Although traveling to new places and experiencing new adventures is a great way to see the world, it is no secret that there are negative environmental effects of mass tourism. As you begin to think about your next vacation, perhaps look into a lower-impact alternative to mass tourism, which is ecotourism.Ecotourism is a carefully curated way to see fragile, undisturbed natural areas of nature. By partaking in ecotourism and helping to conserve parts of nature and wildlife, you have the opportunity to witness magnificent, once in a lifetime nature scenes up close and personal.In efforts to push a safer, more eco-friendly mode of tourism, here are some of the benefits of seeing unique, and oftentimes threatened, natural environments through ecotourism. ExposureOne of the great perks of taking an ecotourism-focused adventure is that you are exposed to new, less popular aspects of nature. Although traveling to incredibly popular sight-seeing destinations and visiting highly-visible attractions or monuments is exciting, there is so much else to see and explore.Through ecotourism, you have the chance to see some of the most unique environments and view nature closer than ever. These types of excursions are much more exciting than viewing animals at your local zoo.You may be able to see wildlife up close and within their wild, natural habitat, which isn’t something you are able to experience every day. Ecotourism takes you along vast seascapes, wildlife habitats, and more, to view nature through an environmentally low-impact medium. With that being said, not only do you get to see nature from a new lens, but you also help to conserve many of the animals and habitats that are threatened or unprotected.One example of ecotourism that aims to expose travelers to an abundance of magic is by experiencing bioluminescence. During the warmer months on the east coast of the U.S., there are many opportunities to see majestic sea life. On the shores of Florida, bioluminescent sea life lights up the dark water, exposing you to a once in a lifetime view of a glowing ocean.Bioluminescence is a chemical process that permits living sea life to create light within their bodies. When the water is obstructed through wave creation or splashing from humans, the seawater begins to glow bright neon blue. This type of interactive experience exposes you to a side of nature that you may not otherwise get to witness. Trending Now EducationAs you partake in ecotourism excursions, you can also receive an abundance of information educating you on topics pertaining to that area’s wildlife and natural environments. For instance, you will see nature as it currently stands, as well as learn vital information on how to properly interact with wildlife and preserve these ecosystems.Observing animals within a zoo environment does not always provide accurate insight into an animal’s daily life. Much of the animal culture within zoos are artificial. For instance, arctic penguin exhibits are usually not in climate-controlled areas where you can see them play on glaciers. Although zoos do a heap of good by protecting endangered animals, many animals endure stress from not being in the wild or having ample social interactions with other members of their species.This takes away from witnessing authentic animal behavior within nature. By partaking in ecotourism, you can view animals that haven’t been displaced and also gather greater insight on how various species have become endangered, as well as how you can help.As you travel, there is nothing like witnessing animals within their own wild environments where they are fully immersed in their own culture. Through these eco-tourism excursions, you are invited to submerge yourself within an animal’s environment and experience a small part of their daily lives.ProtectionBy interacting with a natural environment through an ecotourism lens, you have the opportunity to leave it better than you found it. As a viewer and wildlife lover, ecotourism provides you with an outlet to minimize the negative impacts of tourism on these natural environments and protect what is left.For example, you can transition from merely observing to positively interacting with these environments through participatory cleanup.Alongside the provided education about how to conserve these environments, participatory cleanup is a great way to interact with nature on a personal level, all while ensuring that this environment and its wildlife can thrive. This can be demonstrated by cleaning up trash off the beaches and out of the ocean in efforts to prevent wildlife from dying as a result of human impact.This acts as a way to protect species who oftentimes cannot differentiate between what is food and what is a plastic straw. By witnessing the impacts of humans on the environment while being in a proper wildlife setting, you can gather a comprehensive perspective and push to protect these habitats with proper knowledge and understanding.Through exposure and education, we can work to protect wildlife spaces and ensure a better future for wildlife and their respective environments.Human impact plays a large role in the longevity of the lifespans of wild animals and with your help, you can decrease the negative impacts and allow for a higher quality of life for these animals. As you begin to plan your next excursion, perhaps consider these benefits to ecotourism and push to protect the wildlife of that area. Take this opportunity to educate yourself, and your loved ones, on the many ways that animal harm can be prevented and how we can best conserve these natural areas. Josh Myers is the owner of Florida Adventurer, a bioluminescence kayaking company. Josh is extremely passionate about ecotourism and the wildlife he interacts with on a daily basis. In order to further educate tourists around ecotourism, Josh ensures that each individual on his tours understands why and how to protect the indigenous animals that they encounter and how to conserve the natural area where he operates. Let's block ads! (Why?)

