TAKING AGENCY

GOT WANDERLUST? LEAVE YOUR NEXT VOYAGE IN THE HANDS OF EXPERTS AT SANTA BARBARA TRAVEL BUREAU

Let Santa Barbara Travel Bureau craft your next escape—all you will need to do is pack a bag!

Last year’s stay-at-home-summer has us more eager than ever to get out and see the world. But keeping up with the latest developments in travel can be quite the task. Fortunately, there are many travel professionals out there to ease your worries and help you plan a safe journey—and some of the best are right here in Santa Barbara. Charles de L’Arbre, CEO of Santa Barbara Travel Bureau, sat down with us to answer all of our burning questions regarding this next chapter for the travel industry.

How has Covid changed travel?

That would be an article in itself! It has made a lot of people leery about traveling, and at the same time it has created a class of people who cannot wait to travel. I would say the biggest issue that we’ve faced is the uncertainty about countries that are open, quarantine, vaccination restrictions, etc.

What exciting destinations will be opening up soon?

One area that has started to open up is the Caribbean. The challenge is that we are getting into hurricane season down there now. So by late summer or fall, most of the Caribbean might be open to people who test negative, but it is also the wrong time to go. However, we do have people going to Curacao and Bonaire, which are in the southwest part of the Caribbean, and typically those islands are not on the storm track.

What destinations do you predict will be the most popular in the coming months?

We are getting a lot of interest right now in Spain, Greece, and Croatia. We’re also seeing a ramp up to Turkey again, and a lot of people are interested in going to East Africa, to destinations such as Kenya and Tanzania.

What sorts of travel options are available for those who are eager to get out of the house, yet still hesitant?

Car trips are always a good idea. All of the continental U.S. is open [to residents], and you can fly almost anywhere without needing to be tested. Guest ranches in places such as Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado have been extremely popular and are definitely a great option for a safe and social-distanced vacation.

What are the benefits of booking a trip through a travel agency?

We have an abundance of resources, tools, and knowledge and are preferred partners with thousands of hotels worldwide. Because of this, we are able to get deals that you may not know about when booking on your own. Also, we take into account all the factors that go into a trip and come up with an elegant solution. Each group of travelers has different needs, whether it’s budget, accessibility to their nearest airport, or many other factors. Other things we take into consideration are if they’re looking for a place with specific activities, like if they want to go somewhere for the food, or to simply chill by the pool. So what we do as a company is like building a mathematical equation.

What is your favorite thing about your career?

Overall, I find this career fascinating— every single request that we have is different and involves a unique solution. We’ve done work over the years for Quincy Jones, and I remember going to a ceremony where he was being honored, and he was talking about travel and said, “If you don’t go, you’ll never know.” That has stuck with me ever since. I think travel is one of the greatest educational and broadening activities.

Where are you most looking forward to visiting?

Anything past Oxnard! Although I have to say, on my European bucket list it would be Portugal, which is inexplicably the only country in Western Europe I have never been to.

What is your favorite vacation destination?

I don’t think there’s a place that I haven’t found a reason to enjoy, so that’s a hard question to answer. I’d have to give you a long list of places that I love going to, starting with Paris, London, and Barcelona. At some point, I wouldn’t mind going over to Hawaii and simply chilling. The Four Seasons Lanai is a place I’d love to go back to. *

“Guest ranches in places such as Montana,

Wyoming, and Colorado have been extremely popular and are definitely a great option for a safe and social-distanced vacation.”