Latest news with #Abercrombie&Kent
Sydney Morning Herald
04-08-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Beyond tours, Intrepid Travel is now opening its own hotels and resorts
It used to be one of those unwritten laws in travel – accommodation companies did accommodation, tour companies did tours. That was before tour operators broke the mould with expansion into river and small ship cruising, a common synergy these days. One shining exception is Abercrombie & Kent, with its A&K Sanctuary division, comprising 15 African safari camps, lodges and five Nile riverboats with plans for further expansion internationally. Australia's famous tour company Intrepid Travel has also made a splash into the accommodation market, recently buying a resort in Tasmania and a riad in Morocco. This follows its 2023 acquisition of the Daintree Ecolodge in Queensland, and lease of a property in Hoi An, Vietnam. It basically means cutting out the middle man – the company plans to own 20 such sites within the next three years. Intrepid's Australian purchase is of The Edge of the Bay, a previously family-run property on Tasmania's Freycinet Peninsula that will now see Intrepid Foundation partner Greening Australia at the property, introducing new nature-based guest experiences, as well as fundraising for the NGO. In Marrakesh, Morocco, its guesthouse was also acquired from a private owner. Guests will be able to enjoy culinary experiences in the medina and onsite, with chefs recruited via another foundation partner, the Amal Association, which provides culinary training to women in Morocco.
The Age
04-08-2025
- Business
- The Age
Beyond tours, Intrepid Travel is now opening its own hotels and resorts
It used to be one of those unwritten laws in travel – accommodation companies did accommodation, tour companies did tours. That was before tour operators broke the mould with expansion into river and small ship cruising, a common synergy these days. One shining exception is Abercrombie & Kent, with its A&K Sanctuary division, comprising 15 African safari camps, lodges and five Nile riverboats with plans for further expansion internationally. Australia's famous tour company Intrepid Travel has also made a splash into the accommodation market, recently buying a resort in Tasmania and a riad in Morocco. This follows its 2023 acquisition of the Daintree Ecolodge in Queensland, and lease of a property in Hoi An, Vietnam. It basically means cutting out the middle man – the company plans to own 20 such sites within the next three years. Intrepid's Australian purchase is of The Edge of the Bay, a previously family-run property on Tasmania's Freycinet Peninsula that will now see Intrepid Foundation partner Greening Australia at the property, introducing new nature-based guest experiences, as well as fundraising for the NGO. In Marrakesh, Morocco, its guesthouse was also acquired from a private owner. Guests will be able to enjoy culinary experiences in the medina and onsite, with chefs recruited via another foundation partner, the Amal Association, which provides culinary training to women in Morocco.
Condé Nast Traveler
01-07-2025
- Condé Nast Traveler
Editor's Letter: Travel Is Better When You Have a Guide
One of the privileges of my job has been discovering, on trips everywhere from Spain to Seoul, how a great guide can unlock a destination. A long-ago trip to Kenya was especially instructive: My guide showed me things few travelers get to see (the singing wells of the Samburu tribespeople of upper Kenya, for instance) while also giving me richer insight into famous places (the ever-popular Masai Mara) than I could have gleaned on my own. Along the way we became friends. I hope you see Condé Nast Traveler as a kind of a guide too. Our goal is to take you deeper—with projects such as our recent digital package on the world's quietest places (you can get a taste in Pico Iyer's luminous essay here) and via YouTube programming that lets you in on local secrets, like where the world's most interesting chefs eat when they're not at work. And of course we want to guide you in our print issues, including this one, with stories—like Catherine Fairweather's pine-scented trek along the hiking trails of Corsica and Gary Shteyngart's restaurant romp through the Georgian capital of Tbilisi—that elucidate how history, culture, and regional identity can shape a journey. Over the years, though, many readers have told me how much they wish they could actually go on these kinds of trips with us. So we've taken a step toward making that a reality by teaming up with the venerable travel company Abercrombie & Kent on a new program called Curated Escapes. The first two trips, to Japan and to California's Sonoma County, mix unexpected takes on popular hits with under-the-radar experiences. Japan: A Cultural Journey, visits Tokyo, Kanazawa and other coastal enclaves, and Kyoto in a quest to showcase the country's renowned collisions between the future and the past. Sonoma: A Culinary Adventure, pairs a behind-the-scenes look at the winery Passalacqua and an epic meal at the legendary SingleThread with immersion into some of the region's wild natural places, like Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. We're just getting started—look out for a new batch of Curated Escapes in the months ahead. We hope to travel with you soon. This article appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
Sydney Morning Herald
24-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Ten things I learnt on my first visit to India
I'm anxious about my first visit to India. Faced with its vast scale, history and humanity, its crowds, poverty and colour, I'm determined to channel Judi Dench's intrepid, open-hearted character from Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Evelyn Greenslade. I fear, however, that I will quickly turn into Penelope Wilton's uptight and unadventurous Jean Ainslie, who soon flees back to her less challenging English homeland. My apprehension increases when I hear that even Traveller's resident Tripologist and Indophile, Michael Gebicki, has succumbed to illness while there, despite more than 20 visits. What hope is there for a first-timer like me? The journalist visa process is a frustrating jumble of red tape and clunky websites, and my first (domestic) flight is booked in the wrong direction. It feels like the universe is warning me not to risk it. I'm travelling with a small group on a brief yet unquestionably luxurious journey to Rajasthan with Abercrombie & Kent. The flight from Melbourne to Delhi is jam-packed with members of Australia's Indian diaspora, regarded as the nation's most successful. There are crying babies, pungent wafts of curry and a handful of passengers ignoring (or not understanding) the attendants' instructions to remain seated after landing, resulting in frustrated yelling from said attendants. It seems like another sign of the chaos that's undoubtedly to come. As we land at Indira Gandhi airport, I help a family laden down with bags and toddler paraphernalia until they get to passport control, where we part ways. But later, as I emerge with my own luggage into the arrivals hall, their young daughter spots me in the crowd, runs over and gives me the biggest hug – and suddenly I begin to understand the warmth of India's welcoming embrace. Here are some other things I learnt.
The Age
24-06-2025
- The Age
Ten things I learnt on my first visit to India
I'm anxious about my first visit to India. Faced with its vast scale, history and humanity, its crowds, poverty and colour, I'm determined to channel Judi Dench's intrepid, open-hearted character from Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Evelyn Greenslade. I fear, however, that I will quickly turn into Penelope Wilton's uptight and unadventurous Jean Ainslie, who soon flees back to her less challenging English homeland. My apprehension increases when I hear that even Traveller's resident Tripologist and Indophile, Michael Gebicki, has succumbed to illness while there, despite more than 20 visits. What hope is there for a first-timer like me? The journalist visa process is a frustrating jumble of red tape and clunky websites, and my first (domestic) flight is booked in the wrong direction. It feels like the universe is warning me not to risk it. I'm travelling with a small group on a brief yet unquestionably luxurious journey to Rajasthan with Abercrombie & Kent. The flight from Melbourne to Delhi is jam-packed with members of Australia's Indian diaspora, regarded as the nation's most successful. There are crying babies, pungent wafts of curry and a handful of passengers ignoring (or not understanding) the attendants' instructions to remain seated after landing, resulting in frustrated yelling from said attendants. It seems like another sign of the chaos that's undoubtedly to come. As we land at Indira Gandhi airport, I help a family laden down with bags and toddler paraphernalia until they get to passport control, where we part ways. But later, as I emerge with my own luggage into the arrivals hall, their young daughter spots me in the crowd, runs over and gives me the biggest hug – and suddenly I begin to understand the warmth of India's welcoming embrace. Here are some other things I learnt.
