G Adventures brings back Sri Lanka cruises
"With demand for Sri Lanka growing, we knew it was time to bring this one back into the spotlight and do more to support a country that's been through so much in recent years," said Vince Donnelly, global sailing director for G Adventures.
The tour operator said it paused everything in Sri Lanka during Covid and that post-pandemic demand was slow to come back, in part due to political unrest in 2022 and 2023. Since the protests stopped more than 18 months ago, G Adventures said demand has been "growing steadily."
The seven-day sailings will launch along the island's southern coastline in December. The itinerary can be combined with land-based trips to create two-week experiences. The sailing is on a 54-foot catamaran, starting and ending in the southern town of Mirissa. Activities will include wildlife-spotting, water sports, visiting villages and visiting animal sanctuaries.
Every trip will be guided by a G Adventures CEO (chief experience officer) and will include an onboard skipper and chef.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How selfie parks limit tourism damage to the world's most ‘Instagrammable' destinations
It's no secret that social media has changed travel. Holidaymakers increasingly seek to imitate images posted by influencers and their peers on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. In our increasingly digital world, travellers now chase the perfect shot like treasure hunters. That can mean navigating crowds, long lines and sometimes even danger – all for content from the world's most 'Instagrammable' spots. In a widely viewed TikTok video, influencer Zoe Rae (the sister of Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague) voiced her disappointment after visiting Bali. Apparently, it did not look as it did when she saw it online. Her comments attracted a backlash, with critics arguing she was simply experiencing the reality behind the content she and others have helped to promote. Research has found that many influencers and social media users participate in an 'aesthetic economy'. That is, travel is 'performed' for likes, views and brand deals. The result? Holidaymakers seeking out highly photogenic ('Instagrammable') destinations from which to stage their content. Sometimes 'getting the shot' becomes more important than any meaningful cultural exchange between hosts and guests. The behaviour of social media-induced tourists has been found to be more irresponsible than that of other types of travellers. There were 379 selfie-related deaths between 2008-21, and the quest for the perfect photo can also lead to trespassing and vandalism. Additionally, studies have found that social-media-induced tourists can cause varying levels of damage to the hotspots they visit. This can include environmental erosion, traffic congestion, pollution, increased rubbish and generally making daily life difficult for locals. Stage-managed selfies But the demand has fuelled the development of shadow economies like 'selfie museums'. These have begun to emerge around the world: Chicago's wndr Museum, London's Selfie Factory, Selfie House in Prague, Brazil's Museum Selfie Day in Sao Paulo, to name just a few. Our new study shines a light on these parks – purpose-built, self-contained spaces that give visitors a visually stunning, curated environment in which to create content (most often of themselves). For the price of admission, they get convenient access to lighting, props, professional photographers and backdrops for creating content for social media in 'Instagrammable' places. Selfie parks in Bali, Indonesia, offer rice terraces, swings, nests and other 'sceneography' associated with its destination image. And there are add-ons like dress rentals, professional photographers who can follow visitors around the park, and personalised photo-editing services. Selfie parks can offer soft control over visitors in the form of guards, guides and security cameras to monitor behaviour. And they implement daily safety checks and regularly train staff to ensure guests are supervised as they take photos. This is an important alternative to the sometimes risky behaviour of selfie-seekers in viral hotspots. Of course, the elephant in the room here might be the commodification and inauthenticity that selfie parks represent. Other research has found that locals can be divided about staged photo opportunities, with some seeing them as inauthentic and gimmicky. There is an awareness that these encounters do not represent the real life of locals. Others, however, consider the money to be made and employment that these opportunities can provide. Read more: Our findings from Bali showed that the selfie parks are extremely successful – with more than 1,500 visitors reported in low season. The offering has been expanded in recent years to add more photo spots, infinity pools and even a day club. For now, all of Bali's selfie parks are locally owned and managed. This creates an important source of employment, as well as being a launchpad for entrepreneurship among locals. The idea of selfie parks may take a bit of getting used to. But having spaces where people can take photos, videos and create social media content safely, while bringing in revenue and employment for local communities, offers a viable solution. This is especially true of the places that struggle most with the negative impacts of tourists motivated by social media. Love them or loathe them, selfie parks probably aren't going away. And they may represent a broader shift in how people travel, share and consume experiences. In destinations facing an influx of selfie-seeking visitors, they might just be a surprisingly practical solution. Other 'viral' destinations should consider establishing dedicated spaces in which tourists can create content. Destinations like the island of Santorini, nicknamed Greece's 'Instagram island' amid extreme overcrowding alongside other harms, could be the type of place to benefit. If so many of today's tourists are chasing the perfect picture, maybe it makes sense to give them a place designed exactly for that. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Lauren A. Siegel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ramit Sethi: When You ‘Should Take the Big Swing' of a Financial Risk To Be Happier
