19 Sep 2019
As experts in travel and with some 60 pairs of eyes between us, the Original Travel team can clearly see what the big trends for 2020 will be, particularly this year's anniversaries and predicted popular cultural dates.
January: Mark the bicentenary of Nathaniel Palmer’s discovery of Antarctica aboard a NEW vessel
2020 marks 200 years since Nathaniel Palmer laid claim to the discovery of the Antarctic mainland, making it an iconic year for all Antarctic travel. While the American explorer found the shore inaccessible in 1820, today’s Antarctic exploration is a much less hazardous experience, particularly with the introduction of The Magellan Explorer, a new ship for Original Travel’s 2020 Antarctica itineraries. The modern expedition vessel is custom built for the Antarctic and is the first small passenger ship to offer single cabins. Accommodating up to 73 passengers, the Magellan Explorer features a glass-enclosed observation lounge and presentation room with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, a spacious and stylish dining room, a well-stocked bar, a library, a meeting room, a gym, a sauna, and a medical clinic. The forward-facing observation deck leads to the bow of the ship, which is accessible to guests to offer proximity to marine wildlife. The ship has a fleet of 10 Zodiac dinghies that are well suited for disembarking and wildlife watching.
A 12-day Antarctica expedition costs from £15,950 per person. The price is based on two sharing and including all flights, transfers and accommodation.
Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, originaltravel.co.uk/itineraries/compact-antarctica
February: Make a pilgrimage to Jamaica for Bob Marley’s 75th birthday
2020 will see the 75th anniversary of the birth of iconic Jamaican musician, Bob Marley. With the anniversary in February it is the perfect time to travel, coinciding not only with the anniversary, but also one of the best months for reliably good weather. Choose Original Travel’s ‘Musical Journey Through Jamaica’ itinerary and learn about the island’s reggae roots, stay in three immaculate properties and join a private guide in retracing the steps of the world’s most famous Rastafarian.
Prices from £3,325pp, based on two sharing and including return flights, 3 nights’ at Goldeneye – former home of Chris Blackwell of Island Records fame, as well as Ian Fleming - two nights’ at Geejam, a secluded hideaway that boasts its own recording studio and resident sound engineers so guests can lay down their own tracks, and two nights’ at Strawberry Hill, also once owned by Chris Blackwell.
Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, originaltravel.co.uk/itineraries/musical-journey-jamaica
March: Ply unchartered waters on the inaugural Original Diving voyage of the luxurious Four Seasons Explorer
Original Diving will host the inaugural voyage of the luxurious Four Seasons Explorer to the unchartered wonders of the deep south of the Maldives: Laamu, Huvadhoo and Fuvahmulah atolls. Exclusively arranged by Original Diving and the team at Four Seasons, the luxury liveaboard will, for the first time, travel to the remote southern atolls, island-hopping across the Maldives most secluded islands and exploring some of the least visited dive sites. The Four Seasons Explorer is a spacious 128-ft, three-deck catamaran and is, quite simply, one of the best liveaboards in the world. Hosting a maximum of 22 guests across 11 cabins, this intimate, floating-resort will allow you the freedom to explore a greater number and variety of sites, with all the luxurious amenities of a Four Seasons hotel. Guests will be joined by a marine biologist and there’s also a resident masseuse as part of the crew, whilst the boat is equipped with fishing gear, kayaks, water skis and even windsurf boards.
The trip departs 9th March 2020 and costs £12,200 per person, including seven day’s allinclusive onboard accommodation and return flights to Male.
Original Diving, 020 3911 0431, originaldiving.com/itineraries/liveaboard-south-maldives
September: Follow in the wake of the Mayflower on its 400th anniversary
On 16 September 1620, the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth to voyage to the New World (America, as we now know it) in search of a new life of religious freedom. More than 30 million US citizens, including several presidents, writers, poets and the likes of Clint Eastwood, Richard Gere, Hugh Hefner, Marilyn Monroe and Dick Van Dyke (which makes his accent in Mary Poppins even more inexcusable) can trace their ancestry back to one of the 102 passengers and 30 crew who made the journey. The pilgrims, as they became known, went on to establish the religious freedom and the foundations of the democracy Americans enjoy today – as well as inventing the eating holiday that is Thanksgiving.
