Springwise: Feather Down Farms are small-scale, working farms that offer cottage-style tents with "traditional interiors" including feather beds, wood-burning stoves and flushing toilets. A far cry from a rustic tent, the spacious accommodations feature master and bunk bedrooms along with an extra canopy bed—sleeping up to 6 in all. There is no electricity in Feather Down tents, but oil lamps and candles are provided for lighting and hot showers are available nearby. Children can get cosy with the barnyard creatures, and a farm store provides locally grown produce and necessities. Guests can also gather fresh eggs in the farm's henhouse each morning—or, at some UK farms, a private chicken coop is even available for rent, as are recipes, ingredients and implements for select farm-style meals. UK rental prices begin at GBP 195 for a 3-night midweek stay, including firewood or coal for the stove; a private chicken coop starts at GBP 10 for a midweek stay.
Farm camping in cottage-style tents (private chicken coops optional) [Springwise]
stuff.co.nz: It's a trend pre-dating the global slowdown: big hotel chains are moving into the quirky boutique sector to tap into a niche of profitable growth. What's not clear now is how many can succeed.
Hotel revenues have fallen sharply since last October and shares in hotel groups in Europe fell by more than 30 percent in 2008 as investors anticipated pressure on earnings this year.
Nonetheless global giants from InterContinental - the world's largest hotel group - to Marriott and Starwood are launching boutique brands in Europe, with others set to follow as they face the biggest industry downturn in a generation.
Hoteliers entering the boutique niche are betting that travelers will seek better value as spending is squeezed, rather than settle for the usual boring "beige box" hotel room.
Hotel giants seek refuge in niches [stuff.co.nz]
Springwise: Guidebooks and recommendations are all very well, but there’s very little point in discovering a new activity, restaurant or shop if you’re not in the right headspace to enjoy it. Enter I Feel London (or Toronto, or New York as is appropriate), a site that lets users search for things to do based on their mood.
Currently in beta, the I Feel sites bring a new spin to Google Maps. There’s a map for each one of nine moods, covering such feelings as naughty, hungover, girly, sophisticated and broke. Andy Whitlock, I Feel’s London-based founder, has kick-started each map by populating it with a handful of activities, with future contributions to be made by anyone who requests an invite. We’re hoping each map won’t be bombarded with contributions, though: we like the limited, curated choice currently on offer.
Navigating Cities by Mood [Springwise]
Urbane Nomads offers interesting travel experiences, proffering locations and accompanying experiences that re-define 'the ultimate travel experience'. Urbane Nomads' travel experiences go beyond the almost-clichéd 'ski in the morning, swim in the Mediterranean sea by afternoon' itinerary. The prototypical Urbane Nomad can be found living it up in a sybaritic town of Latin America one holiday and roughing it out in an eco-resort (sans mod cons) in an undeveloped city the next.
Taking an active interest in the culture and history of the area (which goes beyond watching a 'native' dance staged with the tourist in mind), the Urbane Nomad seeks out intelligent tours that go under the skin of the place. To this end, they offer scholar-led tours for certain destinations and alternative experiences even for the most prominently featured localities on the tourist agenda. Be it a surprisingly tranquil retreat from the chaos of touristy Bangkok or watching a no-rules polo match in the highest peaks of (a much less-touristy) Pakistan, Urbane Nomads seeks to create interesting, alternative travel experiences for the prototypical Urbane Nomad.
http://www.urbanenomads.com
Bored with the same old routes around London? Want to be taken straight to the capital's secret hot-spots? Coolhunting agency Insider London has developed the world's first Green Trend tour, giving visitors the scoop on the most pioneering, sustainable-design goings-on in the city. Taking in the sexiest products, most gorgeous shops, futuristic architecture and inspiring communities - all in an afternoon - the tours are opening visitors' eyes and getting them excited and inspired about green all over again.
Going ahead on the first weekend of every month, the tour destroys the assumption that green living must involve hair shirts and recycled cardboard. Each cherry-picked sight is a pioneering contribution to green living, such as high-end tailored scrap clothing, Britain's first hydrogen-powered building and floating gardens producing renewable energy. The initiatives on the tour aren't just some of the most sustainable and sexy concepts in London: the city's world-leading status means the examples are some of the best on the planet. The tour's positive, innovative approach won it a 'Love London' award earlier in the year.
