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Month: December 2022

TOUR

Coega opens boutique travel services to the public

by Tracy J. Chu

After 14 years of providing services in the corporate travel business space, the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) has now opened its services from its boutique agency to the public.

Situated at Coega Headquarters in Gqeberha, the Coega Travel Agency (CTA) provides a 24-hour service that is connected to leading airlines, 3 to 5 star hotels around the world as well as car hire.

“The CTA offers a 24-hour service for convenience and peace of mind, accommodation and conferencing facilities at affordable rates and best value for money, visa assistance and travel insurance to connect you to the world, foreign exchange, pre-flight check-in; and we are fully Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) compliant,” CDC Travel Services Manager Nokwanda Benya said on Wednesday.

The CDC has encouraged travelers to use the agency to benefit from packages offered during the festive season for domestic and international market, including tour packages.

The agency is accredited by the International Air Travel Association and the Association of South African Travel Agents.

“We have been in the corporate travel business for 14 years. It is not only an opportunity for Coega to add value to the entire market, but also an opportunity for our travel agents to show off their excellent customer service skills to leisure travellers during the festive season and beyond.

“Our slogan and positioning are accredited, efficient and connected. We do that little bit extra to reduce our clients’ stress and anxiety when planning trips. Flights, transfers, accommodation, tickets, and restaurant bookings are made for you.

“You’ll even be able to wait for your flights in the comfort of the executive airport lounges. With superior buying power, Coega Travel Agency can negotiate affordable rates, and help you find the most suitable travel. With Coega Travel, you’ll

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ADVENTURE

9 Over-the-top Adventure Trips in the World’s Most Untamed Environments

by Tracy J. Chu

These days, travelers are seeking renewal in out-there destinations. Here’s a closer look at the newest encounters designed to rekindle your sense of awe.

Courtesy of Origen Escapes Costa Rica–based Origen Escapes connects guests with tapir researchers.

Courtesy of Origen Escapes Costa Rica–based Origen Escapes connects guests with tapir researchers.

“People are returning to travel with a very strong desire to reconnect with nature,” says John Spence, president of the luxury tour operator Scott Dunn USA. Last year, the agency saw requests for off-the-grid adventures jump 22 percent compared with 2019.

Not that the change in mindset comes as a huge surprise after the past two years or so, according to Tamsyn Fricker, a safari specialist on T+L’s A-List of travel advisors. “The pandemic has prompted a shift toward journeys that favor restoration, recharging, reconnecting,” she says. “Things like hiking, farm stays, bush walks, and marine safaris — being in nature and active.” While Africa is fertile ground for these experiences, other destinations around the world can wow visitors, too.

“Whether you’re meeting majestic whale sharks on Mexico’s Espíritu Santo Island or hiking Antarctica’s massive ice sheets,” Spence says, “nature offers the greatest show on earth.”

Courtesy of Origen Escapes A red-eyed tree frog spotted on a rain-forest trek with Origen.

Courtesy of Origen Escapes A red-eyed tree frog spotted on a rain-forest trek with Origen.

Soar Over Glaciers

Adventure-travel company Quark Expeditions will launch a series of trips to Greenland this summer aboard a new polar vessel, Ultramarine. The 199-passenger ship is loaded with two twin-engine helicopters and 20 Zodiacs, plus all the gear needed for forays onto the ice sheet. Excursions include hiking, camping, paddling, and biking along the country’s fjord-lined southern coast.

Seek Out Tapirs

Once widespread across Central and South America, this smaller relative of the rhino is now endangered, with only an estimated 4,500 of the endearing creatures left in the wild. Costa Rican outfitter Origen Escapes has teamed up

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TRAVELLING

How To Travel More In 2023

by Tracy J. Chu

Travel is often listed as something people want to do more of but don’t have the time or money for it (sometimes both). If one of your goals is to travel more in the coming year, this post can help. With some planning and research, you can be on your way to exploring the world while still holding onto a full-time job.

Make A Schedule

Look at a calendar and mark any days where you will have extra time off, such as any three-day weekends. Setting out a physical calendar

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VACATION

Bidens travel to U.S. Virgin Islands for brief vacation

by Tracy J. Chu

President Biden on Tuesday traveled to a place very familiar to him — the U.S. Virgin Islands — to enjoy some downtime and warmer weather and to ring in a new year with family.

The president and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, flew from Washington on Tuesday to St. Croix, one of three islands that make up the U.S. territory in the Caribbean. St. John and St. Thomas are the other two islands. The Bidens were joined by their daughter Ashley and her husband, Howard Krein, as well as grandchildren Natalie and Hunter, whose father was the president’s late son, Beau.

St. Croix is a tropical getaway that Mr. Biden has been getting away to at least since he was vice president, from 2009 to 2017.

Joe Biden
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden disembark Air Force One at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in Christiansted, St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, on Dec. 27, 2022. 

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images


“We’ve missed him the last couple of years,” Beth Moss Mahar, a retired attorney and island resident for nearly three decades, said in a telephone interview.