Even when we're thriving in our careers, making good money and feel relatively content with the way things are going, we may have pretty frequent callings to reflect on the hustle and bustle world around us and think, 'Can I just quit my job and travel for a year?' Find Out: Read Next: Financial expert Ramit Sethi talked about this common wanderlust, wondering in a recent email newsletter sent to his subscribers. He looked at a real-life example of one of his readers, a 25-year-old product manager based in California who was in incredibly strong financial shape. He asked Sethi, 'Can I quit my job to travel for a year? How will this impact my future career prospects?' Even When We're in Great Financial Shape, We May Hold Back The question of when you can take this kind of risk-loaded 'big swing' may be 100% feasible financially, but you need to have a crystal clear look at your money situation. If you live below your means, hold no debt, have a strong investment portfolio and plenty of savings, as this person did, then you can absolutely 'afford' to take the risk. But even if you have the dream financial situation and money isn't really a problem, you may resist seizing the opportunity to embark on freedom. It's a sort of mind over matter issue. But rather than using our minds to overcome something, we're using them to hold us back. 'The problem is that it is very difficult to break out of the mindset of needing to 'maximize' how much you invest and save,' Sethi wrote. 'Many people I've talked to who have savings rates like this are in the FIRE community. They find it incredibly psychologically crippling to reduce their savings by even 5%. They also find it very difficult to spend money.' Explore More: Careers May Be More Resilient Than You Think Whether quitting your job and traveling for a year will hurt your career is a whole 'nother beast to tackle. It's highly unlikely that you can quit (unless that job is in academia and you're approved to take sabbatical) for a year and have a guaranteed good job upon your return. 'How will this affect your future career prospects? 'It's likely that it will affect them negatively,' Sethi said. 'It's possible that if you go away for a year, you may come back to a recession. You may come back to your industry being reduced.' But don't just think about the probability of things being tough when you get back. Think about how different and more culturally enrichened you'll be a year from now. 'I know a lot of people who have traveled for a long period of time and came back with an amazing narrative that they could share in interviews,' Sethi wrote. 'That depends on the market, your abilities and the combination of both.' It's OK To Take a Break From Being Aggressive More likely than not, there will be some bumps in your career if you decide to quit your job and spend a year doing something you've always wanted to do (and make nada while doing it). That's why it's so important that you ensure you're well ahead of the game with saving, investing and living debt-free. But a rich life, as Sethi reminded us in this newsletter, isn't just about generating the max amount of money all the time. It's about enjoying money, too. 'A Rich Life is not just blindly accumulating more money,' Sethi wrote. 'In fact, a Rich Life might be actually prioritizing the numbers second.' If you're in amazing shape financially and see no evidence that a big swing of a risk will disable your future or hinder your retirement, go for it. And as you take the leap, recognize with confidence that part of the point of doing as well as you're doing with money is to be able to luxuriate in it (within reason) while you still can. One day, doing something as extravagantly carefree as traveling the world may not be a realistic option for you. More From GOBankingRates 9 Downsizing Tips for the Middle Class To Save on Monthly Expenses This article originally appeared on Ramit Sethi: When You 'Should Take the Big Swing' of a Financial Risk To Be Happier Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Berkshire Hathaway's Class A shares fall after $3.8 billion write-down, operating profit weakness
(Reuters) -Class A shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway fell 3% in afternoon trading on Monday, as investors fretted over a $3.8 billion write-down and a dip in quarterly operating profit that the firm disclosed on Saturday. The write-down of Berkshire Hathaway's 27.4% stake in Kraft Heinz, its second for the company, reflects a significant decline in the value of the investment. Berkshire had taken a $3 billion write-down in Kraft Heinz in 2019. The conglomerate also reported a 4% dip in operating income, which fell from $11.6 billion the year earlier, as underwriting premiums fell and trade policy uncertainties hurt most of Berkshire's consumer businesses. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company, which has not repurchased any shares since May 2024, indicated it remains cautious about market valuations amid ongoing uncertainty over tariffs and economic growth. Class A shares of the company, which have gained about 2% in 2025, lagged the benchmark S&P 500 index. The stock shed gains since Buffett's announcement to step down as the CEO of the conglomerate at the end of the year. Buffett, 94, has led the company for over five decades.
