Recommend February 2013 - (Page 10)

agentspeak It is rare that a trip moves me so much that I feel compelled to write about it, but having recently returned from Egypt with 20 clients on an Abercrombie & Kent Moment in History tour, I felt the travel community might beneﬁt from a ﬁrsthand report. As you know, Egypt is constantly in the news since the Arab Spring of January 2011 as it transitions to a democracy. One has to understand the culture of this country in order to put things in perspective. Egyptians attend a protest like we attend a ballgame. They gather on Friday evenings at Tahrir Square with food vendors and protestors voicing their opinion about something until late in the evening, then, they go home and resume a normal life. Our Egyptologist made a detour and had our group driven by there on a Saturday morning after a protest had been held just to prove the point of how distorted the media makes things, and you could not tell anything had happened. In a city of 20+ million people, this area is a tiny dot on the map and we certainly didn’t know a protest was going on miles away from our hotel. What the media fails to report is how welcome Americans and all travelers are in their country. Upon arrival in Cairo, we had to take a bus from the plane to the terminal. It was packed and an Egyptian woman offered her seat to an elderly woman in my group. She said, “We are so glad you are here; thank you for coming.” The woman in my group teared up as she told me this story later that evening, as this trip had been an emotional roller coaster during the months leading up to the tour. Friends would say we were crazy for going and made us feel like we had made an irrational decision. My continuous case in point was that A&K would not operate a tour they did not feel was safe and I placed my faith in their excellent reputation. I always had total conﬁdence in their ability to keep us out of harm’s way and I never once felt we were in any danger. Yes, there are Tourist Police (and regular police) everywhere that are well armed and our bus had a police escort many times, but it made this seasoned traveler feel very safe. Whenever we were touring by bus or foot, the locals would smile and wave to us, giving us the “thumbs up” sign. While visiting a mosque, a very pretty young lady with an iPhone asked if she could have her picture taken with me so she could send it to all her friends. We passed by a group of young school children and they would wave and some would stop and in their best English say “Hello, my name is….” Then they would shake our hands or take our picture. This is the generation to come and what a great generation it will be—I hope these are the peacemakers. To understand the world, you must go to Egypt and experience it for yourself and hopefully with an Egyptologist as great as Azza Ammar, one of A&K’s top guides. In a short period of time, she enlightened us to the many wonders of a great civilization and how it relates to the present. We hear about the Great Pyramids, Nile River, Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel and the other major sites all our lives but to ﬁnally stand in front of them was the most profound moment in my 27 years of being in the travel business. My group of 20 will tell you the same thing—they all said it was the trip of their lifetime. Kay McKinney CTA, ACC Luxury Cruise Specialist Camden Travel Service Inc. Responses, opinions and comments are welcome at agentspeak@recommend.com. Recommend reserves the right to edit letters 10 february 2013 10-11 EditorsPg.indd 10 editor’snotes We ended 2012 with a new design and freshened up our editorial approach, and 2013 will bring even more must-read articles as we up the ante in both print and online. This month, I’ve hit the refresh button on the editor’s notes column—I’ll be doing it from time to time throughout 2013—so you can read what our talented team of editors have to say about the industry as a whole. Our Latin America editor Carla Hunt always has something on her mind, as does Caribbean Editor Ed Wetschler and Asia/South Paciﬁc editor Sergio Ortiz, but I thought it best to start the ball rolling with our Associate Editor, Deserae del Campo (deserae@ recommend.com): Luxury travel was never my “thing.” Honestly. I don’t mind ﬁnding my way from the airport to the hotel (and back again) with luggage in tow and a city map in my back pocket. When I travel, I don’t search for the hotel with the best spa or large balconies with a jacuzzi. That being said, I do know luxury when I see it, and it’s all over the pages of this month’s Luxury & Spa issue. Travel agent Marilyn Ross of Journeys Unlimited gave me her insight on what makes a true luxury vacation: spacious rooms (preferably suites) with upgraded amenities such as jacuzzi tubs, balconies, and room service; exceptional restaurants and spa treatments; and a calming and beautiful atmosphere. I can attest to this list. Flip through this issue to read my onsite reviews of Celebrity Cruises’ “Modern Luxury” Solstice class vessel, Celebrity Reﬂection (page 16) and Karisma’s El Dorado and Azul Hotels in Riviera Maya (page 22). Our oh-so-lucky editor-in-chief shares with us her trip to Belize where she stayed at El Secreto (page 26). A story that had me itching to take my shoes off, too (you’ll see why), while Carla Hunt takes us on a journey through Kenya’s uber-luxe camps and excursions mixed with a bit of culture (page 38). In this issue I also learned that luxury isn’t just about the accommodations, the spa or even the pampering. It’s also about the adventure in seeking out new horizons, and I think you’ll agree when you read Carla’s Tour Talk feature on GeoEx (page 14). In this issue you’ll also ﬁnd the Hamburg Travel Planner 2013 (page 29), ideal for those clients looking for a town where chicmeets-maritime-charm. I want to share another thought FIXpert— from Marilyn that I think explains it Falkland Islands Xpert all when it comes to creating unWe also are pleased to introforgettable vacation experiences duce a new, online-only spefor your clients: “Knowing a client’s cialist course on the Falkland personal preferences and catering Islands, FIXpert—Falkland to that, or exceeding those expecIslands Xpert. If your clients tations, is the key to creating their love nature and planting their perfect luxury vacation. This refeet on less-trampled lands, quires a lot of communication with then sign up on the client. What you imagine is imedu.recommend.com and portant to them may not be their learn about this nature lover’s most important aspect, so ask, ask, paradise located off the coast ask!”—Deserae del Campo of South America. recommend.com 1/23/13 9:15 AM http://edu.recommend.com http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend February 2013

Editor's Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk: Virgin Limited Edition
Tour Talk: GeoEx
Celebrity Reflection
Villa del Palmar Cancun Beach resort & Spa
Karisma's Gourmet Feast: Top-End Cuisine & Service
El Secreto, Ambergris Caye, Belize
Hamburg Travel Planner 2013
The Kenya Formula: Wild + Tribal + Luxe
Fiji-3 Luxe Resorts Reflect its Plush Side
Gansevoort Turks & Caicos
It Pays to Book Villas
High-End stays Stateside
The Angler's Boutique Resort, Miami Beach

Recommend February 2013