For those of you who travel like I do know the airport boarding process all too well. It feels like zones 1 through 1500 board first, and by the time you finally get on, the overhead bins are already full, let us not forget about the person greeting you who always has a smile, but the only thing missing, I think, is the high five! Well after that, there is also the famous final boarding call, where your luggage will be removed in the next 5.6 milliseconds if you’re not at the gate yet. I’m never part of that final call, yet it still gives me anxiety.
Well, when it comes to holiday space, we’re at that final boarding call too. Now, you’re likely asking why we’re even mentioning this. Here’s a trend we’re seeing that’s worth sharing: we track buyer behavior monthly, with data dating back 16 years. Over a 12-month period, this behavior shifts 9 times, making projections part art, not all science. This year, something peculiar has been happening, which we anticipated as a possibility a year ago. While long-term bookings are up, last-minute requests for the festive season have started as expected. For obvious reasons, there was a slight pause in plans for this season, which is understandable. That pause now seems to be over, so we wanted to share a video showcasing where we’re finding 11th-hour availability. Destinations range from parts of Peru to Egypt to Kenya to Sri Lanka to Guatemala.
One of the many amazing things I’ve seen our team do is their ability not only to find availability when it seems impossible but to make even the most last-minute reservations come to life. They find the proverbial needle in the haystack while ensuring that quality and product integrity remain our primary focus, as always.
Enjoy the video, and remember—34 days left until the festive period. This is your final boarding call…
So they say, and in certain countries, it is a necessity due to a long period of turmoil or what seems to be a series of false starts. The fact is that countries that endure these periods don’t waver on the higher commitment to sustainable tourism which is a topic for a Master Class in itself. Countries that fit that bill include Egypt, Colombia, Uganda, and Rwanda; however, a country that defines enduring, but is often left out of the conversation, is Sri Lanka.
Interestingly enough, my colleague Colin, who happens to be a former guide in India and the sub-continent for many years, knew there was so much more to the country and began showcasing Sri Lanka as a Big Five destination as early as 2009 amid the global economic collapse. Colin had guided many times through India and Sri Lanka, and there was just something about the destination that drew him in. Is it the mythological story of Lord Hanuman leaping off the peaks or the resting lion’s head placed so perfectly at the turn of the era that it is almost perfectly aligned with the gateway to Asia? Or maybe it’s the ancient capital that draws so many similarities to the ancient kingdoms nearby. It also could be the history of ancient crowns with the vivid story of their ascent and well-documented collapse. No matter the topic, the era, or the historical context, there seems to be a direct and indirect correlation back to Sri Lanka that dates to the turn of the common era and before.
In recent history, Sri Lanka has not had an easy road. In the 15 years we’ve operated there, it’s had calamities from the well-documented civil conflict to the recent political unrest. While most countries were given the chance to recover post-pandemic, Sri Lanka did not have that opportunity until now. The future is bright and the times we have been patiently waiting for are here, with Sri Lanka a shining star in our trending destinations of 2024.
