“Travel is the number 1 past time for Americans over 50.” [Immersion Active 2010]

Baby boomers have reached a point in their lives when their kids are out of the house, their finances are secure and all they dream about is seeing the world and fulfilling their bucket list. In honor of “Older Americans Month”, OAT Travel released great insights and information on the traveling habits of Americans over 50.

2012 Top 10 Adventures for Americans 50+

Botswana
Serengeti (Tanzania and Kenya)
Machu Picchu & the Galapagos
Turkey
Peru
Costa Rica
India
Baltics
China
Vietnam

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, there are more than 94 million Americans older than 50.

Book your December holiday vacation today and save!

Looking for the ideal destination to spend the holidays with your family this year?

South Africa offers many reasons why your family will remember this year as their favorite holiday vacation yet! Some of the top reasons to travel include family safaris, a break from the cold you just can’t seem to get away from, perhaps an educational experience for the kids, a good old-fashioned adventure, or immerse yourself in the local culture through volunteer work. Whatever your reason for traveling, we promise it won’t be a trip you will soon forget!

Reasons to travel to South Africa this winter:

Family safari
Get away from the cold (and holiday stress)
Education experience for the kids
Adventure
Volunteer

Click here to view a list of accommodations chosen to compliment your stay.

Contact us today and mention this post to get the best rate!

Every year Skytrax, esteemed airline research company puts their data together and presents the World Airport Awards, the most prestigious accolades for the world airport industry. Travelers from over 160 countries take part in the world’s largest, annual airport passenger satisfaction survey, to decide award winners. The World Airport Awards are the global benchmark of airport excellence and quality ranking.

These are the World’s Best Airports of 2012:

1 – Incheon International Airport

2 – Singapore Changi Airport

3 – Hong Kong International Airport

4 – Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

5 – Beijing Capital International Airport

6 – Munich Airport

7 – Zurich Airport

8 – Kuala Lumpur International Airport

9 – Vancouver International Airport

10 – Central Japan International Airport

To see the Top 100 list and to find out more info visit: worldairportawards.com

1 – Sleep, exercise, sleep – The best way to regulate your body (and mind) after a vacation is with sleep and exercise.

Luxury Tip: Try to stay up until night time, by avoiding that much-needed midday nap you will get your body’s clock accustomed to how it should be functioning.

2 – Unpack and get organized – Unpacking is not always fun, but definitely necessary. If you’re dreading this task, just do a little each day as you’re getting ready for work or unpack as you’re on the phone bragging about your trip to your Aunt Angela.

Luxury Tip: Grab a folder from the office and label it with your trip name. Keep all brochures, business cards, and flyers (especially of your favorite places) to use for reference in the future.

3 – Share your experience – If you didn’t keep a journal or log of adventures during your travels (which you should) than this is the most opportune time to recall those details.  They say “travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer” so spread the wealth to your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors!

Luxury Tip: Sit down and write about your experiences, the details usually fade with time and 10 years from now you will read it and appreciate that you recalled those details.

4 – Thank those who made it possible – When you plan a trip there are so many elements to take into consideration like “who will handle my clients?”, “who will feed our cat?”, “how will I get 2 weeks off?”. Whether it be your boss, coworkers, neighbors, family, travel agent, or tour guide a few people had to do a little extra to make your trip special. Take some time to thank that person or send them a small gift as a token of your appreciation.

Luxury Tip: If your travel agent went above and beyond or your tour guide was extremely accommodating, let these people know! Word of mouth is the best form of reference you can give someone so hop on Yelp, Google Reviews, Facebook etc. and write a review or testimonial.

5 – Share your photos – The longer you wait, the more you’ll dread this project. With technology and the Internet, you have tons of ways to share your photos, Kodak online albums, Flickr, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox and the list continues. You can also create a printed or online photobook.

Luxury Tip: While you’re catching up on your favorite TV shows, plug in your camera and download your photos. Luckily, no one is critiquing or expecting professional photos so it’s as simple as downloading photos to your computer, picking your favorites, and uploading them to share online.

Lately there have been a ton of articles from reputable sources like Forbes, NY Times, and Travel Pulse swirling around the internet about the ‘travel agent comeback’. With the Internet and the ability to book online the travel world has changed immensely, and we’re happy to say that travel agents are here to stay!

A particular article stood out that we wanted to share with our travelers and potential clients. Seth Kugel, a writer for the NY Times Frugal Traveler section, recently published a test of agents versus online search engines. In his test agents won “nearly every time, on both price (the objective part of the test) and service (what you might call the essay question). In other words, the agents suggested alternate routes, gave advice on visas and just generally acted, well, more human than their computer counterparts.”

