Fall Is Unusual As Consumer Travel Magazines Go Exotic
by Richard D’Ambrosio /Zimbabwe Park. Photo: Conde Nast Traveler
From African conservation regions struggling to prevent poaching to classic European race cars, four major consumer travel magazines are promoting exotic experiences and destinations this fall.
(And indeed, exotic is in. See our story today about Emerging Destinations.)
In its September issue, Conde Nast Traveler takes us to Zimbabwe to revisit Gonarezhou National Park, and experience the ground being gained against poachers who profit from destruction. Sophy Roberts writes about the Malilangwe Trust’s efforts to protect Zimbabwe’s wild animals, and recommends places like &beyond Matesti River Lodge and Ruckomechi Camp.
CN’s Point of View column acquaints us with six lesser-known London art galleries, members of a new wave of contemporary visual delights, while Yolanda Edwards takes a spin with her husband in a Ferrari from Venice to the Monaco Grand Prix. “The Run to Monaco” is a luxury travel tour product that costs $50-60,000 per couple, and is inspired by the European grand tour motoring tradition. It sells out four months in advance.
Paola & Murray’s stunning photography brings to life the Wahiba Desert and the exotic city of Muscat on a tour of Oman on the Arabian Peninsula.
On the cover, Travel + Leisure might seem pedestrian, with its “Cities Issue,” but if you dig inside, the magazine’s writers and editors take travelers to the more creative and edgy sides of Barcelona, Copenhagen, Singapore and Zurich. Andrew Sean Greer highlights the Catalonian spirit in his colorful eight-page spread that includes Gaudi’s Park Guell on Carmel Hill.
Model Caroline Brasch Nielsen offers advice on shopping, bars and restaurants while being photographed around Copenhagen. And Jeff Chu writes about how Singapore is not just an Asian financial capital, it’s becoming a “capital of creativity” too. Chu presents places like the FOST gallery, Little India’s public art installations, and tells us about the locals setting trends in art and culture.
In its Fall 2016 issue, Lonely Planet uncovers “25 Travel Secrets,” including Patagonia, a wine trail that winds its way to centuries old vineyards in the former Soviet Georgia, and an 8-page collage by photographer Lorne Resnick. Lonely Planet also features a 10-page spread on the “dual personality” of Tokyo.
National Geographic Traveler takes a different spin on some familiar destinations as well. A trip through Tuscany pursues the Venus of Botticelli fame but sifts in some of Italy’s lesser known holistic wellness sites, while taking in all of the “visual Xanax” of the Italian countryside. An 18-page photo-filled feature on Taipei covers everything from the city’s coffee culture to dumplings, and Trinidad comes to visual life in a 14-page article echoing with steel drum sounds and calls from the wild birds of this West Indie island.
Nat Geo’s Road Trip section heads to Oregon, to Bend, not the more familiar Portland three hours to the north. Located between Ponderosa pine forests and Oregon’s high desert, Bend is a hip town for hikers and rock climbers, and craft beer drinkers, Nat Geo shows us.