Insider London Cutting-Edge Green Tours
Copenhagen Capacity: In October this year, Copenhagen launched its first floating hotel. Named CPH LIVING, and it is located beside a floating restaurant in Copenhagen harbour.
The CPH LIVING hotel is a designer hotel, And all the furniture and almost all the equipment in the hotel have been designed by Waterliving's architects.
"We dropped all brass and maritime equipment and chose instead to stick to a style that suits the lightness that naturally occurs through the interplay of light and water," explains Mikkel Stewart, a leading architect on the project.
The barge Viva, located alongside the new hotel, is a gastronomic mecca with star chef Paolo Guimaraes at the helm. Paolo and his team will also provide the new floating hotel with food and service.
Floating designer hotel [Copenhagen Capacity]
Edmonton Journal: As more green-minded Canadians look to spend their vacation dollars in eco-friendly places, environmentally sensitive resorts, hotels, inns and lodges are popping up like organic mushrooms.
Whitewater Village, a 38-cottage year-round eco-resort planned by Windmill Developments, one of Canada's top green builders, is just the latest addition to the growing list of such vacation venues across the country.
"We feel it's a fairly untapped market," said Jonathan Westeinde, Windmill's managing partner. "It's a little outside the box for what we do but part of the reason we're there is it interests me a lot. When you look at the market for green and sustainable, you're getting downtown urban condo dwellers and you're getting a lot of cottage owners."
The market for eco-resorts is growing and will continue to do so, said Joseph Hnatiuk, president of the Saskatchewan Nature and Ecotourism Association, which has been accrediting ecotourist lodges, parks, hotels and tourism sites since 2000 under a program approved by the International Ecotourism Society.
Featuring geothermal heating and cooling, solar hot water and electricity, the development will break ground in spring 2008 along the Ottawa River, northeast of Ottawa near rapids that draw whitewater rafters and kayakers from around the world.
Whitewater Village will be surrounded by a 4,000-acre land trust to keep further development at bay, aims to be carbon neutral and will have a peat moss sanitation system. The exterior of the cottages, generally two-storey structures of 1,700 square feet, will be constructed of logs certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Interior features will include bamboo floors, wool carpets, formaldehyde-free kitchen cabinets and recycled-paper countertops.
Eco-resort complexes latest trend in vacation-land [Edmonton Journal]
Wired: Imagine being in a dragster, peeling out from zero to 100 in three seconds, then keeping your foot to the floor for a full six minutes until you reach 17,500 mph.
On Friday, the Kennedy Space Center will open the Shuttle Launch Experience, an amusement-ride-cum-astronaut-flight-simulator designed to mimic the 17,500-mph liftoff of a NASA shuttle orbiter. The 44,000-square-foot attraction isn't just a ride; it's a flight simulator on par with what astronauts in training experience, says Bob Rogers, CEO of BRC Imagination Arts, which built it.
"This isn't an imaginary flight," says Rogers. "This is real."
The $60 million project employs seat rumblers and shakers that rattle riders through the turbulent main engine start, the firing of the solid rocket boosters and then their separation. Air bags in each seat sink and rise to capture the sensation of extreme acceleration. The shuttle's windshield, an 84-inch high-def screen, is enveloped in fire when the external tanks separate. Inside the capsule, riders are subject to an onslaught of 13-channel sound, from the roar of the engines to the commander barking instructions. Low-frequency sound vibrates the riders' chests, evoking the feeling of being unable to breathe.
New Attraction Simulates Shuttle Launch at 17,500 MPH [Wired]
Springwise: What could be better than having an insider walk you through his or her favourite spots in a new city or travel destination? How about having access to a whole library of such tours that can be downloaded right to your iPod or MP3 player? That's what Chicago-based AudioSnacks is offering consumers. Users can download audio tours of select destinations and can put up their own tours for purchase.