A new study highlighted how travelers are reacting, reengaging and redefining their values during a time of coronavirus-related uncertainty, including the rise of “travel shaming.”According to Ketchum senior vice president Bettina Garibaldi, the Transforming Travelers study surveyed close to 4,000 Americans to gauge how tourists feel, think and plan travel in the age of COVID-19.The study found that 93 percent of respondents said the ongoing coronavirus outbreak impacted where they will travel, what hotels and airlines they will choose and the businesses they use to plan their vacations. Another 76 percent of Americans expect to travel more in the next year and 80 percent revealed they would be willing to pay more for their trip to ensure privacy, social distancing and cleanliness protocols. Trending Now While travelers are focused on the changes being made by companies, 87 percent said they were more concerned about how their fellow travelers follow health guidelines. Two-thirds of respondents also expect to judge others for traveling before they themselves think it is safe.As a result of the possible hostility, around 50 percent of tourists expected to censor their social media posts to avoid being travel shamed.Americans getting ready to hit the road are also more likely to do it with their friends and family.The study found that 57 percent of people are more likely to travel with friends, while 64 percent said COVID-19 has made traveling with their children more likely.Travelers have also changed their openness to reengage when talking about returning to their pre-coronavirus travel activities and redefined their values in response to the pandemic. Let's block ads! (Why?)

When speaking about travel and tourism companies implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into their business, one of the biggest questions is, how?Travel Unity has the answer.Travel Unity is a nonprofit whose entire focus is diversity in travel and they’ve been working to make the industry more inclusive since 2015. In this newest effort to help destinations, travel agencies, hotels, and other tourism companies improve their DEI initiatives, they’ve launched a DEI certification program through their Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Standards for Travel & Tourism program. Called Certified by Travel Unity (CBTU), this program was developed with the help of over 100 professionals across various industries and aims to help travel companies and organizations improve their DEI standards in management, workforce, visitorship, and community impact.MORE Features & Advice Hotels, museums, DMOs, CVBs, theme parks, tour operators, travel agencies, airlines, restaurants, and any other travel organization from around the world can apply to the CBTU program through October 1, 2020. Travel Unity is only accepting 10-12 travel companies that are serious about change and “demonstrated engagement around DEI that goes beyond reactions to Black Lives Matter and other social justice movements.”“CBTU requires an ‘all-in’ commitment; it’s much more than a bullet point on a board presentation,” said Roni Weiss, the executive director of Travel Unity. “Our standards and our approach to certification are rooted in the need for a commitment to a journey of change, active community involvement and regular check-ins on how new developments are doing. They also emphasize that leadership must look at its own behavior. No other DEI certification program factors in all of these criteria in such a comprehensive way.”Applicants accepted into the course will learn about a variety of DEI initiatives and business practices they can implement in their travel company. Travel Unity will cover everything from marketing & PR practices to partnerships, best methods for hiring diverse candidates and training employees, and working with local communities and contractors.Those accepted into CBTU will have an introductory call with Travel Unity, followed by DEI Prep Sessions, work with Travel Unity to test the certification process and have check-in calls as needed. They'll finish with a certification audit by Travel Unity.“TU and the work that led to the DEI Standards didn’t pop up in response to recent movements and the pandemic. We’ve been at this since 2015,” added Romey Louangvilay, the president of TU’s Board of Directors. “However, we hope the present-day context amplifies our efforts. We hope it serves as a call to action for the many organizations that have wanted to do this work but didn’t know how to begin or get stakeholder sign-off.”Those who wish to apply to the CBTU program can do so here. Let's block ads! (Why?)

