More travellers tour vanishing destinations

AGENTS are seeing an
interest in travel to
vanishing destinations or,
in other words, destinations
that will not be around forever
due to rapid climate change,
such as the Great Barrier
Reef, the Dead Sea, Magdalen
Islands, Alaska and Antarctica.
Chantal Kliche, retail
manager for the Cape region
of Thompsons Travel, says a
wide range of travellers want
to tick these destinations
off their bucket lists. “They
range from honeymooners to
families to divers who seek
an all-round experience that
is both adventurous and
relaxing,” she says. Debbie
Beckett, travel consultant
of Travel Counsellors, says
travellers who pick vanishing
destinations are mostly
experienced travellers who do
not want to return to the same
touristy places.
Candice Perry, marketing
campaign and brochure
co-ordinator of Thompsons
Holidays, says the Maldives,
the lowest lying country on
Earth, could be completely
engulfed by water soon if sea
levels continue to rise, and
Venice, which has long been
sinking due to severe floods,
are two vanishing destinations
that both inexperienced and
experienced travellers are
now booking. Sianna Book,
marketing project manager
of Pentravel, thinks this is
because the Maldives has
become more affordable
recently. The same goes
for Venice, although visitor
numbers fluctuate due to the
ever-changing exchange rate.
“We have couples, young
families and older customers
booking the Maldives and
Venice,” she says.
One challenge agents report
with booking holidays to
vanishing destinations is that
tour operators do not offer
a wide variety of packages
to these destinations, so
sometimes agents have to
package them themselves.
While this requires more time
and effort, Roshnee Govender,
travel consultant of Travel
Counsellors, says it drives
more profits via charging
service fees for all bookings
made. Annemarie Lexow,
sales and marketing manager
of Travel Vision, explains
that it is difficult to package
vanishing destinations
because some of them
require travellers to obtain
permits, while others restrict
the length of time you are
allowed to visit.
On the other hand, Debbie
says tour ops should step up
and offer more packages to
make less popular vanishing
destinations, such as the
Philippines and Sri Lanka,
which are prone to natural
disasters, more attractive to
travellers. “These destinations
are not as expensive as the
more popular ones, so both
budget-savvy and wealthy
travellers would be likely to buy
into them,” she says.