NEWS
EXPERT PANEL TO REVEAL WHY ‘EPIC TRAVEL’ IS THE NEXT MUST-DO LUXURY EXPERIENCE
Madeleine Barber
Travel organisers and host destinations will be able to learn about what motivates the world’s affluent travellers to push themselves ever further on their trips. Speaking to experts in the rapidly
evolving field of “epic travel” (during her session 14:30-15:30, Monday, in the Asia Inspiration Zone), April Hutchinson, editor of TTG Luxury, will uncover what drives affluent consumers to seek out experiences that really test them, and what a travel company has to go through in order to create such trips. “We have seen a number of companies
emerge in recent years that have identified this niche, one where high-net-worth individuals, often with a high threshold for adventure, want to get a whole lot more out of a holiday than just a tan,” said Hutchinson. “They work hard, and travel hard, exploring the limits of what they are capable of, pursuing a real passion, or sometimes, taking the whole family to remote places for incredible trips. These trips involve intense levels of logistic nous and imagination from the organisers, who will often go on a recce and run the whole trip beforehand. The
GAMBIA SHOWCASES NEW HOTELS AFTER COOK COLLAPSE
Gary Noakes The panel will discuss what luxury clients look for
rewards are high for all concerned, but it’s not the kind of travel to be taken lightly.” Joining the panel will be Jimmy Carroll,
co-founder and business development director, Pelorus; Adam Sebba, CEO, Cookson Adventures; Tom Marchant, co-founder, Black Tomato Group; and Justin Wateridge, managing director, Steppes Travel. They will share how companies in this
market operate, what their clients look for, how they deliver it, and also reveal some of the last remaining unexplored adventure destinations out there.
Gambia (AF455) will show off two new beach hotels and detail improvement work at the country’s airport during WTM London as it seeks to revive its industry following the collapse of Thomas Cook. Cook reportedly accounted for 45% of all the country’s tourists until its collapse and had invested in a new property, the Tamala Beach, which was originally branded a Cook SunPrime property despite being funded by local investors. The hotel is now open at Kotu with a first phase of 140 rooms. Among them are 19 seaview premium rooms with private pool access. The Tamala also features a spa, gym and mini-market. A second new property, The African
Naval gazing Exhibiting for the first time at WTM London, the Old
Royal Naval College in Greenwich (UKI200) is celebrating the reopening
of its Painted Hall in March 2019 after a three-year conservation project costing £8 million. Often referred to as “Britain’s Sistine Chapel”, the riverside attraction is home to artist Sir James Thornhill’s baroque paintings, which historians say took more than 19 years to paint.
Princess Hotel, which is also four-star, was built by local destination management company Gambia Tours at a cost of $10 million. Gambia Tours already owns the country’s largest hotel, The Senegambia. The African Princess is located in South
Kotu and has 140 rooms – some of them swim-up rooms – plus a villa and is sold in the UK by The Gambia Experience. The Gambia Experience has taken up some of the lost Cook capacity, including a new Birmingham-Banjul flight from 18 December to 22 April this winter. Gambia has also embarked on a
$14 million renovation and expansion of Banjul airport. The project includes a major overhaul of the terminal building and the provision of more passenger facilities.
8 WTM OFFICIAL EVENT DAILY 04.11.2019
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