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, it caused an immediate and massive disruption to the travel industry, and consumers everywhere began to panic.A flood of demands for refunds on prepaid airline, hotel and tour reservations overwhelmed companies, which found themselves faced with a financial crisis even as their business suddenly vanished. Many mitigated the damage by offering flexible rebooking options or vouchers for future travel, some with adding incentives, to avoid paying back so much of their capital to confused and frustrated customers.As the global health crisis continues to drag on after a full six months, however, travelers have no way of knowing how far out they’d need to postpone their trips and some would prefer just to get their money back, especially given economic pressures in the current climate. FinTech (financial technology) executive Monica Eaton-Cardone pointed out that all kinds of hospitality providers now face the possibility of a huge volume of chargebacks being demanded due to COVID-caused cancellations. Trending Now Eaton-Cardone specializes in risk management and fraud prevention and is the co-founder and COO of Chargebacks911 and CIO of its parent company, Global Risk Technologies. She professionally counsels consumers and merchants on the best ways to navigate the current dilemma and answer the challenges of the serious situation affecting the travel and hospitality sector as a whole.Countless consumers have prepaid via credit card to secure reservations for flights, cruises, hotel stays and tours that, now, may never happen, Eaton-Cardone notes. She advises that the best move for hospitality companies hoping to prevent as many chargebacks as possible is to work closely with those consumers who have paid bookings to find a satisfactory option that enables them stay the course until normal travel resumes."This is a complex, time-consuming process," said Eaton-Cardone, "and the sheer volume of cases will compound that exponentially. Over the long run, however, it will be worth the effort, in terms of both recovered revenue and sustainability."Should their airline, hotel operator, etc. actually go under, customers are given the option of filing for a chargeback to their card, she said. However, in cases of multiple bankruptcies of large companies, acquirers may have no one to pass along these losses to and they have already initiated legal processes to mitigate their own risk. Still, consumers are protected under certain U.S. laws and there are steps they can take to get their money back. HOTO: Woman on a phone call. (Photo via AntonioGuillem / iStock / Getty Images Plus) Consumer Rights and Action Tips:— Eaton-Cardone advises customers with canceled travel reservations to always speak directly with the travel company as a first step, as opposed to demanding a refund or filing a claim with their credit institution. The company may have other options or alternative arrangements that appeal to you.— The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has obligated airlines to provide their customers full refunds (ticket price and any cancellation fee) for flights that had to be canceled due to COVID-19. If your airline fails to do so, you can file a report with the DOT.— Every consumer is entitled to dispute a credit charge, whether or not it pertains to a COVID-19 cancellation. Eaton-Cardone said that, while it may seem old-fashioned, your best bet is to write a letter to the creditor explaining the details of your dispute, send it via certified mail with a return receipt and keep a copy of all documents.—The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) for most creditors, except for banks. If you feel that a creditor has violated the FCBA in its dealings with you, you can file a complaint directly with the FTC. The FTC outlines some other helpful information about charge disputes involving credit cards or revolving charge accounts here. Let's block ads! (Why?)

MMGY Global is creating a collection of market research studies on black travelers in conjunction with noted advocacy groups.The first study, The Black Traveler: Insights, Opportunities & Priorities, will include two surveys: one that analyzes the “current opinions and attitudes of black leisure travelers globally” and another on meetings professionals from the members of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP), MMGY said.It is scheduled to be published in late October. Net proceeds will be donated back to its survey partners, the Black Travel Alliance (BTA), National Council of Black Meeting Planners and National Association and the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers (NABHOOD), as well as other not-for-profit groups, MMGY said.“It is imperative for our industry to better understand the needs, behaviors and concerns of underrepresented traveler communities. As companies begin to evaluate their approach to diversity, equity and inclusion internally, they also need to create products, experiences, services and marketing campaigns that connect with the needs of diverse markets,” said MMGY Global CEO Clayton Reid. “Companies, including ours, have a moral obligation to ensure their brands reflect the communities they serve. We are proud to be able to partner with our sponsors and advocacy groups to bring this research to life.”MMGY sponsors include Choice Hotels International, Tripadvisor and Virginia Tourism Office – all of which have committed to donating net proceeds to BTA, NABHOOD and NCBMP and other not-for-profit groups. Let's block ads! (Why?)