Mr. Biden spent the holidays at his home in Delaware in 2020 and 2021, mostly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This week’s visit to St. Croix will be his first as president to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“We’re tremendously honored,” Del. Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat who represents the Virgin Islands in Congress, said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

“In the past, when he and his family have come, of course sightings of President Biden were almost a thing of legend,” she said.

Any sightings will now be altered by the fact that Mr. Biden is regarded as one of the world’s most powerful men. As such, he now travels with

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TOUR

Classic films at Coolidge, cowhand culture in Canada, and culinary tours in Spain

by Tracy J. Chu

THERE

Celebrate snow and cowhand culture

See elaborate snow sculptures, enjoy fat bike trails and curling rinks, and watch teams of horses and riders skijor through Banff during the Canadian town’s free SnowDays event, Jan. 18-29. Artists will turn 30-cubic-meter blocks of snow into sculptures with winter and mountain-culture themes — see those sculptures on display along Banff Avenue. Head to Play Zone at Banff High School Wednesdays through Sundays during SnowDays where you’ll find three sledding hills, a fat bike track, and inflatable curling rinks. Also, don’t miss the skijoring on Jan. 28, when 16 teams of riders (on skis or snowboards) and their horses dash along a straight track in downtown Banff — at up to 30 miles per hour — competing for top honors in Roman riding, trick riding, and stunt skiing/boarding. www.banfflakelouise.com/events/snowdays.

New hands-on culinary tours

If you love travel and food, check out EF Go Ahead Tours’ new food and wine education-based trips to Spain and Portugal. The company, known for immersive trips with a strong cultural bent, has expanded on its partnership with America’s Test Kitchen to offer more hands-on, culinary-based travel experiences. It will offer a new series of tours that take travelers into the kitchens of locals in Portugal (from the rolling vineyards of the Douro Valley to Lisbon) and Spain (from the Catalan and Basque regions in northern Spain to Barcelona). The 12-day Portugal trip includes four cooking classes, a cheesemaking class, four wine tastings, and six food tastings — plus a chance to go grape stomping. On the 12-day Spain trip, find out why San Sebastian has the most Michelin-starred restaurants in

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ADVENTURE

Hitchhiking adventures led to life on the edge, and an appreciation for black coffee

by Tracy J. Chu

One summer day I walked from my folks’ place on the West Side of Cleveland to the I-71 entrance ramp at Bellaire Road and stuck out my thumb. I was bound for New England. I awakened the next morning in a jail cell in Rome, N.Y.

I hadn’t planned to tell this story. At least, not so soon. But several of my readers have been nagging me to tell it, so blame them.

In a previous column, I told a story about how − in the early 1970s − I hitchhiked from Cleveland to Los Angeles and back in three rides. It had been a remarkable trip in which I was treated to a special tour inside Kitt Peak National Observatory, helped a young man retrieve a TV set from his burned-out apartment and met a dog named Prince of Peace. In that column, I mentioned how my next hitchhiking trip paled in comparison.

More: Forever friend: Irv Oslin recalls finding that one forever friend in the great outdoors

Irv Oslin

Irv Oslin

Ending up in Oneida County Jail was only part of the fun. That scenario began with me losing all my worldly possessions to highway robbery. Almost all my worldly possessions. It’s a good thing the thief didn’t know I had $200 stashed in the pouch of a football cup I wore when hitchhiking (minus the cup). It’s a good thing he didn’t; otherwise I might have ended up in jail and naked.

The thief drove a pickup truck with a camper. Along the way he pulled over and said, “Wait, I’ll mix us some  drinks.”

He went back into the camper and returned with a couple of bloody Marys. About 50 miles down the road he pulled over and said, “This is my exit.”

Staggering, semi-coherent at the

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TOUR

Diverse tours offered during Tet holidays

by Tracy J. Chu
Diverse tours offered during Tet holidays hinh anh 1

Tourists enjoy a bike tour exploring Hanoi’s Old Quarter. (Photo hanoimoi.com.vn)

Tour operators like Saigontourist, Vietravel, and TSTTourist on December 26 reported that their tours departing from Ho Chi Minh City to the southern provinces of Binh Duong, Long An, and Tien Giang are booked fully.

According to a representative from Saigontourist, this Lunar New Year holidays, it offers more than 300 package tours, both domestic and overseas tours, to serve more than 20,000 travellers through the holiday.

Besides popular tours to Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, and northern provinces, overseas tours are also welcomed. The company this year also offers tours to South American countries.

Tran Phuong Linh, Marketing Director of BenThanh Tourist, said that the travel company prepares over 100 tours for the Tet holidays and expects to attract about 10,000 travellers. Until now, 90% of its tours are full, she said.

Meanwhile, travel companies in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue offer programmes that take advantage of the spring festival “Spring in Ancient Capital” taking place from January to March 2023.

Other travel companies have designed new tours based on the meeting of the royal Lunar New Year Celebration and general celebration which is said to create typical characteristics of the Tet celebration of Hue people.

According to Thua Thien-Hue province’s Tourism Promotion Centre, the provincial Department of Tourism and the provincial Tourism Association develop new services to attract visitors to Hue during the Tet holidays besides traditional attractions like the royal festival or folk festivals.

