planning interview consists of questions that may seem random, but were crafted with the assistance of a therapist to really get to the heart of the person and understand their motivations, fears and goals for the trip. “Unless you ask the questions, there’s no point in talking about places,” he says.

Brown + Hudson currently has three Great Game trips in the works and one that occurred in India last year. One trip the company is planning to Costa Rica includes a challenge with zip lining. “When people come to us and say we want the kids to build up confidence, zip lining was the perfect way to build physical confidence,” says Brown. 

Of the game that took place in India, Brown says, “This particular story was really interesting because they came to us with their great aunt’s diary. We realized, we can integrate this between what this family does and what the great aunt did to make the story richer and more connected.” One aspect of this trip involved a young boy, a complete stranger to the family, taking their hand and leading them to the entrance of Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, Rajasthan after closing hours to enjoy time alone with the director of the fort museum.

If a meaningful or insightful journey is on your agenda, Brown + Hudson can certainly incorporate these aspects into the game. “If the family wants to learn about important issues of a particular area, part of the game might be meeting refugees,” he says. There’s also the chance to have a trip full of physical adventures and activities, a vacation that offers intellectual challenges and puzzles or a voyage offering interaction with strangers and family alike. Brown says, “There isn’t one recipe, it changes for each client.”

During this journey, clients can choose to have the help of a ‘guardian,’ a local guide who understands the game and the family’s needs, and ensures that the family is enjoying the game and moving through it in a timely manner. They can offer as much or as little assistance as the client wants, while also helping to ensure that everything the family hopes to get out of the trip is accomplished. “We want them to achieve their objective, so we control what happens to a certain extent,” says Brown. “Sometimes the guardian needs to be there to help them see the big picture.”

While The Great Game was not inspired by the traditional escape rooms that have been gaining popularity around the world, Brown notes that they have much in common. “The parallels are there — going into an unfamiliar environment, not knowing the rules, having someone guide you.” Just like an escape room, Brown notes that the loss of control is what sparks interest in The Great Game. “People realize that it’s a return to child’s play… how many adults get to play and think ‘it’ll be fun to not worry about anything and let myself be guided through this game’? It’s utterly relaxing,” he says.

The Great Game can be enjoyed by families, couples or individuals of all ages and backgrounds — and each client will gain something different from the experience, whether it’s solving a problem they’re facing, learning more about themselves, or just have a unique and unforgettable trip that opened their eyes to a new way of travel.

Of the game that took place in India, Brown says, “This particular story was really interesting because they came to us with their great aunt’s diary. We realized, we can integrate this between what this family does and what the great aunt did to make the story richer and more connected.”

During this journey, clients can choose to have the help of a ‘guardian,’ a local guide who understands the game and the family’s needs, and ensures that the family is enjoying the game and moving through it in a timely manner.

“The Great Game is suitable for anyone who is willing to question how and why they’ve traveled in a specific way,” Brown says. “It’s perfect for someone who wants to get more out of their time abroad and someone who’s got an appetite to devour a place.”

While the pricing of The Great Game does vary from trip to trip, figure on a minimum of $25,000 per person (Brown + Hudson recommends a minimum of one week), in addition to a retainer fee of $4,000 for the planning and creation of the game (including the involvement of specialist experience and game designers). Brown does have some advice for those playing the game — “Trust, use your brain, expose yourself and the answer could be in something random.”

His hope for The Great Game is that it will awaken clients to realize that they deserve more from their travels. “If you could leave yourself behind and be a completely blank canvas everywhere you went, then your experiences would be much richer, more memorable and actually have therapeutic effects,” he says. “That’s what our approach does.” 

Photos courtesy of BrownandHudson and istockphoto.com

The Internet may have killed the travel agent, but increasing demand for customized and curated experiences has created a new niche.

To some, “travel agent” may be a term of the past. Replaced in part by technological strides and the rise of the internet, travel agents have been in decline in recent years and that trend is set to continue over the next decade. Yet, a new class of travel experts altogether are gaining traction — travel designers, who offer high-end curated trips based on their own personal travel expertise.

“People spending a great deal of money on their vacations don’t just want a cookie-cutter experience. They want something really tailored to them, planned specifically for their likes and interests,” says Lia Batkin, co-founder of In The Know Experiences, a luxury travel and lifestyle agency in New York City.

Batkin and her husband and partner Seth Kaplan were inspired to enter the travel industry in 2007 after a disastrous trip to Argentina. “We enlisted someone to help plan a trip for us and that did not go so well. I realized it’s hard to rely on various recommendations and things you come across while planning on the web when you were truly looking for an elevated experience,” says Batkin. 

Principals of experiential travel company, Celestielle — Doug Easton and John Ziegler — personally visit each destination and stay at each hotel or property before they recommend it to their clients. Pictured here at Sala’s Camp in Kenya.