“AudioSnack is a place to find, purchase, download, listen to and appreciate audio tours that people just like you have created to share, and a place where you can do the same for others.” Tours are modestly priced—some are even free. Many feature downloadable maps to accompany the audio footage, and customers can listen to a sample snippet of a tour before deciding to purchase.
User-generated Pod Tours [Springwise]
Delaware Online: Kathleen Cochran, general manager of San Diego's Loews Coronado Bay Resort & Spa, learned a simple truth from her family about traveling: "When teenagers aren't happy, no one's happy."
"It's just really awful," said Cochran, whose three children are 11, 14 and 16. "I call it 'forced family fun.' "
Armed with her own experiences -- and with an assist from her kids -- Cochran set out to make her hotel teen-friendly, an emerging trend in vacation spots trying to cater to the family.
Four Seasons hotels hire teen concierges who specialize in providing tips on cool hangouts, stores and activities. Other hotels feature teen-focused spa treatments, such as makeup lessons and facials for acne-prone skin. And some, such as Loews Coronado, are setting aside space and events just for adolescents.
Four Seasons hotels began hiring local teens to work as concierges last year at its properties in Toronto, London, New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Whistler, British Columbia. "It's really helpful to have another teen help find teens something to do," Adam Podborski, a 17-year-old concierge at the Whistler resort, said. "Otherwise, it might be just dismissed as, 'Oh, that's just something they're telling me to do.' "
Keen scene for teens [Delaware Online - The News Journal]
International Herald Tribune: In its many forms, spiritual tourism is the "oldest and now one of the fastest- growing segments in the travel industry," said Dallen Timothy, an associate professor at Arizona State University and a co-editor of "Tourism, Religion & Spiritual Journeys" (Routledge, 2006).
Timothy said the niche could also be hard to quantify, partly because of its changing definition. It now embraces yoga and other retreats, metaphysical quests, astrology and adventure tours, visits to places like Stonehenge in England and weekends at New Age spas and wellness centers.
The rising popularity of spiritual tourism can be traced to several factors, including a trend toward vacations that help travelers achieve a higher sense of purpose through volunteering, education, culture and art. In addition, travel experts cite a growing middle class of Asians and Middle Easterners whose religions prescribe traveling to places they hold holy.
Raymond Bickson, managing director of Taj Hotels & Resorts, based in Mumbai, said that "as baby boomers age and gray, they have more time and more disposable income to look within." Three years ago, noticing that many of the guests at his 57 hotels in India were seeking spiritual experiences, he added activities like meditation sessions and chanting ceremonies. Revenue from spa programs has tripled since then, he said.
In a survey released in November, the Travel Industry Association found that 25 percent of respondents in a representative sample of 1,500 adults said they were interested in spiritual vacations. The appeal of such journeys was spread equally among three age groups, 18 to 34, 35 to 54, and 55 and over.
Easing spiritual journeys with creature comforts [International Herald Tribune]
Tosh is about the souvenirs you always wished you could find. In the words of the founders:
"We founded tosh in 2004. Having travelled to almost a hundred cities in over 40 countries, we've always found it near impossible to find anything original, stylish or affordable worth buying. (And, we hasten to add, this was not through a lack of trying!)
Whether it's Prague, Perth or Penang, it seems that in the age of mass tourism, everything has started to look the same. The same "hand made" ornaments (in China that is!) The same tiresome t-shirts.The same faded postcards. Nothing original, nothing quirky.
Enough, we said! It's about time someone created some stylish and affordable mementos of all the places we've been. So we did!"
tosh
TrendCentral: The latest hot show in New York isn’t in the Theatre District, or even in any theatre for that matter. In fact, audiences are more like “participants” as they’re on their feet for the duration of the performance. Part theatre, part scavenger hunt, part walking tour, Accomplice: New York is giving participants a whole new way to experience the city, even among locals who previously thought tours are just for out-of-towners.
After signing up, participants receive a “mystery” phone call a day or two prior to the show, telling them where to meet. (Think of it as the new version of the popular ‘80s Murder Mystery Party.) Teams of eight then embark on a crime-solving Lower Manhattan-based adventure, picking up clues along the way from “random” encounters with Accomplice cast members.