In the central city of Da Nang, when designing tours, travel companies this year pay more attention to factors that offer tourists opportunities to experience warm family gatherings.

They also have tours designated for Chinese-origin people living in Malaysia or Singapore to visit Da Nang city.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Chairman of the

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HOTEL

Are eco-friendly hotel labels important for your stay?

by Tracy J. Chu

A new study shows that the leading U.S. state in eco-certified hotels is…Maryland! According to a study by Family Destinations Guide, Maryland is the only state with more than 10% of its hotels certified green.

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Maryland hotels have greener practices than other states. It indicates that hoteliers in Maryland saw an advantage to applying for eco-certification. And perhaps they’re greener as well. Let’s take a look at the study’s other findings about eco-certified hotels.

Related: New survey examines sustainable travel and ecotourism

States with the most certified eco-friendly hotels

Maryland topped the list with 11.13% of its hotels certified eco-friendly. The results are a bit surprising. According to a Wallet Hub study of the greenest states, the top five are Vermont, New York, Hawaii, Maryland and California. Other than Maryland, these other green states are missing from the top 10 of the certified eco-friendly hotel list. Instead, we have Ohio in the number two spot, followed by Illinois, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana and Mississippi. Seems like these certifications have caught on in the South.

Of course, there’s percentage and then there’s sheer number of properties. Giant Texas has the biggest number of eco-certified and family-friendly hotels, with 513. It also leads the list in number of pet-friendly properties. The next top states in terms of numbers are California (427), Florida (421), New York (296) and Georgia (261). The only four states to make the top 10 list both in proportion of eco-certified hotels and numbers are Georgia, Virginia, Illinois and Ohio.

A pool in the center of inns

States with the fewest certified eco-friendly hotels

Remember, this

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TRAVELLING

Holiday travel chaos is coming: Here’s how to handle it | Travel

by Tracy J. Chu

The December holiday travel season is rarely easy for travelers, but this year could prove particularly dicey. Airlines are still short on pilots and planes, and passenger traffic is predicted to nearly reach pre-pandemic levels. 

The Transportation Security Administration screened 2.5 million passengers on the Sunday after Thanksgiving this year — the most on a single day in November since 2019. And data from Hopper, a travel booking platform, suggests that 18% more passengers could depart from domestic airports from Dec. 18 through Dec. 26 this year than did last year. 

Combine surging demand with struggling supply, add a dash of the usual winter weather, and what do you have? A frothy cup of holiday travel chaos. Yet savvy travelers can still avoid the worst disruptions. 

Here’s how. 

If you’re already booked: Fly like a pro

If you’re like most travelers, you’ve already booked your travel by now, which means avoiding headaches from disruptions is more about preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. 

  • You can probably still add trip insurance. Generally, you don’t have to buy certain types of trip insurance at the same time as your bookings, meaning you could still add protection for things like weather disruptions or health care costs. 
  • Avoid checked luggage if you can. It’s hard enough to get you and potentially your family from point A to point B, and checked luggage offers one more point of failure. Can you ship those gifts instead of bringing them in a suitcase? 
  • Check the status of your flight before you leave home. Yes, it’s a basic step, but it can be easy to forget in the rush to get out the door. Airlines are pretty good about notifying customers proactively about delays these days, but it’s still worth checking. 
  • Pack for disruptions.
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HOTEL

Inside one of the best new resorts nestled among New York’s Catskill Mountains

by Tracy J. Chu

While the idea of traveling with a “pandemic pod” might be on its way out, other pandemic-inspired travel trends are here to stay. That ranges from looking for a hotel or resort with lots of outdoor space for seasonal activities and sports to finding a location where one can both work and relax during the same extended stay.

Many spacious resorts in locations that experience dramatically different seasons over the course of a year typically close for part of the year (i.e. ski resorts in the summer, and beach hotspots in the winter). But there are more and more all-season resorts that are catering to new and returning visitors with new experiences and activities all-year round.

Wylder Windham Hotel, Catskills, Upstate New York, N.Y.

Wylder Windham Hotel, Catskills, Upstate New York, N.Y.

The newly-opened Wylder Windham in update New York was designed to reflect and celebrate the local vibe of the town of Windham, embracing long summer days, leaves changing colors in the fall, and the ski season. (Also an ideal destination for anyone looking for a town that loves Christmas.)

With plenty of parking around the property, most guests arrive by car, but the Hudson Station isn’t too far away for those who want to take Amtrak from New York City or Boston, for example. (But note that Uber is scarce, and so are taxis, so arrange a car service with the hotel in advance. The hotel does have a restored Land Rover that it uses to shuttle guests to Windham Mountain during the ski season, too.)

Wylder Windham Hotel, Catskills, Upstate New York, N.Y.

Wylder Windham Hotel, Catskills, Upstate New York, N.Y.

The property hosts seven different lodging experiences across the 20-acre property, with 111 suites total. One of those suites is actually a guest house, with a full kitchen, living room, a washer and dryer, and four bedrooms that could sleep eight people.

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