When it comes to experience, Easton and his partner John Ziegler are at the forefront, with visits to hundreds of countries and counting. “We started our company 13 years ago. Because we don’t have things that anchor us at home, we can be mobile for the whole year. It’s a crazy, nomadic life, but it pays off for our clients,” says Easton. “Our model is that we will sell anything that is luxury-based on client instruction. Yet, we would never propose to the client something that we’ve never seen. Anything we propose to the client is something we’ve visited or are in love with.”

Easton and Ziegler go on what they call “scouting trips” where they visit locations and hotels to inform their expertise. “We can see about 100 to 120 hotels in a year around the world. We keep something called the ‘to-visit list’ that has about 3,600 hotels on it,” he says. “You don’t want to buy anything from someone who doesn’t know what they’re selling. How can I plan a trip for you to a country without ever going there?”

Bennett, who completed his doctorate concerning travel studies, helped establish the term “transformational travel” and utilizes his knowledge while crafting trips for his clients. “I explored people who had self-changing travel experiences and analyzed them and stories to see if there were things in common, and there were.”

Beyond location, travel designers also understand the mechanics of what makes trips memorable. Bennett seeks to bring variation to his custom itineraries, seeing the importance of fantastic on-the-ground guides, food and opportunities to meet people.

“We want to make sure that clients are getting to see what they want, but we also want to make sure they get out and explore,” he says. “So we intentionally craft spots that provide a good challenge.” This may include an engaging activity such as shark-cage diving, followed by a relaxing wine dinner. “Another thing I always try to bring in for my clients is to make sure they have ample down time. Time for reflection, journaling or prayer. Making sure that their days are exciting but not overly packed.”

“Everything is seamless down to the car service for you,” says Batkin. “Service also includes a dedicated person while you’re away 24-7. At times we get alerts that connections to flights were cancelled, so we go ahead and handle that mid-flight, change their hotel and give them a full brief when they land.”

“A lot of it is also managing expectations,” adds Easton. “For instance, if you’re visiting Jordan, there may be only okay places to stay, yet the areas are magnificent and completely justify the visit. And we let you know that.”

Photos courtesy of Celestielle & Micahel Bennett

TV Producer Rachael Jerahian plans to visit all 50 U.S. states along with every sovereign nation, and that is just the beginning.

Acclaimed producer, Jerahian recently announced her intention to complete the first all-inclusive world travel expedition in history. She began her quest in June, and now plans to stop in all 50 U.S. states, travel to each of the 195 sovereign countries of the world, climb each of the seven continents’ highest peaks, and ski the last degree in both the North and South Poles, all while giving back to the many lives she encounters along her way.  

Jerahian, though no stranger to traveling, is embarking on this trip knowing it is to be the most significant one of her life thus far. After suffering the loss of both her parents to cancer by age 30, Jerahian now embraces the cliche to, “live life to the fullest,” and vows not to let life pass her by. Her path across the globe is her way of doing so. Yearning to be a reporter, Jerahian’s story begins in New York City, where she tried her hand in broadcast, until she finally fell in love with production behind the scenes. She now works as a prominent TV producer for multiple networks, including CNN, Food Network, Travel, Discovery, Viceland, PBS, Spike and A&E. After losing her mother to cancer in 2014, Jerahian and her sister planned a trip to clear their minds to Mexico. Jerahian caught the travel bug, returning to the states just to plan out a list of where to go next.

Photos courtesy of Hurwitz James Company

Grace Bay Resorts developer Mark Durliat introduces his new vision for luxury island living in Turks and Caicos with the launch of Rock House, a residential resort tucked into the rugged, untouched limestone cliffs of Providenciales’ north shore, the first of its kind. The first phase of Rock House is slated to be finished in 2020, with a second phase of homes to follow.

Rock House is designed to emulate a seaside town found in the South of France, Capri or elsewhere on the Mediterranean coast. 41 studio suites are on the property, with one and two-bedroom cottages ranging from 631 to 1,907 square feet and priced from $600,000 to $1.625 million. Four additional four and five-bedroom single-family estates at the hillside resort will be offered for sale in the second phase.

“We are re-imaging what it means to escape to the islands, and buyers are responding. Fifty percent of the homes have already been sold,” said Mark Durliat, CEO and co-founder of Grace Bay Resorts. “With an exclusive location in the upscale residential neighborhood of International Drive, Rock House will deliver an elegant property with timeless appeal that cannot be found in a traditional oceanfront condominium.