Interactive theatre [TrendCentral]
TrendCentral: In addition to jewelry and electronics, recent high school grads have been telling us the most sought after graduation gift isn’t actually a material possession, but rather an experience. Pre-paid trips from Contiki were the most desired gifts amongst the recently graduated Class of 2006.
Targeting 18-35 year-olds, Contiki is a hip vacation company that gives participants the opportunity to travel the world, while exploring at their own pace. Guides lead travellers to all the best sights but unlike most tightly-scheduled tour programs, travellers are “free” to check things out on their own without a guide breathing down their necks.
Youth travel company is a hit with high school grads [TrendCentral]
Telegraph.co.uk: You can stay in France in anything from a Yurt to an Airstream caravan. Ann Noon offers a guide.
Yurts
Squatting at the top of the Ardèche river gorge, overlooking some of the most rugged scenery in France, the Mille Etoiles encampment is home to 12 individually-designed yurts scattered throughout a peaceful oak forest. Handcrafted from different woods, each tent is furnished with a double or king-sized bed and has a relaxation area complete with hammocks. For honeymooners, three of the yurts are hidden deep in the woods with their own miniature camp kitchen and ecological toilet.
Gipsy caravans
Four fully equipped gipsy caravans with en-suite bathrooms are the main reason to stay on the Saint Cerice estate in the pretty village of Vogüé, also in the Ardèche. The caravans, which each sleep five, are designed for maximum comfort. With cherry trees, olive groves and vineyards all around, the surrounding parkland feels very Mediterranean.
Teepees
In the western Loire stands Le Bonheur de Vivre, a Sioux Indian village with six "authentic" wigwams decked out in skins and pictures of chieftains of yore.
Quirky nights under French skies [Telegraph UK]
Springwise: In keeping with today's mobile theme, Escape Rentals is a New Zealand camper rental company that sets itself apart by letting artists turn camper vans into art on wheels.
Taking something slightly dull – a camper – and turning it into something fresh, Escape Rentals is attracting travellers who are tired of mass tourism and looking for a more unique experience.
Each of their nearly 100 campers is given an aerosol overhaul by a New Zealand artist. Paint jobs draw from the whole spectrum of visual art and pop culture, from kiwiana to Far Side comics and Maurice Sendak to Pablo Picasso. Rental rates are competitive, at around NZD 59 (USD 37/EUR 29) per day, with optional extras like mobile phones and solar showers charged separately.
Funky kiwi campers [Springwise]
Springwise: Launched last week by two young British entrepreneurs, tribewanted is creating a global tribe that will develop a sustainable eco-community on an island in Fiji.
In what seems like a hippie dream crossed with an episode of Survivor, tribewanted is looking for 5000 people from around the world to become part of a tribe that will not only exist online, but will also settle, 100 at a time, on 'Adventure Island'. On the map, Adventure Island is known as Vorovoro, and is being leased to tribewanted by the local tribal chief.
There are three types of membership to choose from: Nomads get 1 years membership and 7 nights on the island for GBP 120 / USD 210; Hunters are members for 2 years and can stay for 14 nights (GBP 240 / USD 420); and Warriors are member for 3 years and can stay for 21 nights (GBP 360 / USD 630). When the 5000th member joins, the tribe will be formed and will start to make tribal decisions by voting through the online community at tribewanted.com, on issues such as the name of the tribe, type of infrastructure that will be required, and how to build an island community in an environmentally friendly way.
Tribal Tourism [Springwise]
Iconoculture: Bus tour operator Gray Line New Orleans has been offering visitors a three-hour “Hurricane Katrina – America’s Worst Catastrophe” tour of the devastation. On the first day of touring, demand was so high that the company added a third tour. The tour visits Canal Street, the Superdome, the convention center and some of the worst-hit neighborhoods, including Lakeview and Gentilly. It doesn’t roll through the infamous Ninth Ward, though: Debris in the streets there still makes travel hazardous
$3 of every ticket’s face price goes to relief efforts.
Gray Line New Orleans offers bus tours of Katrina-ravaged parts of the Crescent City [Iconoculture]
Italy Magazine: We are sure this happens to everyone all the time. You find yourself in Rome - just have a couple of hours at your disposal - and are not sure whether to spend them in the gym working out or sightseeing. Well - you don’t have to make that choice anymore!
