Take Your Family Around the World? Travel Advisors Show the Way

Taking a year off to travel the world is a cherished ambition for many, but may seem impossible for parents caught up in the responsibilities of raising a family and making a living. Despite these challenges, Angela and Eric Pierson, who run Wallace Pierson Travel in Amelia Island, Florida, decided to take their two young daughters on an odyssey to all seven continents.

Currently 10 months into the trip, the Piersons are exploring the world while managing the travel agency from afar. They've even encouraged clients to join them along the way. Our featured story this week by Skift contributor Linda Humphrey looks at their experiences and the insights they've gained, along with those of other travel advisors involved in the growing niche of sabbatical travel. As travel advisors living the dream of an around-the-world trip, they're showing how this increasingly popular experience is, in fact, attainable.

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Any suggestions for the coverage you would like to see are welcome. Feel free to contact me at mbl@skift.com.

— Maria Lenhart, Travel Advisor Editor

Featured Story

Travel Advisors Work to Make Once Elusive Round-the-World Trips a Reality: Sabbatical travel is in the spotlight, but is a yearlong trip around the globe feasible for a family? A couple? Two travel advisors set out for a string of faraway places, showing clients and friends that it can be done.

Hotels

Hyatt's China Business is Down 90 Percent in February From Coronavirus Fallout: Hyatt Hotels had a strong year in 2019, so the story it had to tell analysts wasn’t all dreary. The problem is that shareholders and guests hate uncertainty. And so far the travel industry faces nothing but uncertainty, left beholden to how the coronavirus crisis evolves.

This Company Helps Luxury Hotels Go Analog to Get Guests to Unplug: The luxury hospitality industry is trying to help guests unwind in these anxiety-ridden, tech-addicted times. It’s refreshing to think that something as simple as a book can make a difference — plus drive repeat hotel visits and even foster community. Luxury properties should take note.

Oyo CEO Defends Business Practices That Anger Some Hoteliers: If you were thinking after a tumultuous last few months that a reformed Oyo would emerge, then guess again. The hotel chain is giving little ground on the basics of its business model, although it vows to get better on the execution of it all.

Cruises

Grassroots Opposition to Cruises in the Caymans Looms as Larger Warning for Industry: A judge ruling on a citizen-led referendum in the Cayman Islands has, for now, sided with the cruise opposition. While the battle is localized, it could point to wider industry implications for the cruise industry.

Tourism

How Luxury Travel Can Build Community and Awareness in Africa: Connecting luxury travelers to the local community and fostering a better understanding of a destination is hard to do well. Here are two examples that the industry can draw inspiration from.

Myanmar Tourism Gets a Second Chance: Is It Ready For It? Ethical tourism made Myanmar a lost tourism frontier in Southeast Asia. But people are forgetting the genocide, giving the destination another crack.

Tourist-Hungry Oklahoma Just Rebranded: Did It Get It Wrong? Oklahoma’s new Imagine That slogan is vulnerable to parody, while its smart-looking logo lacks the lasting impact of a Nike swoosh or a Texas Longhorn decal.

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Skift Travel Advisor Editor Maria Lenhart [mbl@skift.com] curates the Skift Travel Advisor Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Tuesday. Have a story idea? Or a juicy news tip? Want to share a memo? Send her an email.