Leisure has become experiential and travel and tourism are no strangers to this trend. “It is no longer enough to go to the Himalayas, now you have to live the experience of climbing Everest”, says Ricard Santomà, Vice Dean of Tourism at the IQS-School of Management. “But it’s not just about the experience, but about the exclusivity of the experience and that this is increasingly extreme, because the objective is the likes on social networks,” adds Santomà.
In this sense, it was probably more the shot of adrenaline and “not contemplating risk aversion”, which made five people – at a rate of 250,000 dollars per head – embark on the Ocean Gate submarine that submerged to the depths of the ocean. 3,800 meters to visit the wreck of the Titanic, and whose remains were found, last Thursday, by the rescue teams that had been looking for it since the previous Sunday when its disappearance was reported.
But although it may seem so, it is not such a new phenomenon either. “The trips to Africa a century ago represented the same thing. They were as dangerous as they were exclusive. Or the Orient Express. The East back then was very different from today and they could kill you”, explains Santomà.
On the other hand, the tourism industry is as subject to the need for innovation as any other. “Climbing Everest is no longer an innovation now, but a decade ago it was. And it is that, in the end, all innovation ends up becoming a commodity”, assures the Vice Dean of Tourism of the IQS-School of Management. In this sense, what we are experiencing now is “an over-innovation of experience,” says Santomà, “that tries to push things to the limit.”
It is also easy to detect, under the narrative of sustainability, a certain return to retro or vintage: Travel to space? Yes, but in a hot air balloon. Discover the Arctic? Also, but in an airship. Going to a paradise island in the Caribbean or Polynesia? Without a doubt, but living like a true castaway and taking advantage of the resources offered by the island itself.
Experiential tourism is transversal as travel has become accessible to more and more people, which is why there are companies that provide the very, very rich with experiences that not only offer luxury beyond imagination –for the simple mortals– which is traditionally associated with the holidays of those who do not care 1,000 or 100,000, but heart attack experiences. Some of them can even be classified as eccentric… and not without danger.
And they are expensive, no, the following. “But it must be taken into account that these companies do not earn much money either, because the costs of what they offer is very high. So what travelers end up paying is proportional and the margins are not high,” concludes Santomà.
Space has become the last frontier, also when it comes to travel. Space tourism was sold as a reality after the race between Blue Origin – owned by Jeff Bezos – and Virgin Galactic – owned by Richard Branson – in the summer of 2021 to be the first to show their ships to go up to 100 km in altitude , experience zero gravity and return to Earth.
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In the case of the company owned by Amazon, the trip lasts 10 minutes, while in the case of Virgin Galactic it is approximately one hour. Both companies promised that they intended to “democratize space travel”, despite which Blue Origin has never made its prices public, unlike its competitor which offers tickets on its VSS Unity at a democratic 415,000 euros.
Just to book you have to prove financial solvency with a pre-authorization of 9,000 euros from the credit card. Once you decide to make a reservation, the future astronaut must make a deposit of 140,000 euros –of which only 23,000 are returnable in case of regret– and once the traveler has been accepted, you must pay the remaining 275,000 euros, at least one year before coming aboard. In addition, you have to undergo training to ensure that the necessary physical and psychological conditions are met.
If your budget is more modest and you’re into strong emotions, but not that much, for $115,000 it’s possible to get a seat in Space Perspective’s Neptune capsule. It is a hot air balloon of 509,703,238 liters to which a capsule with capacity for 8 people and a pilot is attached.
The flight takes approximately six hours, from launch to landing. The Neptune ascends for two hours until it reaches a maximum height of 30 km, where it remains for another two hours, and descends for another two hours before splashing down in the ocean, where a ship picks up the travelers. This space walk allows you to observe the curvature of the Earth, in addition to seeing the Sun rise from the curvature of the horizon, at which time passengers can toast with champagne. They also have a bar and a food service – never better said – to match. The first flights are scheduled for the end of 2024, but can already be booked.
The French company Zephalto offers exactly the same – also from 2024 – for just over 120,000 euros with its Céleste capsule, designed by two renowned designers and with all kinds of luxuries on board.
For their part, those who are nostalgic for the zeppelins popular in the 1920s and 1930s of the last century, or those who have always dreamed of being able to travel in one, are in luck. OceanSky Cruises will offer, on an undetermined date between 2024 and 2026, a 48-hour air cruise through the Arctic (Svalbard -North Pole- Svalbard) aboard the Airlander 10 airship, the largest of its class since the ill-fated Hindenburg. The highlight of the trip is spending six hours at the North Pole.
The price for one of the 8 double cabins available – without the possibility of an extra bed – is 185,000 euros. The company explains that the success of reservations has been such that at the moment they no longer accept more.
Discovering the North Pole is also what can be done on an 18-day cruise for just under 45,000 euros aboard the icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot. Or you can also choose to go on a safari around the world, in a private plane, for 25 days and for just over 150,000 euros.
Undoubtedly one of the classic vacations for millionaires are the paradisiacal islands and little crowded. They can be rented, such as Necker Island (in the British Virgin Islands) for whose exclusive use you have to pay 104,000 euros per night for up to 40 guests or 124,000 euros per night if you reach a maximum occupancy of 48 people. Of course, except for the trip to the Virgin Islands, it is all included.
But not everything has to be expensive. If what you want is to enjoy the experience of living like a castaway, like a true Robinson Crusoe, the Spanish Álvaro Cerezo is your man. His company, Docastaway, offers the possibility of staying on authentic deserted islands in various locations around the world and with different levels of isolation that are specified on its website. In addition, it offers two types of stays. Survival mode, in which the traveler has to manage as best he can and knows how, although there is always a rescue team not far away in case an emergency arises. The other mode, Comfort, offers islands with a cabin and with some amenities so that the experience is not so extreme. The prices, in this case, are within the reach of everyone who can afford a ticket to the nearest airport to the selected island. They range from 80 euros to 190 euros per night.
