What’s New in the Travel World?

Today’s traveller is hungry for adventure. He/she is beyond looking for just sun, sea and sand – that combined with adventure is the name of the game.

We know about the mainstream fabulous five star hotels around the globe. Some of us have been there, seen them, and grabbed all the T-shirts. But today’s luxury traveller desires just a bit more - they want to eat not just the cake, but the icing too. That’s what this supplement is all about – those icing parts – just like the white parts – are the most delicious and the most rare to find. These are the lesser-known tours in far afield places, the hidden excursions you wouldn’t know where to find (apart from in WhatsNew’s travel supplement!), or special tours offered independently or in tandem with some five star establishments.

As Abercrombie & Kent, tour specialists in the luxury market since 1962 says: “In terms of what's new, we are finding a dramatic increase in multi-generational travel. Our clients are looking for holidays that do more than just provide a rest and a getaway, they want to combine luxury with adventure.” Other tour operators mirror this view, as locally based Africa Connection – specialists in tours going into and out of Africa – agrees: “Certainly among the up-market travellers we have seen a move towards adventure or eco-linked tours added to the established luxury routes. We get calls from more and more smaller groups with a specific desire to see something new or learn a new skill themselves.”

Adventure tourism is a rapidly growing market, and, as confirmed by our UK based specialist in this area Nicky Johnstone: “.. it is now a threat to one’s self esteem not to ‘have fun'” when going on holiday, vacation or summer break, whatever term you refer to it as.

We have divided the travel destinations into six categories covering the six major continents - Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa and Australia. We have hand-picked at random snippets of fascinating, unusual, exquisitely beautiful, quirky or just downright fun new travel ideas and destinations in an effort to show a tiny piece of what is on offer out there in the big wide world today - if you look hard enough. Our choice is definitely not mainstream travel, but most tours are perfectly accessible to everyone. Contact numbers or websites are provided in most case should you too want to take the plunge and join the flood of people who have the desire to discover holidaying beyond the normal borders.

In Canada we look at a hotel made completely from ice, re-made every single year, and melted down come summer. If following in the footsteps of Ernest Hemmingway or Che Guevara is your passion, we have just the right tour companies to show you the way. Being a cattle driver on a North American ranch may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but you can do it, if you want to. Photographic safaris are the most rewarding forms of “hunting”, and Zambia offers some unique walking in the wilderness experiences. You can creep as close to wild animals as safety allows, and at the end of an exciting day you can collapse into a comfy sofa with a G&T – and still watch the animals go by. The same kind of elation may come with the hunting of big game fish - we take you to the Rio Negro River in the Amazon rainforest where you can catch enormous Peacock Bass from a luxurious vessel.

There is also a section on transport and travel, plus a section about what is new and available here in the UAE, so proving there is actually plenty at home to keep us amused and we don’t actually have to go anywhere.

And if the world is not enough, try outer space, it will be available from Ras Al Khaimah  come 2008, even for ordinary people. Don’t believe me? Read and find out!

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