Scott Dunn travel tips

Internova Travel Group, a network of travel agencies owned by private equity firm Certares, plans to expand its investments in the luxury space. That will help give its more than 100,000 travel advisors more boutique hotel offerings and packages to offer customers. 

Over a third of Americans are planning to vacation in France this year and a third of those are going specifically for the great wine, according to findings from luxury tour operator Scott Dunn. The company’s latest Travel Trends Report names France as the “place to be” when booking a trip in 2024. If you want to be part of that champagne-popping, sauvignon-sipping crowd, here are destination recommendations from Ashley Hall, senior travel consultant for Europe at the company.

Birds are a big thing in Oman’s Musandam Peninsula. As you walk along, it’s not unusual to catch sight of the flick of a sapphire-blue tail, the glimpse of scarlet-red feathers cloaked by a wing or the pop of banana-yellow on a crooked beak. It’s as if the sky has reacted in rainbow protest to the dusty beige of Oman’s landscape. Here, you wake up to a cacophony of twittering and cooing: Indian Rollers, Bulbuls and Sunbirds forming a dawn chorus.

Flight Centre Travel Group is shuttering wholesaler Gogo Vacations, part of a shift in its U.S. leisure strategy to focus more on luxury travel and independent contractors.

Flight Centre, the Australian-based travel agency well known for its mass-market brands, is firmly fixed on tapping into the rising demand for luxury experiences with an expected 15 percent growth in revenue for the segment.

Australia’s Flight Centre Travel Group is buying UK-based tour operator Scott Dunn for $148 million (A$211 million), in a bid to expand into the U.S., as well as the UK.

Flight Centre Travel Group reported record travel booking inquiries for January and February, pointing to a continued uptick in performance in 2023 for Australia’s largest travel agency as it sees marked recovery from previous losses in 2022. The company is juggling a greater emphasis on online sales while reducing costs for in-person sales.

Virgin Australia is in talks with banks for a loan of up to $296.4 million (A$450 million) to pay its private equity owner Bain Capital before the airline’s re-listing planned for later this year, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.