GOT editors have gathered news worth noting – here are some ideas and inspiration from travelers, bloggers, news media, and industry in print and online that recently piqued our interest and might whet yours if you’re an over-50 traveler!
TRAVEL NEWS WORTH NOTING
- Readers of AFAR travel magazine (some 160K of them) weighed in on their favorite destinations for 2018. The “Travelers’ Choice Awards” named California as a favorite destination for a road trip and Barcelona as a favorite European city (not surprising that Barcelona is worrying about over-tourism). You can read all the AFAR choices in other categories here.
- Chocolate lovers may get depressed about the findings of recent research reported by Conde Nast Traveler and GrubStreet.com. They say that cacao may become extinct by 2050 if something isn’t done to address climate change. Did you know that one of our GOT contributors, Doreen Pendgracs, is an expert in the chocolate travel niche?
- NYC Winter Restaurant Week returns this year on January 22, ending on February 9th. Three-course fixed-price lunches and dinners at some of the city’s finest restaurants will be priced at $29 and $42 respectively. If you’re headed to New York City, this is a great time to try new venues or return to some of your favorites. Many other cities sponsor restaurant weeks twice a year, both in summer and winter during periods when bookings tend to slow down. To find out if a restaurant week is scheduled where you live or where you’re traveling, simply Google the “(name of the) city” and “restaurant week.”
- Michelle Baran of the industry publication Travel Weekly follows every ripple along the cruise beat. Her recent piece on River Cruising News To Watch in 2018 highlights some of the new trends. If you are planning a river cruise with millennial children or grandchildren, you may want to check out new, more active offerings by Uniworld River Cruises and Amadeus River Cruises.
- If you haven’t been on a barge cruise (or even if you have), you might be interested in an intriguing discount offer from European Waterways (especially if you are a wine-lover). The company is launching its 2018 hotel barge cruising season with up to 20% off rates on cabins and charters on select departures in the famed wine-making region of Burgundy, France. These all-inclusive voyages traverse canals and rivers, bringing passengers up-close to the people and culture of small towns and villages.
- Some sad news for travelers and the travel industry involving serious accidents on tour excursions. Multiple news outlets (including CNN and the New York Times) reported that 12 people died in a single-engine, small plane crash in Costa Rica on a trip-of-a-lifetime tour with Backroads. In a separate accident, six people died when a sightseeing seaplane crashed in Australia. Both these accidents occurred on the heels of a tour bus crash in Mexico that resulted in the deaths of 12 people who were on a Royal Caribbean shore excursion. Also, the Miami Herald recently reported that a tour boat sank off the coast of Cozumel; thankfully, the ten passengers (all of whom were on Royal Caribbean cruises) were rescued. Accidents can happen at any time anywhere, but travelers always need to be prudent and mindful of safety when choosing tours. “Unfortunately, there are certain inherent risks that come with using foreign excursion providers that simply do not adhere to the same safety standards as in the U.S.,” maritime lawyer Michael Winkelman told the Miami Herald.
TRAVEL CONTESTS
- Win a trip! Acanela Expeditions, a boutique operator of expedition tours is sponsoring a travel contest. One lucky winner will win a cruise for two to Prague. Deadline for entering is January 17, 2018. (Contest ended.)