Recommend July 2014 - (Page 10)

editor's notes 2014 Recommend Reader Survey WIN AN IPAD Want to be entered into a drawing to win an iPad? It's easy. Check your inbox for the 2014 Recommend Reader Survey and complete it. Once you've done that, you'll be entered into a drawing to win an iPad. The best part? We'll get to know you a little better so we can enhance our product to better serve you. I told you it was easy! check out recommend.com recommend.com provides information you can use, including travel offers, FAMs, agent incentives, and hotel and destination news, not to mention our special Eye on the World slideshows that showcase the various destinations our editors have recently visited. Go to the top bar under "departments" and click on "eye on the world," where you'll ﬁnd the most recent slideshows on Grenada and Thailand. You'll also ﬁnd articles on the two conferences I attended last month: Vacation.com and American Marketing Group's TRAVELMARKET 2014. check out edu.recommend.com edu.recommend.com is jam-packed with education programs on an array of destinations such as Caribbean hotspots like Martinique, Guadeloupe, Anguilla, Aruba, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines, as well as Central American gems like Costa Rica and Panama. When I asked Mark C. Morello, CEO of brite spokes, why unique and off-the-wall experiences are becoming more and more popular with travelers (brite spokes, incidentally, offers a rally car driving experience that you can read about on page 28 as part of the 5 Active Trips in the States feature), I didn't expect his response to be so on point with what I heard expressed again and again at the two consortia conferences I attended last month, American Marketing Group's TRAVELMARKET 2014 and the Vacation. com conference: travelers are no longer happy going on a beach vacation and sipping a margarita by the pool; they want to EXPERIENCE a destination. Morello says it best: Stomping grapes at Fiesta "Modern travelers are inspired by the substantial amount Americana Grand Los Cabos of information they are exposed to via the media-social, television, editorial, etc. Their media exposure and relatedly, their ability to easily research travel destinations and activities, have made them hyper-aware of other travelers' unique, personal adventures, experiences that set them apart, interests that bond them with a group of people and challenges that they never knew they would be proud to conquer. Travel expectations are higher because knowledge is greater. People want to get the most out of everything they do and add to their own story." And you can ﬁnd lots of recommendations to add to your clients' stories in the pages of this Active & Experiential Travel Issue, where we've got wellness, culinary, adventurous, the exotic and trekking covered across the globe. Take my own experience in Puerto Vallarta, which is featured on page 45. The beauty of the destination blew me away, but the array of activities for clients to choose from-whether it be cultural, adrenalin-driven or gastro-focused-is unbelievable. Ziplining, ATV tours, horseback riding, rappelling, ﬂyboarding, kayaking, tequila tasting, nature exploration...the list is inﬁnite. A bit farther south, Latin America editor Carla Hunt explores Argentina and Uruguay (page 36), and recommends four tour operators that get into the heart of these countries. As Jim Kane, owner of Culture Xplorers, says, "We craft culturally immersive journeys...that deepen understanding and foster connection between travelers and the local communities." Speaking of getting up-close with the locals, in Rwanda and Uganda, your clients who've done the traditional safari trip can go gorilla trekking (page 42). Kim Severini, v.p., sales & marketing, African Travel, Inc., describes her recent trip to the area, saying, "the most amazing WOW of both destinations was how close you actually got to these amazing creatures. I always thought that the photos featured in our brochures and website were with super lenses. Not so." And if you think the Caribbean is indeed all about sipping a piña colada beachside, think again. Caribbean editor Ed Wetschler has outlined a cornucopia of immersive activities that will have your clients returning from Guadeloupe, Jamaica and the USVI with a different mindset. For example, "Jake's in Jamaica," Wetschler points out, "is for cultural tourists, clients who want to bend elbows or bend it like Beckham with Jamaicans." -Paloma Villaverde de Rico E-mail me at paloma@recommend.com let's get social Hang out with us @Recommendmag and facebook.com/recommendmag. And if you want to see what our editors are up to away from the ofﬁce, follow them @Paloma_RecMag, @EdWetschler & @AreanWanderlust. 10 july 2014 10-11 Editors.indd 10 recommend.com 6/25/14 8:53 AM USVI1 http://www.recommend.com http://www.recommend.com http://www.Vacation.com http://edu.recommend.com http://edu.recommend.com http://www.facebook.com/recommendmag http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend July 2014

Editor’s Notes
Hotel Desk: EVEN Hotels
Tour Talk: Back-Roads Touring
Pick a Theme...Any Theme on the High Seas
Jamaica & the USVI: Not the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Guadeloupe: Culture, Rum, the Sea, & That Volcano
5 Active Trips in the States
Ski Adventures Across North America
Argentina & Uruguay: A Traditional Feast
Alma del Pacifico, Costa Rica
Rwanda & Uganda: In the Footsteps of Gorillas
Dreamy Puerto Vallarta
Borneo, the Bountiful

Recommend July 2014