Curious travel makes adventure an art
IT WAS Penny
Bannerman’s curious
nature that drove her
to start Curious Traveller
in 2013. “I had been
developing a keener
interest in booking
unusual experiences for
other people. I wanted
to help travellers feel as
though they were pioneers
of a new travel age,” she
says.
True to her word, Penny
enthusiastically describes
her latest discovery, a
destination called Keulap
in Peru, which she says
is the new Machu Picchu.
The massive stone walls
and scattered ruins in
Keulap tell the intriguing
story of the Chachapoyas
or ‘Warriors of the
Cloud’ before they were
conquered by invaders.
Penny’s travel career
began in retail, at Budget
Travel. She then worked
with the founder of
Pentravel, Rob Crankshaw,
and became part of the
team that established the
agency. Rob asked her to
join him, which she did six
months after Pentravel’s
doors opened. Penny
stayed for 28 years.
She was later offered a
job in wholesale at Sure
Tours where she was
responsible for products
in the US, Far East and
Mozambique. Penny then
set up the wholesale
division for ICAN Holidays
before founding Curious
Traveller.
Her passion for the
unusual began with
explorations into the
unseen parts of Cuba
and expeditions into
Antarctica. She is also a
specialist when it comes
to hunting the Aurora in
Finland and Iceland.
Feed the imagination
It’s easy to see how
Penny’s unusual
excursions appeal to the
imagination of today’s
luxury travellers who
want never-been-donebefore
experiences. The
key to putting together
and selling excursions
like these is fine-tuning
travellers’ tastes, says
Penny.
She recently had a group
of clients who spent
New Year’s Eve around a
campfire in a small village
in Iceland. Another group
travelled to Bohol in the
Philippines where they saw
a very rare type of monkey
called a Philippine tarsier.
Her advice for agents
considering specialising in
unique travel experiences
is to ensure they acquire
an intimate knowledge of
the destinations they wish
to sell. “These are not the
kind of packages you can
put together in 24 hours,”
she says. However, on the
upside, the pay-off from
these types of holidays
is greater. The travellers
have bigger budgets, which
means better income
and you gain fulfilment
by helping people tick off
their bucket lists, she
says.
The most unusual
request Penny has
received to date was from
a group of travellers who
wanted to embark on a
cruise to see the rare
Yellow-eyed penguins in
the sub-Antarctic in New
Zealand.
The average cost per
person joining this cruise
was R150 000.
She has many examples
of the incredible
excursions available to
travellers looking for
adventure. They can, for
example, spend a day
at Star City in Russia.
“Travellers are able to go
there for a day and be
an astronaut and wear a
space suit,” says Penny.
On an adventure of a
different kind, travellers
can journey to Palawan in
the Philippines and sail
across one of the longest
underground rivers in the
world. They can also stay
in the Canvas Boutique
Hotel which is built on
stilts and features a
savant’s intricately handpainted
murals that tell
the story of the Palawan
people.
Getting to know Penny
Of all the magical
places Penny has been,
her favourite destination
is the Antarctic.
“It is the most beautiful
thing you’ve ever seen
and you can literally
hear the silence,”
she says. Another
favourite is Italy and
she describes herself
as something of an
Italophile.
As well as being an avid
explorer, Penny used to
be a scuba diver.
She also prides
herself on being an
enthusiastic networker,
which, she says, is an
important skill in the
travel industry.
In her business it’s
critical for Penny to
know who to speak
to when travel plans
go awry. Penny is
resourceful; she
recently had a group
of travellers on a subAntarctic
cruise who
hit a bump in their
journey when their
luggage didn’t arrive
on the flight with them
– a significant problem
when one considers the
freezing temperatures
they would be exposed
to. Penny phoned one of
the top professionals at
the cruise company, who
organised warm clothing
for the passengers on
arrival.
