This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
The light at the end of the proverbial tunnel hints at another mutation — from pandemic to endemic. Leaving being possible again, what could be better, for this first post-COVID trip, than a destination where the spectacular meets the marvelous?
Did you know ? One of the tourism trends in 2022 is not so much the revenge travel or “catch-up trip” as the achievement of one’s GOAT, Expedia’s acronym for Greatest of All Trips, or “the most beautiful trip of all”. From the perspective of a reinvented tourism, where the quality of the experience prevails over the quantity, here are some good getaway plans.
In Mexico, incognito at the “hidden port”
In the state of Oaxaca, not far from Puerto Escondido, Terrestre, a brand new hotel from Grupo Habita, has just been awarded the Design Wallpaper prize. “The buildings are hidden in the landscape as if they had been there for hundreds of years,” Alberto Kalach, the Mexican architect responsible for the project, told the magazine. And that’s what seduces in this completely solar-powered establishment made up of 14 villas with old and futuristic lines.
In Portugal, dazzled by the authenticity
If the Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei went into exile in the Alentejo (precisely in Montemor-O-Novo) mainly for its light, we also stay there for its cork oaks, its white villages, its quilt of rice fields and its wild beaches. According to Inês Almeida Garrett, director of the Office of Tourism of Portugal in Canada, culture is also there thanks to many music festivals (including Brahms in Marvaõ in July) and gastronomy.
In Switzerland, initiated to the art of cheese
Traveling is about making memorable encounters and learning. For example, in the Bernese Oberland, the Voyageurs du monde agency connects gourmets and an artisan cheesemaker. “The activity takes place on the side of the Rosenlaui valley, less popular than the Jungfrau, where we work with a small farm, explains Aurélie Cartier, director for Canada. On the program: cheese and local wine tasting with a view of the magnificent landscape, and creation of your own cheese on site, which will then be sent to Canada. Unique, like experience! »
In Zambia, marveling in the savannah
Lover of Africa, Julien Passerini, co-founder of Explorateur Voyages, is inexhaustible about this safari destination of “phenomenal beauty”, less frequented than Kenya, Tanzania or South Africa. “Going on a walking safari at South Luangwa National Park, one of the most spectacular wildlife sanctuaries on the planet, camping and feeling like you’re part of the savannah is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says- he. When to go? Between May and October, in tailor-made itinerary mode.
In the Maldives, fascinated by the “devil of the seas”
In the heart of Baa Atoll, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Hanifaru Bay is a favorite buffet for manta rays due to the abundance of plankton and small fish they like to gorge on. Between June and November, it is one of the best places in the world to observe them, the time of the snorkeling organized by Anantara Kihavah. According to this hotel, during the full moon, a good hundred of these creatures, as graceful as they are harmless, flock there.
In Hong Kong, amazed by a new neighborhood
Densely populated (to put it mildly), Kowloon, on the Chinese mainland, continues the vocation of cultural escape that it gave to the land reclaimed from the sea forming the ambitious West Kowloon Cultural District. Eventually, this sector will include around fifteen museums. The Xiqu Centre, dedicated to Peking opera, and the M+ museum, dedicated to contemporary visual culture and designed by Herzog & de Meuron, were recently inaugurated; the Palace Museum will be next July. Everything is connected by a linear park with a view of the famous Victoria Harbour, which leads to a train station that the Hobbits would not disdain!
In Japan, blessed like some islanders
Renowned for its tropical climate and its diet, to which the extraordinary longevity of its inhabitants is attributed, the Okinawa archipelago has a destination that piques curiosity: Taketomi. Sprinkled with dream beaches, this 5.5 km atoll2 has only one village with houses surrounded by dry stone walls, as in the time of the Ryukyu kingdom. The good idea? Land at the Hoshinoya Taketomi resort hotel in the spring or fall, after the typhoon season, and venture along paths shared by walkers, cyclists and… buffaloes. The tourist office recommends tasting the soki soba local, pork chops on buckwheat noodles.
In Australia, regenerated by nature
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the oldest rainforest in the world is also inscribed in the very history of the Kuku Yalanji indigenous people, who manage its activities. Occupying a vast swath of northern Queensland, Daintree Forest borders endless beaches while its canopy is home to rare flora and fauna. Hello road trip of a lifetime! This could notably lead to one of the suites perched in the trees of the Silky Oaks Lodge, on the banks of the Mossman River, the starting point of an adventure in the company of an Aboriginal guide.