Original Travel has launched a NEW anniversary trip includes visits to Provincetown to see the Pilgrim Monument and to the Plimouth Plantation, where there is a Mayflower replica and which brings to life the pilgrim’s first hard years of settlement. The eight-day trip, which also includes two days in Boston, costs from £1,700 per person, based on two sharing and including accommodation and return flights.
Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, originaltravel.co.uk/itineraries/mayflower-voyageanniversary-trip
October: Cruise onboard the very ship that inspired Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile
2020 sees a new blockbuster adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, directed by and starring Kenneth Brannagh in his follow-up to the sumptuous Murder on the Orient Express. While the film will reimagine 1930’s Egypt, Original Travel can you take you there for real. In October 2020, when the film is released, Original Travel has exclusively chartered the SS Sudan, the very ship on which Agatha Christie sailed and where she got her inspiration for one of the world’s most famous whodunnits. The 19th century steamer still looks as it did in Agatha Christies’s day, with teak decks and the oriental opulence of the Belle Epoque era. The ten-day adventure includes time spent exploring Cairo (home to the long-awaited $1.1 billion, 5.2-million-square-foot Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), also slated to open in 2020), Luxor and Aswan, as well as the five-day private cruise, where you will be hosted by the UK’s leading Egyptophile, Anthony Sattin. Excursions en-route include private guided tours of the Valley of the Kings and the Temples of Edfu, Karnak, Luxor, Seti, Dendera, Philae and Kom Ombo.
The trip departs 30 September and costs from £7,150pp, including return flights to Cairo, internal flights, private airport transfers, hotel accommodation in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan, five nights' all-inclusive accommodation aboard the SS Sudan and guided tours throughout.
Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, originaltravel.co.uk/itineraries/private-ss-sudan
December: Catch the Chilean Solar Eclipse
If you missed 2019’s Chilean solar eclipse, don’t worry because in the astronomical equivalent of London buses, another eclipse is set to happen there on 14 December 2020. This one will pass through the Chilean Lake District, making Original Travel’s 13-day Highlights of Central Chile, a great trip to enjoy this natural phenomenon. The tour incorporates Santiago and Valparaiso, as well as the chance to hike, horseride, kayak and fish in and around the Chilean Lake District.
The trip costs from £4,080 pp, based on two sharing and including 11 nights’ accommodation, return flights, domestic flights and internal transfers.
Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, originaltravel.co.uk/itineraries/highlights-central-chile
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For more information contact Carys Bedford:
020 3582 4990
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Notes to Editors:
Original Travel specialises in bespoke, tailor-made holidays, crafted by destination experts to 77 countries worldwide from Anguilla to Zimbabwe. Since its launch in 2003, it has created 50,000 itineraries, each unique and adhering to the company ethos that “Life is in the Detail”.
Original Travel also has its own specialist dive division. Original Diving is the world's only luxury dive travel outfit and is staffed by a team that includes 1 dive instructor, 5 dive masters and a marine biologist. Having completed more than 3,000 dives in over 50 countries, equating to over 100 years' collective diving experience, the team pride themselves on their unparalleled expertise and knowledge of the best dive destinations across the globe.
Original Travel clients enjoy a wealth of additional services they wouldn't find with any other UK tour operator, including:
- Access to a network of 70-plus Concierges who live locally, know their destinations inside and out and are extremely well-connected. They lend fantastic ground support, offering insider recommendations, facilitating any last-minute changes and troubleshooting
- A brace of additional services designed to make departure easier than ever. Every Original Travel client, regardless of whether they're off on a long-weekend to Seville, or a multi-destination sabbatical, will enjoy UK airport meet and greet, fast track UK check-in, fast track UK security*, lounge access and pre-booked flight seats. A great way to start the holiday sooner
- The knowledge that not only will Original Travel offset the carbon footprint of their international flights, but also - in an industry-first - car-hire and other flights (even if booked independently)
- The knowledge that they are contributing to a Foundation, which supports nearly 100 humanitarian projects in 30 developing countries. To date, nearly £800,000 has been invested to support five key areas: child protection, vocational training, economic development assistance, preservation of cultural and natural heritage and safeguarding the lifestyles of indigenous peoples