Traveling in the time of COVID-19 requires may require a few extra steps but staying safe is easier than you think if you take a common-sense approach and put a bit of professional advice to work.Leading travel insurance and assistance provider Allianz Partners’ senior medical consultant Lori Calavan recently shared her tips for ensuring a safe travel experience during the pandemic, firstly stressing the importance of assessing the risk for those traveling as some individuals may be at higher risk than others. What’s more, anyone with COVID-19 symptoms or who feels sick should always stay home.“It’s important to remember that the precautions you take to stay safe in your community should also be followed while you’re traveling,” said Calavan, who is also a physician assistant at the ICU at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut. “Planning ahead for a trip to unfamiliar territory can increase both your peace of mind and your chances of enjoying your trip without incident.” Trending Now Planning ahead is also key to ensure that you’re up to date on all of the latest travel restrictions and testing requirements in your destination. Allianz’s free TravelSmart app is a great tool to stay in the know even if you don't have a policy. Users can tap “Assistance Around Me” to locate the nearest hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, police stations and U.S. Embassies in the even that they experience an emergency abroad.Calavan also recommends that travelers be prepared by packing plenty of extra face masks, disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer. More importantly, they should put that personal protective equipment to use throughout their journey, especially on airplanes, trains and buses and when using gas stations and public restrooms.“With a surge in road trips, service areas and gas stations may be crowded—increasing the chance of exposure,” Calavan advises. “Wear disposable gloves when pumping your gas and throw them in a trash bin before you open your car door. To limit contact with others, pay with a credit card (sanitizing it with a wipe after use).”The expert also encourages travelers to pack their own food and drink to limit the amount of stops they need to make and ensure they have some supplies in the event that restaurants are closed or open with limited capacity in their destination.While Calavan acknowledges that there’s “no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread through the use of recreational waters” such as lakes, pools and beaches, travelers are advised to maintain social distance and wear a mask while out of the water and using shared facilities.“Whether traveling to the beautiful beaches of Mexico or the U.S. countryside, now more than ever, it’s incredibly important to plan ahead,” said Daniel Durazo, director of marketing and communications at Allianz Partners, in a statement. “Like travel insurance, safety precautions can help protect against the unexpected, allowing you to truly be at ease throughout your trip and enjoy it to the fullest.” Let's block ads! (Why?)

A few months back, hotels and tourism boards in popular destinations along Mexico’s Caribbean coast banded together to create the #Come2MexicanCaribbean (or #VenAlCaribeMexicanoX2 in Spanish) campaign in efforts to encourage renewed tourism to the region post-COVID-19.Now, the initiative has introduced another incentive to get guests thinking about their favorite moments in the Mexican Caribbean, as well as envisioning those they’d love to experience in the future, according to Lonely Planet. It’s social media-centric competition that will award the winner 20 years’ worth of annual, five-night, all-inclusive vacations for two guests at four- and five-star resorts in Mexican Caribbean coastal hotspots. Entrants must be at least 18 years old, and can participate in the contest by posting photos or videos featuring their favorite aspects of a Mexican Caribbean beach break to either Instagram or TikTok (or both) using the hashtag #Come2MexicanCaribbean. @Come2MexicanCaribbean.MORE Features & Advice Participants will also need to follow the campaign’s Instagram or TikTok profiles, @Come2MexicanCaribbean, and tag them in their posts on either platform respectively.The contest is backed by major hospitality developer Atelier Group, the Quintana Roo Tourism Board and various organizations such hotspots as Cancun, Isla Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya and Tulum.According to official contest rules: “The content that gets more visible reactions (plays, likes, comments, etc), will be the winner.”The competition is open to residents of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, and runs through November 9, with the winner to be announced and awarded on November 27, 2020.Full terms and conditions are outlined here. PHOTO: Playa del Carmen beach palapa in Riviera Maya, Mexico. (photo via LUNAMARINA/iStock/Getty Images Plus) For more information, visit en.come2mexicancaribbean.com. Let's block ads! (Why?)

