If you are planning a trip to Japan this summer, you’re not alone. New research has revealed the most popular destinations for the coming peak travel season – and there are a few surprises.
28.02.2024 - 19:53 / forbes.com / Laura Manske
Admittedly travel-averse, Eugene Levy—multiple award-winning actor, writer and comedian—has come a very long way since his debut season of Apple TV+’s The Reluctant Traveler last year. Now premiering a second season on March 8, the seven-episode series spotlights Sweden, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain. It is gorgeously filmed, tightly edited, uplifting and funny: A luxurious travel deep-dive that soars with insight and smiles. Levy’s wry humor is on-point entertaining. For insider info about how this quirky and enchanting show was brainstormed and created, read my article Actor Eugene Levy On Going From ‘Schitt’s Creek’ To ‘The Reluctant Traveler’. Levy and I recently talked about the newfound joys he discovered not only on the road, but also within himself. Plus, how travel can best widen your horizons.
Laura Manske: I am captivated by The Reluctant Traveler’s emphasis on Europe this second season. You seem more relaxed and open to new experiences. Last season’s travel has apparently worked its magic on you—a hopeful and positive outlook. Did you have a transformative shift, embracing travel with increased enthusiasm?
Eugene Levy: I'm just growing up, I guess! The first season, I truly didn’t love travel. I still don’t like airports. I don’t like the getting there part of it. I really was a bad traveler. I hated sightseeing. My issue is that I have a very low sense of curiosity. I’m just not a curious person. I think to be a good traveler, you have to be curious. And I have no sense of adventure. That is the anchor that has been dragging me down. But the traveling itself, seeing these places and, in particular, meeting the people in these different countries and cities has been a terrific experience for me. I’m learning about cultures through the people.
Manske: Your biggest lesson?
Levy: I’ve learned now that the act of doing something is better than not doing it. So get out there, try the things you normally wouldn’t try. Then you’re able to make up your mind as to whether you like it or whether you don’t like it.
Manske: Of the seven new episodes, which is your favorite destination?
Levy: I love Italy. It’s always my favorite. We were in Tuscany, so you can’t get a bad meal there and everywhere you look is like a postcard.
Manske: Which destination was an unexpected wonder?
Levy: The real surprise was Scotland. We went to Scotland, because that’s where my mother was born. I didn’t think that I would be feeling the things I ended up feeling when I got there. I definitely felt the connection with my mother and her side of the family—my aunts and uncles whom I grew up with—and getting to see what her growing up was like in a tiny tenement in the working-class section of Glasgow
If you are planning a trip to Japan this summer, you’re not alone. New research has revealed the most popular destinations for the coming peak travel season – and there are a few surprises.
The Asia-Pacific region is expected to play a key role in the travel industry’s growth this year. Skift Research projected the region would see travel revenue jump 20% in 2024 from the previous year as outbound travel from China is expected to increase substantially.
I learned how to maintain dignity and self-respect, even in the face of humiliation, from my grandmother. My mother’s mother was widowed suddenly at the same age I was when I started Accidental Icon. She sold everything she owned, including her home in Connecticut, and moved to Dallas to live with her two sisters, all three widowed during the same year. As young women, the sisters performed as a trio; one sister played the harp, one the piano, and my grandmother the cello. They traveled often, and that is what they did for the next twenty years—this time without their instruments and husbands. We saw my grandmother during this period maybe four times a year. She would call and tell us to meet her at the New York piers or the airport, when she and her sisters were embarking on a European adventure or a trip to Asia. My grandmother, in an exquisitely tailored bouclé suit, would envelop us in a cloud of expensive perfume. The jingle of the charm bracelets she wore on her slender wrist announced her arrival. She would bring gifts—pearls from Japan, or perfume from Paris—upon her return. For me there were geisha dolls, books of watercolor scenes of cherry blossoms on rice paper with transparent covers, carved perfume bottles, and netsukes made of wood.
There is no better city to start and end a cruise with than New Orleans! Visitors may be headed to sandy beaches in foreign lands or neighboring cities along the Mississippi River, but they can get a head start on vacation time with cool jazz, celebrated cuisine, historic architecture, and much more in this port city.
New tech is making it easier to be a travel advisor. (Photo Credit: LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS/Adobe)
The Grand Canyon has always been on my travel bucket list, with its sweeping views that warp one's sense of distance, cliff faces that tower over rugged hiking trails, and buildings steeped with history.
The inaugural Skift India Summit kicks-off next week in Delhi-NCR and to get you excited, we wanted to prepare you for the countless exclusive insights, intuitive conversations, and world-class industry networking.
The World Travel Awards are some of the travel industry’s most prestigious accolades, and the winners in the European categories have been crowned at the thirty-first edition of the ceremony in Berlin. Leaders in tourism, airline, hotel and hospitality sectors are all included in the programme, but it’s the destinations themselves that we’re most excited about. And claiming the award for Europe’s next emerging destination, a title won by Batumi in Georgia for the last five years, it was Braga, a city not too far from the coast nestled in north-western Portugal.
Actress Sharon Catherine Brown is currently playing the role of Mrs. Nolan and others in the new Broadway musical, Days of Wine and Roses, now playing at Studio 54 through Sunday, March 31.
In the much-awaited second season of The Reluctant Traveler, which premieres March 8 on Apple TV+, award-winning actor, writer, producer and comedian Eugene Levy isn’t quite as adamantly travel-averse as he used to be. In fact, last year’s filmed far-flung journeys have worked magic on Levy, who now anticipates getaways with less apprehension and more appreciation. While he still dislikes the getting there via airports part of travel, Levy loves staying at pampering hotels. Who wouldn’t? This year’s seven distinctive European hotspots, where Levy slept, are fascinatingly cool. Which one would be your fantasy destination?
By making Sabre-sourced NDC content available to its customers and users, SAP Concur can help accelerate the industry’s shift from traditional EDIFACT to NDC distribution. In turn, corporations will gain access to more personalized offers to deliver a better travel experience to their employees.
The highly anticipated development is scheduled to open its doors in June 2024 and will feature a boutique hotel, multiple food & beverage concepts, private event spaces, and a members-only social club.