Meet Alistair Malins, Founder Of Luxury Cottages

Travel advisors report that the luxury travel market is booming. Among the top travel trends for these high-end clients are those that focus on spending time with loved ones, including Family travel (immediate family), Celebration travel, and Multigenerational travel, according to the 2024 Virtuoso Luxe Report. Active/adventure trips are also among the top trends reported in the study. In addition, travel advisors are booking more off-season trips and are seeing requests for cultural immersion. The desire for personalized amenities and services is also important to upscale travelers, say advisors.

The arrival of enormous ships, like the 7,000 passenger/3000 crew member Icon of the Seas, is an effective way to promote the cruise industry. But cruise companies are also launching smaller vessels designed to give passengers more individual attention, like the new Explora I from Explora Journeys.

Sri Lanka may conjure ideas of tropical coastlines flanked with palm-trees but this island is more than just a paradise for beaches. With 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, sacred cities and tea plantations, there’s a lot to experience in Sri Lanka’s interior during your trip. The “Cultural Triangle” — which includes Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla and Kandy — showcases the glory of Sri Lanka’s ancient empires, while its hill towns speak to its modern history as a British colony and are ideal for hiking, relaxing and immersing yourself in the country’s lush landscapes.

Saudi Arabia is projected to have 320,000 new hotel rooms by 2030 as the Kingdom ramps up efforts to accommodate an annual influx of 150mn tourists, both domestic and international, according to a report by global property consultancy Knight Frank. This massive expansion of the hospitality sector is central to achieving Saudi Arabia’s goal of increasing the travel and tourism industry’s contribution to the economy from nearly 6% to 10% by the end of this decade, the report stated.

With submissions for the 2024 Skift IDEA Awards well underway, we are excited to introduce the first cohort of industry experts that will bring their unique perspectives and experiences to support us in selecting the 2024 Award winners. 

Just when folks may have been wondering if Hyatt and its popular World of Hyatt loyalty program were losing some luster, the hotel giant's Mr & Mrs Smith acquisition rollout shows this is no hotel loyalty underdog.

Two framed documents from a long career at Boeing hang side by side in Merle Meyers’s home: A certificate from 2022 that thanks him for three decades of service. And a letter he received months later reprimanding him for his performance.

The pitch is for tropical paradise: turquoise waters that lap a pristine shoreline fringed by lush, mist-streaked greenery. Philippine property giant Megaworld extolls on its Facebook page the virtues of Palawan island, the largest of a 1,780-island group by the same name that hangs to the left of the island nation in the Pacific. Here, Megaworld is pursuing its most complex project yet, a resort and residential estate that will be the island’s biggest real estate development to date.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand on Thursday hosted a group of more than 8,000 incentive visitors from India. The delegation is part of the authority’s goal of receiving at least 1.7 million Indian visitors this year, it said in a statement. 

The ultimate football and music experience may just be a hotel stay away. Members of Hilton's loyalty program, Hilton Honors, can now use their points to bid for tickets, and even a one-of-a-kind experience, at NFL star Travis Kelce’s upcoming Kelce Jam in Kansas City, Missouri. This year, the music festival will feature artists such as Lil Wayne, Diplo, 2 Chainz, IRIE and E-V. The event takes place on Saturday, May 18 at Azura Amphitheater in Kansas City — and Hilton reward members can bid on a a total of 5 different experiences at the festival. There are five packages available — each being offered as an auction item — with bidding starting at 200,000 points. Members will have the option to bid on this through April 25.«The Ultimate Kelce Jam Experience with Travis Kelce,» for starters, features a meet and greet, photo op, and private football toss with the NFL star. The package also includes VIP passes to the music festival, but does not include airfare or hotel accommodations.

I consider myself an adventurous person. I’ve overlanded through Russia. Traveled solo in Egypt. Followed the Dakar Rally through Saudi Arabia. But it was my recent experience getting to the Dukha people, Mongolia’s reindeer-riding tribe, that I consider one of the most adventurous experiences to date. Not just because of how remote the tribe is, but because we were also contenting with -30C temperatures, unusually heavy snowfall, and incredibly hard to navigate terrain.

A top UK lawyer who vanished after falling from a cruise has been declared dead by London's High Court of Justice, The Telegraph reported.