With Labor Day 2020 behind us and the unofficial close of summer having passed with it, Americans will now be looking forward to autumn escapes.With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to convince prospective travelers to stay close to home, we’re bound to see plenty of road-tripping, camping and interest in exploring the great outdoors as part of U.S. domestic trips this season. For those wishing to witness Mother Nature’s changing raiment as it peaks in particular places across the country, the 2020 Fall Foliage Prediction Map provides an interactive, online tool to help you plan your autumn leaf-peeping excursions. Trending Now Now in its seventh year, the innovative tool was created by Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation’s most-visited national park, which stretches between North Carolina and Tennessee and encompasses a portion of the Appalachian Trail.The Prediction Map covers the entire U.S., utilizing a color-coding effect to visualize the changing leaves’ predicted progress as the weeks wear on. It features an adjustable slider so that you can see when the spectacle will unfold in each part of the country so that you can plan your next trip to follow the swapping of Mother Nature’s raiment and snap some gorgeous fall photos in the process.The interactive map was created based upon an analysis of millions of data points, put together county-by-county. Of course, no foliage projection tool can provide 100-percent accuracy, since the timing of the leaves’ changes and the vibrancy and saturation of the colors is dependent upon unknown factors.Budget Travel cited the upcoming season’s unpredictable weather patterns as a chief factor that will influence trees’ color-changing peaks since it will determine crucial elements like temperature, sunlight, precipitation and soil moisture. PHOTO: Sunset from Blue Ridge Parkway, which passes through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (Photo via iStock/Getty Images Plus/tonda) The website is also a source for straightforward information about the reason that leaves change their colors in autumn, how the different hues are produced and what each one means, and what finally becomes of the fallen leaves.There are also downloadable coloring pages for kids and tasty recipes for autumn-inspired treats so folks can start enjoying the sights, scents and tastes of the season at home. Let's block ads! (Why?)

This article is written by Brad Striegel, a Cruise Planners travel advisor and franchise owner of Vacation Land and Cruise.On a bright and sunny pandemic day in early March, I received a text message from an old college friend about his spring break travel plans. “Nice time to get into the travel business, huh? We are working to cancel a trip to California we were taking to Disney/Universal. If we still wanted to go somewhere, leaving Saturday, where would you suggest?” he asked.“Mexico and Caribbean are good. We are leaving Saturday. Bought it yesterday, Cheap,” I replied.“Where to, may we join you?” he asked.“We are going to Cancun. I will shoot you a price for my hotel, if it’s available. We have super cheap places everywhere. March 14-18 are the dates,” I said. Trending Now So began my first pandemic vacation and my first pandemic travel sale. My research showed that Mexico and the Caribbean were the safest places to travel, with some of the best deals. I bought a cheap vacation package through my Cruise Planners business at a 5-star, all-inclusive resort on the Cancun Riviera Maya. My five-day vacation package for my wife and our two teenaged children included flights, trip insurance and transfers at an unbelievably low price.I was not foolhardy about traveling during the pandemic. The virus has killed thousands and is decimating the travel industry. I retired from the military in the fall of 2019 after serving in an Army at war for most of my career and was experienced at doing risk assessments. Unfortunately, I was just beginning to build our recently acquired Cruise Planners travel franchise and establishing clients when a new war began with COVID-19. I had the advantage of some experience in global pandemics having supported the U.S. military response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014. That limited experience gave me some valuable insights into the negative impacts of a highly contagious and deadly virus.I assessed our risk to travel as low. COVD-19 is very lethal to the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, and my family is not in those high-risk categories. Knowing I would be traveling soon, I had already visited my elderly mother a week before and would stay away from her for at least two weeks post-travel. I registered us with the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment (STEP) with the nearest U.S. Embassy in case of an emergency and reviewed their country information brief on Mexico.Next, we ensured we had sanitary wipes, sanitizing gel and masks for our trip. At the time, the CDC had issued an advisory to the general public not to wear masks unless they were showing COVID-19 symptoms. However, the CDC did a controversial about-face and recommended all Americans wear masks in April.We flew to Cancun International Airport on a direct flight out of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. O’Hare is normally one of the busiest airports in the U.S., if not the world. During Spring Break it’s normally busier. When we arrived, it was like a ghost town. I’d never seen anything like it, but I was hoping for a smaller crowd at the airport since fewer people means less chance of getting the virus. The plane was also booked at about 50 percent capacity. Mask use was very rare, and we didn’t use ours. PHOTO: A nearly vacant terminal at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on March 14, 2020. (photo via Brad Striegel) Cancun International Airport seemed to be running business as usual, just with fewer passengers. While masks were still sporadic, we kept up social distancing. The resort was also running at about 50 percent capacity, and the restaurants were light on customers. What should have been a packed morning breakfast buffet was a nearly empty dining hall.Hand sanitizing was enforced by the staff, but