Business, Clubs and Religious Trips
Specialist travel can include business trips, trips organised by social clubs, educational trips organised by schools and colleges and religious trips organised by churches and other religious groups. These trips can be solo or group trips.
Business Travel
For example, many employees are required to travel for business purposes to go and see contractors’ suppliers or customers. Often where big companies want to gather all their employees in one place the company will hold annual or biannual conferences in a big hotel venue.
Or you may work for a company that incentivises their members of staff with holidays and team building trips for the most successful employees.
In our business we are regularly invited to travel to different countries, stay at hotels and even go on cruises so that we can experience what our customers are likely to experience and make good recommendations based on personal knowledge.
A business traveller will have different priorities to a leisure traveller, they normally want to get to their destination in the quickest and most comfortable way possible, meaning that they will often want to upgrade their flight experience especially when flying over night.
When we used to work in Hong Kong, we would fly business class from London so we were able to lie flat and get some sleep on the flight because as soon as we got off at the other end, we would need to spring into action immediately to meet clients.
Business travellers also need to ensure that their hotel is close to where their meetings will take place and is a presentable venue if it is necessary to meet customers at the hotel itself.
Having made many business trips during our professional careers J and T are very adept at understanding the business travellers needs and ensuring everything is booked in advance, including airport transfers to make the trip as smooth and stress free as possible.
Sports and Adventure Holidays
In addition to business travel, many sports, and schools book trips abroad to widen the experience of their members and to encounter and teach new skills. Some popular activities are skiing, surfing, mountain climbing, horse riding, golf just to name a few.
Often the idea behind these holidays is that they provide a learning experience and an opportunity for club members to get to know each other better. It is here that friendships are often formed for life.
These holidays can be very flexible and can be booked in most parts of the world. There are intensive golf courses where you can train with a professional and then play on several different golf courses over a seven- or fourteen-day period. The Costa Del Sol is a great location for golfers because there are so many different golf courses including championship courses like Valderrama all in one concentrated area meaning you can stay in one place while experiencing different courses.
As well as “one sport specific holidays” there are also more general adventure holidays where you get the opportunity to try different water sports or another type of sport each day. This type of holiday is great for a family with teenagers as it gives the whole family the chance to experience new things together and the children will never get bored.
Finally, there are holidays for those who want to watch rather than participate, such as a trip to see Badminton Horse Trials or the Tennis at Wimbledon or the Grand Prix Formula One in Abu Dhabi. Tickets to such events can be combined with a holiday so you can explore the other attractions within that destination on the days when you are not watching the sport.
As you can see the options are endless and with a good travel agent to guide you it is easy to have a bespoke trip designed exactly for you and your group in accordance with your budget and requirements.
Language and Educational Trips
Another common type of school trip is to book time away in a destination where the pupils are studying a specific language as often it is easier to learn when surrounded by people who are all speaking French, Spanish or German. This is called an “Immersive language Experience”.
Learning a language through the experience of visiting the destination is not just about listening and speaking the language with people who live in that country but also about seeing the cultural differences and learning their way of life. It is recognised that pupils retain much better language skills when they can visit the homeland of the language that they are learning. Pupils are also more confident because they have been able to hear first hand how the language is spoken outside the classroom.
When J did her degree, she participated in a trip to both Brussels and Luxembourg to learn about the workings of the European Parliament and visiting the various European government buildings provided a very enlightening experience.
Being able to visit the places you are studying in the classroom in real life brings much more meaning to the study course and assists in the overall learning experience.
Group Retreats
Many of us no longer want to just hit the beach and lie in the sunshine. Wellness holidays where the traveller takes time out to concentrate on their health has become very popular and joining a group retreat is especially good if you are travelling solo or your whole yoga clubs wants to experience yoga in a different environment.
Wellness can include both spiritual and body healing treatments as well as focusing on exercise and detox. In fact, there is a huge choice of holidays available ranging from yoga, relaxation, wine tasting and olive oil tasting in Portugal to Detox, weight loss and yoga in Thailand. There is a wellness holiday experience for everyone whichever destination you want to travel to.
Religious Experience Holidays
For many travellers a faith-based trip gives them the opportunity to experience the places described in their holy book which they have been told about since a very young age.
Depending on your religion, this could be a tour of the catholic shrines through Spain and Portugal, or a tour based on the protestant religion to Israel. For those of the Muslim faith a pilgrimage to the Kaaba in the sacred city of Mecca is a lifetime experience and many jews wish to rediscover their Jewish hereditary by visiting Israel.
For those who consider themselves to be more spiritual rather than following any one religion. There are spiritual tours to India, Bali, Egypt, and many other destinations where the traveller can immerse themselves in a journey of spiritual healing.
Finally, for those who are undecided about religion itself but wish to investigate further, there are many historical trips that retrace the steps of the Apostles. You can even follow the footsteps of Paul on a cruise around Greece. The possibilities are endless. So, if this is the type of trip you would like to embark on complete our questionnaire and we can provide you with some ideas and costings.