Touring to national parks around the world is growing in popularity, finds Joanna Booth
Whichever natural wonders are on your clients’ wish lists, they’ll find them in a national park somewhere in the world. They can explore deserts, rainforests, mountains or caves; see a calving glacier, a bubbling geyser or an erupting volcano; and track lions, tigers, bears and – in Indonesia’s Komodo National Park – even dragons.
With the post-pandemic trend for enjoying nature, plus a desire for many to avoid crowded urban environments, it’s no wonder operators are reporting a surge in demand for trips that visit national parks.
These protected areas exist in nearly 100 countries worldwide, so whether clients are up for flying long-haul again, or keen to stay closer to home, you’ll find an option to suit them. .
Trips can be entirely park-focused and immersive – a Serengeti safari, trekking in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine, small-ship cruising in the Galapagos – or just one part of a more general itinerary.
Some parks are easily accessible – think Croatia’s Krka or Iceland’s Thingvellir – and appear as a day visit in a mix of other activities and destinations, so clients can get a taste of what national parks offer without committing to a whole holiday of walking through the wilderness.
American Express
Few destinations can rival the US when it comes to diversity of landscapes in their national parks, from Alaska’s glaciers and Utah’s canyons to Hawaii’s volcanoes and Florida’s Everglades.
Operators are harnessing a desire from customers to head back across the pond with new tours, meaning bookings to North American parks are booming.
When the US reopened for travel in November last year, G Adventures added 13 new tours to its United States of Adventure collection, focused on the national parks of the Western states and Alaska, with many selling out for the 2022 season.
Cosmos reports that US national park bookings for 2023 are up 46% on 2019
Since then, APT, Cox & Kings, Newmarket Holidays, Riviera Travel and Titan Travel have all unveiled tours visiting the parks of the American West, and Explore will run six special departures of trips visiting a range of Western parks to coincide with the annular eclipse in October next year.
Cosmos reports that US national park bookings for 2023 are up 46% on 2019. Sales and marketing director Janet Parton puts the increase down to the experience these trips offer, from scenic helicopter flights to jeep adventures with a Navajo guide.
Kelly Jackson, managing director of TTC tour brands in EMEA, has seen a 300% rise in bookings for trips featuring national parks from 2019 to 2022, with big-hitters Yosemite, Jasper and Banff topping clients’ wish lists.
Going off-piste
As a result, new US trips for 2023 are coming online across the TTC brands, with many allowing clients to try something less appreciated.
These include Trafalgar’s National Parks and Native Trails of the Dakotas, working closely with indigenous communities, and Insight Vacations’ Spectacular National Parks of the Eastern USA.
The West often takes centre stage, but this trip showcases the glories of the East: Shenandoah, the Great Smoky Mountains and Mammoth Cave, plus West Virginia’s New River Gorge National Park, the USA’s most recently created park, established at the end of 2020.
Another option is to travel outside peak season, something Intrepid Travel is enabling with its new winter active range, showcasing Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.
Best of the rest
The UK’s national parks are also enjoying extra attention. They feature in Shearings’ new tours for 2023, with options in Northumberland, the Lake District, the North York Moors, Exmoor and Loch Lomond.
Explore added walking itineraries in Dartmoor and the Yorkshire Dales for this year, Inntravel created a Snowdonia walking break, and active specialist Wilderness Scotland is to add cycling tours in national parks north of the border for 2023.
An e-bike Cairngorms tour will open the area to less inexperienced cyclists, while a gravel bike trip across destinations including Loch Lomond and the Cairngorms will take confident riders off-road.
Wildlife also drives client demand for these pristine environments
The Canary Islands are proving more than somewhere to fly-and-flop with a new walking tour of Tenerife’s Teide National Park from Exodus, and Lanzarote’s Timanfaya National Park from KE Adventure Travel.
Wildlife also drives client demand for these pristine environments, and both Riviera Travel and Exodus have new cruise tours around Ecuador’s Galapagos. Newmarket Holidays focuses on Africa instead for its launches, with safari tours in South Africa’s Kruger National Park and a two-week journey around Madagascar.
However clients wish to experience the great outdoors, whether that’s seeing wondrous wildlife or exploring geological marvels, there’s a national park somewhere in the world for them.
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