The ever resourceful Romans have come up with a whole new take on sightseeing in Rome, which I am sure will have traditionalists jumping up and down with rage. In short, the latest trend for the fitness-conscious visitors of Rome is a guided tour of Rome whilst jogging. One of the routes claims to take you in 90 minutes and 5 miles down the Spanish Steps, through the city’s very heart and across the Tiber River, you get to Castel S. Angelo and the magnificent St.Peter’s Basilica.
“An absolutely striking route, not to be missed on your first visit to Rome.”, says the Sightjogging website.
Another route takes you in 60 minutes through 2000 years of history round the Imperial Forums and the Colosseum. The trip is handled by multilingual trainers jogging tourists along predefined routes. The clients are met at the hotel or at predefined locations and during the route the trainer gives cultural information about the highlights of the route itself in the language chosen by the clients.
Sightjogging anyone? [Italy Magazine]
Iconoculture: Moms and babies head for the hills with Colorado Mountain Mamas hiking club. The group helps new moms get back on the trails – with baby on board. Each hike is led by an experienced guide trained in CPR who stays connected, via walkie-talkie, with the hiker at the back of the line so no one gets lost. In addition to mom-and-infant hikes, the group runs trail experiences for moms and toddlers designed to engage tots in the discovery of nature.
Oh, the myriad – and even unorthodox – ways moms can connect these days. Looking for laughs? Try Moms Cracking Up. Prefer a cocktail? Check out a baby-friendly happy hour. If you’re looking to connect with only the “right sort,” there’s superexclusive Citibabes private club. Outdoorsy moms step lively for safe ways to connect with other trail-loving moms, mix up the mom ’n’ baby routine, and introduce tots to nature.
Mountain Mommies [Iconoculture]
Iconoculture: What it lacks in Russell Crowe, it makes up for in authenticity. Visitors to Jerash, Jordan, can watch the Roman Army and Chariot Experience (RACE) – an authentic reenactment of Roman chariot races staged in a restored ancient Roman hippodrome. OK, there are no lions and no thumbs-down executions. But otherwise, it’s authentic. Reenactors are former Jordanian police officers and soldiers (AP Worldstream 7.1.05).
The emperor of RACE is Stellan Lind, a Swede with a thing for Ben-Hur. Says Lind: “Chariot racing is the biggest spectator sport of all times. Chariot racing went on from about 680 BC to 6, 7, 800 AD, not year after year but century after century after century, and the chariot racing was organized just like Formula One racing today” (Morning Edition 8.15.05). World-traveling history buffs line up for heart-racing, gritty experiences that help them escape the modern world and connect with ancient life.
When In Jordan... [Iconoculture]
NEXT by Ramla: The blurb says: At Wannado City, kids can be whatever they want to be – right now. From paleontologist to news reporter, to everything in between, kids try out tons of grown-up jobs in the first indoor city just their size. They can operate on a patient, cook up a pizza or even solve a crime.
This is amazing. Be what you wanna be! DO what you wanna do! The ultimate realistic-fantasy of all human beings: get a taste of what it's like to do what you want to do with real objects and playmates.
Kids play out their fantasies in style by role-playing with imaginery objects and imaginary settings (and in my kiddie days, there were sometimes massive disputes on setting the scene and even assigning gender roles). But in Wannado City, brainchild of Mexican-born entrepreneur Luis Javier Laresgoiti, kids roleplay in real-life settings and carry out virtually real tasks. He got the idea for this experiential park when he watched his own daughter play with his telephone.
Wannado City [NEXT by Ramla]
New Scientist: Space pioneer Burt Rutan foresees space tourism companies running like a fast-food franchises, with his company licensing spacecraft to tour operators. But he says he may have trouble cutting through federal regulations to get there.
His company, Scaled Composites, built SpaceShipOne, the rocket plane that won the Ansari X Prize for private space flight in 2004. Scaled Composites has already signed a deal to build five spaceships for Virgin Galactic - a division of the Virgin Group.