I told my family to wash or sanitize their hands before they ate and generally after touching a surface of any kind. Unlike many cruise ships that recently eliminated self-service from their buffets to avoid contamination, our resort buffet was still self serve.I worked out in the resort gym which had low occupancy and increased hygiene and sanitation requirements. Good hygiene after touching hard surfaces in common areas like these has been a common habit for me long before the pandemic, so doing it now was easy.We continued to enjoy our stay and visited the ancient Mayan ruins at Tulum and the Coba Pyramid, which is the highest pyramid on the Yucatan peninsula. We also took a swim in the cool waters of one of Mexico’s many underwater caves, called cenotes. We then stopped at a shopping district in Playa del Carmen at the end of the excursion. PHOTO: Cruise Planners franchise owners and travel advisors Brad and Angela Striegel at the ancient Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico. (photo via Brad Striegel) We departed Mexico on March 18 as planned. On our transfer bus, one passenger asked, “Is everybody ready to go into quarantine when they get home?” More public health measures were in place at Cancun International Airport. The airport had staff in Tyvek suits taking thermal scans of passengers as they walked through security. This was a measure I had not seen in U.S. airports. The return flight home had more passengers this time, and I had two people sit next to me. Both of them wore masks, one wore a face shield. I didn’t wear my mask.We self-isolated for 14 days as planned before our trip. I continued to work my travel business, dealing mostly with clients' travel cancelations, refunds and rebookings due to the pandemic. New travel bookings became rarer. Many countries and states effectively shut down. Although this was horrible for business, the lockdowns and self-isolation didn’t bother me otherwise. I was used to such conditions from being in the military and from working from home since retirement.Looking to the future, I wondered if we would be able to take a summer vacation and where would we take it? By early summer, the travel industry was reeling from the effects of the pandemic, and a virus surge was occurring in the U.S. Select states in America enacted travel restrictions on out of state visitors. Many countries also required a negative COVID-19 test before entering their country. The problem with such testing was once you were tested you really didn’t know when it would come back, leaving you in travel planning limbo. Plus, you could still catch the virus right after you took the test. To me, this made COVID-19 testing for travel fairly pointless.I decided to travel through America on a western vacation via a road trip in our SUV in late July. I got a great deal on lodging at Lake Powell, located in Utah and Arizona, through my Cruise Planners business and hit the road with the objective of hitting several U.S. National Parks. Mask usage throughout the country was prevalent wherever we traveled and often required when entering buildings.My biggest problem with the mask was remembering to keep it on me at all times, walking back to the car in frustration whenever I forgot it. We never wore masks outside in wide-open areas, and very few people we saw did.Over nine days we drove through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and Arizona and back. We saw several National Parks, Monuments and Forests including Arches, Zion, Glen Canyon, Grand Staircase Escalante, Bryce Canyon, and Mesa Verde, where ancient stone canyon dwellings were built by the Pueblo Indians.Lake Powell is an amazing place to see. Located inside Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, it harbors nearby Lone Rock Beach which allows visitors to drive right up to the shoreline and camp there if desired. Lone Rock is also a designated off road vehicle (ORV) site. Lake Powell also has Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend as one of its many tourist attractions. We kayaked thru Antelope Canyon then debarked for a short hike when he hit the land trail. Horseshoe Bend is one of the most famous stone formations in the world and only a short distance from Lake Powell Resort. PHOTO: The author’s family kayaking in Antelope Canyon, Lake Powell, Arizona. (photo via Brad Striegel) On our return drive home, we drove through Monument Valley, a place that has been the backdrop for many western movies and is located in the Navajo Nation. The Navajo tourist sites were all closed because the Navajo Nation has suffered some of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the U.S. The good news is you can see Monument Valley for free just by driving US highway163, part of the “Navajo Code Talker Highway” and the “Trail of the Ancients” from Kayenta, Arizona.All of these locations were bucket list destinations of mine and world-renowned landmarks. There were small crowds at the parks, and nearly everyone practiced good social distancing. The National Parks are one of the best traveling options you can go to in the pandemic. By avoiding crowds in wide-open spaces, your chances of catching the virus are reduced significantly.While the State Department removed its global, Level 4 travel advisory on August 6, the pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon. I think we should be prepared to live with COVID-19 for a long time. Everyone should assess their risk to travel and keep the virus in context of how it affects their age group and health status. For us, it was a great time to travel. I’ve been doing risk assessment and risk management in the military for decades, and I assessed my family wasn’t in any more danger than we would be pre-pandemic from all the other ways a person can get hurt or killed.Additionally, the travel deals I bought through Cruise Planners were unbelievably low and too good to pass up. I was also able to have a reunion with an old college friend and his family while saving his spring break vacation, and mine, at the last minute. He was pretty happy about that and so was I. P.T. Barnum once said, “The noblest art is that of making others happy.” Making people happy...that’s what travel advisors do. Let's block ads! (Why?)

