The march of luxury holidays continues with Abercrombie & Kent announcing this week that bookings for cruise and land holidays are up 50 per cent.
Africa and India are back in favour in a big way, the boss of upmarket travel operator, Sujata Raman says.
“We are also seeing more multi-generational families going on cruises and land tours,’’ she says. “Botswana and India are experiencing great growth this year and people should start booking as early as possible because we have limited capacity,’ Ms Raman said.
“Last year we started with some trepidation because of the elections in Australia, the US and Brexit. The situation in France with terrorist attacks also did not help.
This year, our bookings are up 50 per cent on last year. And we may well achieve a record year.’’
More people are booking expedition cruises to the Polar region and Iceland – despite Iceland’s short season and “scary price points,” she said.
There has also been a growing market for small hosted journeys to Mongolia and Central Asia.
“Egypt is showing signs of recovery as more people are booking holidays to experience the Nile River and the pyramids. This is a good time to see the pyramids without the crowds,’’ she said.
Looking further ahead into 2018, she said A&K is the first travel operator to offer itineraries to West Africa including Ghana and Benin. Itineraries to Guatemala and Armenia are also being offered next year.
Kids go free
Carnival Cruise Line is taking the children of Australia to sea for free. Their ‘kids sail free’ sale offers families thousands of dollars in holiday savings. But you’ll have to hurry – it’s on sale until March 13, 2017. The third and fourth guests in a room will cruise for free on select Carnival sailings from Sydney this year.
Tassie expedition for APT
APT has added small ship expedition cruising to its Tasmania program in 2018. the luxury operator’s 14 day Tasman Coastal Cruise itinerary includes a six night land tour with a seven night cruise along Tasmania’s ruggedly beautiful southern and eastern coastlines on board the Coral Discoverer.
The cruise will takes in the Tasman Wilderness World Heritage Area and the gorgeous Maria Island and Freycinet National Park. It costs from $7,995 per person twin share and features in APT’s new Tasmania 2017/18 brochure. Look out for special deals at travel agents.
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