Rutan declined to give detailed information about his future business plans before the US House Committee on Science’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics on Wednesday. But he did say he sees it running like a Wendy’s fast-food franchise, with his company implementing strict rules for tour operators about safety and operations. “We won’t sell spaceships to space lines that aren’t safe to fly,” he says.
Unlike SpaceShipOne, the next generation of Scaled Composite spaceships will have large cabins and big windows. Passengers will be able to float around the cabin during the four to five minutes of weightlessness. The trips will be a reasonably straightforward up and down voyage: Rutan says his company has not made the technological breakthroughs necessary for safe and affordable orbital trips as yet.
In the first year of operation, Rutan estimates that 500 people could fly to the fringe of space, about 100 kilometres. By the twelfth year, that number could reach 100,000, he says.
Space tourism industry to run 'like fast-food franchises' [New Scientist]
BBC News: Space tourism is less than three years away, Sir Richard Branson has claimed.
There are already 13,500 potential passengers for the £100,000 ($190,000) "Virgin Galactic spaceliner" trip, Sir Richard told the BBC.
The entrepreneur is having five "spaceliners" built in the US by the team which launched the SpaceShipOne rocket plane last year.
Sir Richard said he himself, his children and his parents all plan to be on the first flight.
The Virgin Atlantic airline boss told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost the space travel plan "is an extremely exciting project".
He signed a £14m agreement last September with Mojave Ventures, the company set up by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aviation pioneer Burton Rutan.
Mojave Ventures plans to use the technology developed for SpaceShipOne - the first privately-developed carrier to go above 100km last June.
Virgin boss unveils space trips [BBC News]
Trends in Japan: A new breed of tourist is beginning to attract the attention of tour operators and of localities where movies have been filmed. The main objective of these visitors is not to see famous landmarks or to go shopping but to visit the settings of popular movies and TV series. They are eager to experience for themselves the atmosphere portrayed in their favorite movies or TV shows.
Tokyo has recently welcomed quite a few Lost in Translation fans from overseas. Directed by Sofia Coppola, this movie, which won the Oscar for best original screenplay in 2004, was shot entirely in Japan and showcased some of Tokyo's best-known sites. The story involves a big Hollywood star who meets a lonely young American woman while both are staying temporarily in Tokyo. Coppola herself has visited Japan on numerous occasions, and her experiences here inspired her to make the movie.
On Location [Trends in Japan]
Wired News: Celebrity sightings may be a dime a dozen in New York City, but now visitors can extend that glimpse to almost an hour, with stars Sigourney Weaver and Jerry Stiller talking their ears off.
Weaver's and Stiller's voices pop up as narrators for Talking Street, a series of cell-phone tours that guide visitors through the Lower East Side, Lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center site.
Those in the industry agree these experiences probably won't replace traditional tour options like books and live guides. But they're confident that as air time gets cheaper and mobile technology improves, the popularity of such tours will grow.
Cell Phones Work as Tour Guides [Wired News]
High-tech DIY Tours [CoolBusinessIdeas.com]
Travellers love to take a guided tour of the place they have come to see. Although there are companies that provide walking tours, often the price is quite high. If you're unwilling to spend the extra bucks, you would probably end up planning a self-guided tour. There are some books and websites that provide information on the must-see sights and sounds of the tourist sites, but nothing sure beats hooking up to a digital audio player and listening to your virtual host point out the experiences you would not want to miss in that particular holiday spot!
The New York Times reports:
Outside the Internet, self-guided strolls are increasingly going high tech, with audio CD guides available at a growing number of hotels, museums and tourist offices. Perhaps the next breed of such guides is in digital audio devices that have been primarily music repositories. Discovery Walks (www.Discovery-Walk.com) provides a glimpse of this trend. The company rents light, compact MP3 players that include 10 individual walks for $31.25 a day, including tax, at $1.25 to the euro. Only Paris walks are offered so far, but the company is planning a significant expansion. In March, Discovery Walks will allow users to download tours directly to their MP3 players, and the roster of cities will include New York, London and Rome, as well as many Mediterranean cruise ports. Prices have yet to be determined, but the port cities will include Venice, Monte Carlo, Cannes and Barcelona.
Read: Tours on Foot Planned Online [New York Times]
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