1、Waking up inside an enormous tent in the Sahara Desert in Morocco, you are un,likely to miss any of the luxuries that come with a top-end hotel suite. Private,bodyguards patrol the area with guns to ensure that you arent attacked by wild,animals. This reflects a new trend in luxury travel. Chinese p
2、eople with deep,pockets are increasingly enjoying such kinds of trips around the world, with ma,ny preferring to visit places that are less frequented by others. Popular dest,inations include the Arctic and Antarctic poles, that could cost between 120,000,and 250,000 yuan ($20,000-40,100) per person
3、, and Tanzania and Kenya in East Af,rica where wild animals are in abundance. “Those who prefer luxury tours are v,ery rich and tired of ordinary destinations. They like the Sahara Desert tours,“,says Cao Xia, a senior tour adviser to Abercrombie & Kent China, an arm of a We,stern global high-end lu
4、xury tour operator. She recently accompanied a group of,Chinese tourists to Morocco. According to Cao, such tours arent just about ex,travagant accommodation and food. People get to know about local cultures and li,festyles in a way that feels more authentic. Yang Mengyue, a publicity manager,for th
5、e Chinese marketing consultancy HH, says high-end customers dem,and “self-fulfillment“, be it through leisurely trips or vigorous adventure trav,el. HH is a high-end brand of C, a major travel website in Chi,na. Other than big foreign companies that focus on luxury trips, there are man,y domestic to
6、ur operators and online agencies that offer them as well. Yang sa,ys these customers are mostly multimillionaires aged between 40 and 55, many of,whom are company executives, private entrepreneurs and celebrities - some even w,ith their own aircraft. HH is offering an 80-day luxury tour around,the w
7、orld starting from February, at 1.25 million yuan per person, covering doze,ns of UNESCO World Heritage sites. About 10 seats were purchased immediately a,fter the company announced the offer. “Customers of luxury tours prefer privac,y and small groups,“ Yang says. According to Chen Chen, marketing
8、manager of A,bercrombie & Kent China, VIP services include taking customers to the worlds ic,onic tourist sites before or after the regular hours for visitors so as to avoid,large crowds. Local experts on history or art are likely to accompany guests wh,o opt for VIP services to tourist sites and in
9、troduce them to cultures. Chen s,ays that scholars with degrees in art will talk about the exhibits in museums wi,th tourists and professional photographers will show them how to take pictures i,n the Antarctic region. Guests can also dine with locals and learn to make loc,al handicraft such as Ital
10、ian puppets, she adds. “Customized trips help visito,rs realize their dreams. Some guests, for instance, want to see the slums in Jor,dan and only an experienced guide can assure their safety,“ Chen says. But not,ries are well-designed after market research. They have various themes and can m,eet th
11、e demands of high-end customers,“ Yang says of HHs policy. De,spite the growing trend in luxury tourism, Chen says that more and more Chinese,customers are needed to make the business boom. Some Chinese middle-class people,are also joining in. Wang Jingkun, 41, spent less than 200,000 yuan on her cr
12、,uise to the Antarctic in February. Now she plans to take another customized tr,ip to catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis near the North Pole. Although suc,h tours are expensive, Wang says that she doesnt mind paying because of the ser,vice. She cites an example of a trip to Egypt, where riots ha
13、d broken out on t,he streets. The local guides took good care of her and asked the police to accom,pany her through sensitive areas, she says. In 2012, Wang quit her job as a ma,nagement staffer at a corporation in Beijing, to travel in China and abroad. She,has been unemployed since then, spending
14、her savings on travel. According to,Xu Ting, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing-based International Tourism Stu,dies Association, with peoples living standards rising, the demand for luxury a,nd customized trips is also increasing. “Luxury trips are more than high consu,mption. Its about humanity and detailed services, from consultations until the,end of the tour. Agencies should also have emergency plans,“ Xu says.,grrghef85tyg 英语资料 http:/
