THE NEW ESCAPISM
Companies pivoting to offer isolationist travel experiences
From taking cooking classes in the home of a local to learning traditional crafts from Indigenous people, much of travel — up until March 2020 — was all about connecting with others.
Now, in the COVID-19 era, travel is fraught with the demands of social distancing and hygiene. As people start thinking about taking trips, either by themselves or with close family or friends, travel companies are pivoting with new offerings and ways to offer distance from the crowd.
In pursuit of the great outdoors: Pre-pandemic, less than 20% of Americans spent time outdoors more than once a week, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. Since then, adult bike sales have risen 121% nationally; in Vermont, sales of fishing licenses have gone up 50%. In a recent McKinsey survey on how behaviors are changing because of COVID-19, 18% say they are spending more time outdoors, where transmission rates of the virus are believed to be lower.
Now, even endeavors that seem to mandate a team are offering self-guided options. Rowing The World is introducing self-guided rowing tours for individuals and small groups in Seattle; Sarasota, Florida; northern Michigan; and Maine.
Llamas help carry the loads on picnic hikes and multiday treks with Paragon Guides in Vail, Colorado. This summer, the company will continue to offer the guided trips, but those who seek to avoid all human contact can rent a llama and go it alone (llama rentals start at $100 a day; lunch hikes cost $490 for two).
Camping where no one will find you: It can be hard to get a prime camping spot in summer through Recreation.gov, the reservation website that represents 12 federal agencies managing public land, including the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. The anticipated surge in domestic outdoor travel may only tighten the squeeze.
One solution: Seek private land. Websites and apps like
Hipcamp and Campspace connect campers with landowners.
“Getting outside is essential for human health and happiness, and in this current moment in time of stress and anxiety, the outdoors are more important than ever,” said Alyssa Ravasio, the chief executive of Hipcamp, which manages bookings at more than 300,000 sites in the United States. About a third of the sites have canvas tents, yurts or treehouses.
Hipcamp expects a busy summer. Already in May, its landowners have earned three times as much as they did in May 2019.
Another service, Tentrr, offers sites on private land with glamping-style furnished tents and outhouses. Sites range from a brewery in the Finger Lakes region of New York (from $145) to a farm in Tennessee (from $75).
Group tours spread out: Hand sanitizer has long been on the buses of group trips. Now those buses will be scrubbed, their occupancy reduced and new routes established as tour companies like Collette and G Adventures reboot postpandemic, which includes offering generous cancellation policies.
Active tour companies like Backroads think naturally socially distanced forms of travel such as biking and hiking lend themselves to current demands. In July, Backroads plans to resume trips in the United States in places like Sedona, Arizona, and the Florida Keys. The company is taking the temperature of all travelers at the start of a trip, reducing group sizes to an average of about 10 and planning fewer group meals.
For some companies that are looking ahead to international travel getting its footing back, the crisis offers an itinerary reset. Geographic Expeditions plans on altering its walking tours to avoid crowded destinations in places like Japan.
“It's a challenge,” said Don George, who will guide three of the company's trips to Japan, including Kyoto, next spring, “but it's also exciting to think about off-the-beaten-path places that we can visit that will illuminate the spirit and soul of Kyoto.”
suit them.
When the prospects for event travel fell off the coronavirus cliff, the owners of Cedar Lakes Estate, a 500-acre compound in New York's Hudson Valley that normally relies on weddings and meetings in summer, decided to pivot from catering to large groups to reopening as a resort that offers plenty of social distancing. Now, travelers can rent its 18 cottages, which sleep two to 12 people, and enjoy mountain hikes, sports like volleyball and tennis, and swimming in two lakes. Guests order meals to be delivered and arrange activities via a concierge using text or video conferencing (rates from $1,180 a week).
In June, travel agency Embark Beyond started Camp Embark, a private camp program based at luxury resorts from Rhode Island to Montana, with a dedicated camp counselor organizing children's activities (prices from about $1,200 a night, plus $1,000 to $2,000 a week for camp counselors).
Adventure International, which specializes in private tours to places like Mount Kilimanjaro, has found that interest in trips in the United States is surging. Six days at its private glamping site near
Yellowstone National Park, including meals, excursions and a guide, starts at $2,900 a person.
Roadies, which offers itineraries in top-of-the-line buses modeled after rock-star tours, is offering the coaches to private groups of up to 10, spending a week visiting U.S. Open golf courses, ski resorts in the Rockies or California wineries (prices start around $4,000 a person).
More affordable options include private tours offered by the Moab Adventure Center in southern Utah, which runs rafting, mountain biking and rock climbing trips. Climbing lessons that normally cost $107 a person will cost $595 for up to four people.
The couple’s bubble just got cozier: Images of empty beaches and sunset drinks for two: In many ways, the travel industry already caters to couples with the promise of shutting everyone else out.
“We've been doing social distancing for years. It's what we've built our brand on,” said Adam Stewart, the deputy chairman of Sandals Resorts, which operates 15 all-inclusive properties in six Caribbean countries. “Romance requires privacy.”
The resorts, most of which are reopening this summer, cater to couples with twoperson soaking tubs, hammocks for two and private dinners on the beach.
Restricted to employees and guests only, all-inclusive resorts offer more privacy.
“With everything being contained to the resort itself, I truly don't have any fears,” said Bobbie Mergenthaler, a home health care worker in Kouts, Indiana, who booked a weeklong trip with her husband in November to celebrate their anniversary at the all-inclusive Secrets Cap Cana Resort & Spa in the Dominican Republic.
Resorts consisting of standalone guest quarters, from the high-end Bluefields Bay Villas in Jamaica that come with their own chef (villas start at $980) to the glamping tents at Collective Vail in Colorado (from $249) and the budget-friendly tiny house rentals at Canoe Bay Escape Village in Wisconsin (from $125), say they are naturally configured for the COVID-19 travel era.