This article is written by Valentina Vallinotto, co-founder of v-adventures, a NY-based safari adventure firm, and a Global Rescue Safe Travel partner. She spent years exploring Africa and offering customized overland safari experiences in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.African safari popularity continues to grow as eco-tourism promoting conservation and anti-poaching emerges alongside safaris. But the pandemic and the following travel restrictions have changed the African savannah landscapes. “The parks of Africa have been quietly minding their own business since April, and the animals have taken over. Main roads have become tracks, with big cats ambling along looking for breakfast. Airstrips are now prime grazing grounds, and the sun rises and sets over the wilderness,” said our close friend Charles Norwood, owner of Self Drive Safari Resource.MORE Features & Advice Norwood jokes the tourist is the rarest sighting in Africa right now. International travel restrictions have made it difficult for many adventure travelers to go on safari in 2020, taking a toll on the African economy and the wildlife.Veteran safari tour operator Charl van Rooyen said travelers to Africa don’t generally recognize the importance of tourism for conservation and wildlife management. “About 30% of Tanzania's safari costs go to the government agency managing wildlife, and about 50% ends up in secondary services that conserve and manage wildlife in the area you're visiting,” he said.With tourism dollars evaporating due to the pandemic, Southern and Eastern African infrastructure supporting conservation and safeguards against illegal hunting are disappearing. “Poaching is picking up due to the absence of travelers,” said Chris du Plooy, owner of Chris du Plooy Safaris in Limpopo, South Africa.Ironically, the pandemic may be a reason for African safari recovery. The top recommendations for activity during the coronavirus pandemic — go remote, avoid crowds, be outside in nature – are three of the cornerstones why African safaris are popular among travelers. With multiple suppliers in various territories, the safari industry is banding together to bring back safaris as a high-value and less risky eco-tourism option during the coronavirus pandemic.Resilient clients did not cancel their holidays. They simply postponed, with some of them confirming their bookings for fall 2020. They are eager to travel as soon as possible.At the same time, safari lodges, ground transfer operators, and local flight carriers are updating their safety procedures. At our Ndutu Safari Lodge in Tanzania, we worked on a detailed safety protocol for our staff members, based on WHO guidelines and official Tanzania’s national SOP.International safari-goers can travel to most parts of Africa where safaris are popular, but other regions like South Africa remain closed. Americans looking to go on safari have options now that the U.S. government lifted its “Avoid All Travel” advisory. Rwanda and Tanzania reopened to Americans in June, provided travelers bring a negative-PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival.Safaris are vacations where tourists can make a difference by just going on a holiday. James Slade, Global Wildlife Conservation’s Wildlife Crime Prevention Officer, agrees: “Conservation taxes or bed levies can be a great way to fund conservation efforts with a reliable stream of income. This only works if the tourism is there.”Not only do incoming dollars support local economies, but tourism also ensures ongoing conservation efforts so wildlife can continue to live and thrive in their natural habitats. Most safaris are planned well in advance, so travelers should book now for late 2020 or 2021.It’s unknown how long the pandemic will last, or when a vaccine or treatment will be widely available. Right now, prudent travelers will opt for travel crisis response services to protect their health just if they get sick or injured. But they’ll also look for lower-risk international trip options that will likely move them toward Africa with its secluded safari destinations offering wide open-air spaces and limited people. Let's block ads! (Why?)