The free-standing one- and two-bedroom cottages will include private pools and outdoor terraces, bathrooms with outdoor private shower gardens, 13-foot vaulted ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass windows and doors to maximize the views of the island’s turquoise waters. Envisioned by Architectural Digest’s AD100 interior designer Shawn Henderson, each residence’s interiors will feature an eclectic mix of contemporary and traditional design with Scandinavian and custom-made furnishings, porcelain and terrazzo flooring, oversized soaking tubs and Waterworks fixtures in their kitchens and bathrooms.
Rock House’s signature restaurant will offer dazzling 180-degree views of the archipelago’s barrier reef and Atlantic Ocean. A spa and fitness center, tennis courts and jogging trails will enhance the sense of well-being for residents of Rock House.
One of eight inhabited islands out of the 40 Turks and Caicos Islands, Providenciales is world-renowned for its pristine, white-sand beaches and turquoise waters. It has become one of the most sought-after destinations for luxury second-home owners. Selected as one of the World’s Best Islands by TripAdvisor, the destination features diving and snorkeling in the island’s miles of spectacular coral reefs; water sports including world-renowned kite surfing, horseback riding, golfing, and notable sites including the world’s only conch farm and relics from the island’s plantation history.

Photos courtesy of Rock House

Architectural Adventures, the official travel program of the American Institute of Architects, is home to several immersive tours and travel excursions to many extraordinary architectural structures across the globe. These are a few off of Architectural Adventures’ upcoming lineup, with fascinating tours in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Along the Rhine River
7/4/18 – 7/12/18, starting at $3,195
This cruise sails through the heart of Europe to Germany, France and the Netherlands on an eight-day journey with Architectural Adventures. This tour combines old and new architectural movements by traveling through historical towns, like Breisach and Speyer, to lively cities, like Strasbourg and Amsterdam.
Highlights of this tour include ageless illustrations of European architecture, such as the Freiburg’s Münster (a Gothic cathedral), historical Römerberg in Frankfurt, Germany, and the Notre Dame Cathedral in France, alongside modernities such as the urban design of Amsterdam, also known as the, “Venice of the North.”

Photo courtesy of Sergey Ashmarin / Wiki Commons

Scandinavia
7/27/18- 8/6/18, starting at $3,995
On this 11-day intensive tour, discover the astounding architecture of three Nordic countries: Sweden, Denmark and Norway. This journey tours the streets of Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo to explore how past architecture meets the present and uncover the rich history of Scandinavia. The tour includes behind-the-scenes access to award-winning opera houses, cultural centers and public spaces to truly delve into the region’s architectural innovations.
Highlights of the tour include the Turning Torso, the tallest building in Scandinavia, National Aquarium Denmark, Northern Europe’s largest aquarium, the Oslo Opera House, and Snøhetta, one of Norway’s largest architectural firms.

Photo courtesy of Benoit Derrier / Wiki Commons

Detroit
9/25/18- 9/29/18, starting at $2,995

Detroit, Michigan, is a major player in architectural innovation for the United States, and has been since the 20th century. History is captured in the architecture of the cityscape, with beautiful 20th-century mansions, Art-Deco skyscrapers, alongside some mid-century modern innovations. This tour follows the Motor City’s architectural revival as well as discuss the works of famous architects like Eliel Saarinen, Daniel Burnham, and Cass Gilbert.
Highlights of this adventure include a private tour of Eero Saarinen’s General Motors Technical Center, the recently restored Fox Theatre and Detroit Opera House, and discusses community renewal with Stephen Vogel, FAIA, distinguished professor of architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Photo courtesy of Corbis

Japan
10/27/18 – 11/8/18, starting at $5,995
Discover the wide range of tradition and modernity within Japanese architecture on this incredible 13-day tour. Move effortlessly from the contemporary innovations of Tokyo to the fascinating traditional culture of Kyoto throughout this tour in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Highlights of this tour include the incredible Nomura Family Residence, a 16th-century castle in Takayama, the famous Meiji Jingu Shrine, the Tokyo National Museum, and Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, the prime place to capture beautiful shots of Mt. Fuji.

Photo courtesy of Franciso Diez / Wiki Commons

Real estate experts attribute Cayman Islands’ growth in tourism to an active hurricane season in North America.

Experts in the Cayman Islands real estate industry noticed an increase in flights from key North American destinations in 2017. The tri-island Caribbean nation also recorded its best stay-over visitation figures and hit a real estate sales record of $696 million, increasing by a record-breaking 9 percent in 2017 versus the prior year, according to the most recent property report by Cayman Islands-based independent property consultants, Charterland. Experts say they believe that the increased amount of tourism is driving real estate sales.
Cayman Islands Realtors have also noticed that the increase in air travel and tourism can be partially attributed to an active 2017 hurricane season in North America that left Grand Cayman untouched.

“Last year’s storms brought an influx of people who were previously unfamiliar with Grand Cayman, but this has led to more sales as they have fallen in love with the island and are keen to make here their second home,” said Ruth Gustafsson, an associate broker for Provenance Properties Cayman Islands, the Cayman Islands Christie’s International Real Estate affiliate and the sole real estate brokerage for Dart Real Estate.
The increase in visitation to the Cayman Islands can also be attributed to the Kimpton hotel’s clientele, who are attracted to the island by their loyalty to the brand. The Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa and the adjacent condos for sale at The Residences at Seafire are popular among tourists who wish to settle down in the Cayman Islands.

Photos courtesy of Provenance Properties Cayman Islands