There are countless reasons and benefits to using a travel consultancy like Luxury Trips, especially when it comes to the journey of a lifetime. Traveling to foreign places for the first time can be intense and overwhelming in the planning stages and that’s where we come in. Let Luxury Trips inspire you, guide you and curate your trip from the ground up.

More Articles:

TIME – Travel Agents Make A Return Trip
Forbes - Why You Need A Travel Agent
NY Times – Are Travel Agents Back?
Travel Pulse – The Future For Travel Agents

72h in Kenya, ’12 from Claire&Max on Vimeo.

Check out this amazing video that the team at Heritage Hotels recently released. It’s titled “72 Hours in Kenya” and it does a fabulous job of time-lapsing some featured destinations and highlights of the beautiful country in just under 5 minutes.

On the evening of April 20, guests of the 16th annual Starry, Starry Night scholarship fundraising event will step onto a magic tapestry at the entrance of Rollins’ Alfond Sports Center and end up somewhere between New Delhi and Mumbai. Once there, they’ll be dazzled by the exotic and come to expect the unexpected. The ivory domed building across the room just might be the Taj Mahal. The scarlet swirl beneath a twinkle of colored lights is probably a bejeweled silk sari and that delectable scent in the air is most likely Kashmiri cuisine mingling with the flowers of Lodhi Gardens.

This exclusive fundraising event at Rollins College in the heart of Winter Park features a silent auction where Luxury Trips will be donating a 6 day safari to help raise money for scholarships.

For more information visit http://www.rollins.edu/holt/starry/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Luxury Africa Tour Operator Develops Fight Hunger Feed Hope Foundation

Luxury Trips & Alluring Africa initiate Clothing with a Conscience to Benefit the Horn of Africa

Winter Park, Florida. (April 12, 2012).   Specialty luxury tour operator Alluring Africa and sister company Luxury Trips, both Florida based travel companies with over twenty years of experience in the travel industry have launched the Fight Hunger Feed Hope campaign with a unisex t-shirt design.  They will donate 100% of the proceeds.

“Think of this initiative as clothing with a conscience. The product is not just a shirt- it proclaims the wearer has taken a stand to combat famine in a region in crisis: the Horn of Africa. Like many, we watched the drought worsen in East Africa and claim lives. Rather than be spectators of a global crisis, we wanted to do something about it. We created Fight Hunger Feed Hope to compel people to work together to support sustained aid in a severely ravaged area of the world” states Sunit Sanghrajka, a native of Kenya and founder of Alluring Africa & Alluring Impact.

Nearly 12 million people are starving in the Horn of Africa. To put this into perspective, an estimated 1,300 children under the age of five are having their lives ended early due to famine. On October 4, 2011 at an annual United Nations Executive Committee meeting, Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie said, “Three-quarters of a million people are at risk of death in the next four months in the Horn of Africa. This astonishing number of at-risk lives is the reason this is termed the humanitarian crisis of the generation.”

Alluring Africa and Luxury Trips have underwritten the full cost of the Fight Hunger Feed Hope materials, manufacturing, design, and all the related transaction fees for the t-shirts . The entire purchase amount of $20, will be deployed to fund long-term aid in schools, housing, medicine and more.

The design of the unisex t-shirt represents the interconnected nature of Africa. People are connected by culture, and the design’s intricate latticework visually represents this. Emblazoned with the Fight Hunger Feed Hope message, the design works to create awareness in a highly wearable package.  The T-Shirts can be purchased online at www.FightHungerFeedHope.com

Media Contact:
Vanessa Belmonte
P: 772-291-7585 ext. 103
E: Vanessa@allluringafrica.com

They traveled 34,000 miles visiting three continents, 13 countries, and 16 cities. Visit Conde Nast Traveler to read more about the trip in their interview with Casey Neistat.

The filming location of Animal Planet’s Meerkat Manor, Tswalu Kalahari is a private game reserve on over 200,000 acres of land in the heart of the Northern Cape Province in South Africa. Spread across this vast acreage of private land, there are two properties for Tswalu visitors to chose from, The Motse and Tarkuni.

In the luxury and beauty of this magnificent private game reserve, the focus is on flexibility and privacy, outstanding game viewing, gourmet cuisine, indulgent spa treatments, and getting to do the things you’ve only ever dreamed about.

The uniqueness of the safari experience at Tswalu begins with a flexible itinerary, which allows you to dictate your own program of game drives, bush walks and horseback safaris; and continues with the interactive game experience. With a dedicated vehicle, tracker and guide, you can tailor your Tswalu safari to include whatever appeals to you. The all-day menu offers you the option to dine whenever suits you.

These are a few reasons we love Tswalu:

-Hot air balloon rides
-Sleep on the outside deck
-Night game drives
-Ideal for families – has babysitting & kids menus
-Malaria-free
-Heated outdoor swimming pool
-Gym & spa
-Wi-fi

Click here to watch a video about Tswalu’s wildlife.