Where are the one percent vacationing this year? And which exotic locales have they already booked for 2022? Just ask Melissa Biggs Bradley, the entrepreneur behind Indagare, the members-only boutique travel company that she founded in 2007. The Manhattan-based Indagare has become the go-to advisor and resource for travelers seeking meaningful, one-of-a-kind journeys.
I’ve known Melissa since her days at Town & Country, where she was the long-time travel editor and launched Town & Country Travel. At Indagare, she’s not only the go-to-guru for the well-heeled, well-traveled set but also started Indagare Insider Journeys, immersive group trips built around art, fashion, design, style, wellness, food and wine and one-of-a-kind destinations, in partnership with WSJ Magazine, Architectural Digest and Vogue. I caught up with her the other day before she left for Paris.
Everett Potter: Melissa, the summer of 2021 was meant to be an amazing time for travel, but given ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, it has been more of a start-and-stop affair. That said, some people are indeed making the best of it. Where have you been sending Indagare clients?
Melissa Biggs Bradley: I and many of our members have been traveling. You certainly have to be willing to jump through hoops with new forms and required Covid tests and be more flexible as rules continue to change or remain unclear—and opening hours and the ability to make reservations and service levels are not what they used to be. However, having traveled internationally and domestically recently, the first returners, as I call them, are rewarded with less crowds and incredibly warm welcomes. I can say from first-hand experience that in my lifetime, the Majorelle Gardens in Marrakech and the Masai Mara in Kenya have never been so free of visitors—so it is a unique moment and one that we might not experience again. This summer we have seen our members flocking to the Northeast, the American West and Alaska but also to Greece, Iceland, Kenya and Rwanda and they’re making reservations in France, Italy, the Caribbean and Mexico.
EP: Some travel companies have basically come out and said that while international travel is possible in 2021, their real focus is on 2022. That certainly seems to be true for segments like the five-star small ship cruise lines, who have quickly sold out many 2022 itineraries. What destinations with luxury accommodations are shaping up to be hot spots next year?
MBB: We are seeing a lot of demand still for this summer, although many places within the U.S. are already completely booked. Last-minute travelers to Europe and Africa are being rewarded with space in places that one normally has to book years in advance—but, yes, we are also seeing many people planning into 2022 and even 2023. Our relationship to time and travel seems to have been impacted in numerous ways by Covid. First, as we all were forced to spend long periods in one place, I think we have gotten used to being less frenetic, and now people want less frenetic travels so they are choosing to go to one destination and stay longer instead of moving around a lot. I also think we all had to take longer views of the future and so now booking two or three years out just gives us an anchor in the future to look forward to. We have never seen such robust forward-looking bookings. I would say there are three buckets of popular destinations. Domestic highlights such as the Grand Canyon, Jackson Hole, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming. Then there are first-return classics, like the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, Venice, Paris and London. Finally, there are trips-of-a-lifetime locales, such as Egypt, Peru, the Galapagos, Antarctica, Jordan, and Cambodia. People have had their travel dreams deferred and so if they cannot achieve them tomorrow, they at least want to schedule them now.
EP: Are there any particular areas that upscale adventure tour companies and safari companies are looking at for 2022?
MBB: The pandemic has placed a spotlight on the wealth divide between various countries, and so places where travel dollars have a major impact on conservation and community empowerment are increasingly of interest to us. We have ramped up our focus on sustainability and purpose in our trips. For instance, we have created sustainable “impact” trips to Antarctica and Galápagos in partnership with Dow Jones, where our travel is carbon neutral and a portion of the proceeds go to funding important work in accordance with that area’s needs. As travel became possible again in some places after the first wave of Covid closings, we were the first American tour operator to take American travelers abroad with small-group trips to Rwanda in November and to Kenya in January, which had a focus on conservation and community empowerment. We see the popularity of these Impact trips growing, and in response we are launching them in places like Bolivia, Mongolia, Botswana, Namibia and Jordan.
EP: We know that villa rentals are hot, but do you envision a demand for villas post-2021?
MBB: Villas have always been popular with those seeking the ultimate in privacy, pampering and isolation and that will continue, but in the near term I see people wanting to feel the celebratory atmosphere of a hotel and resort. They have been isolated long enough and are craving a sense of normalcy as well as, in more elevated terms, global community and exchange.
EP: The trips that people are eying for 2022 seem to be longer and more complicated, which is not surprising, considering how long travelers have been stuck at home. What are some of the over-the-top trips that Indagare has been planning for clients?
MBB: We are seeing larger groups of friends and of multi-generational families traveling. Members are using travel as a way to reunite and connect with family and loved ones. Additionally we're seeing a lot of large group celebratory and milestone trips. We have requests and bookings for big private yacht charters in the Mediterranean and Aegean. There are luxury lodge take-overs, like Eleven Experience’s Deplar Farm in Iceland and the Viks property in Chile or private adventure sports and camping experiences in the Alps, as well as private island takeovers. There is a dream big attitude.
People are planning ahead to get their further flung bucket list trips scheduled, such as an African safari, chartering boats in Galapagos and Antarctica, going to French Polynesia.
We're seeing people continue to gravitate towards privacy and also, people traveling less frequently but for longer and with all of the bells and whistles attached. A sort of 'I want to do it right/big' mentality. So more private charter flights, fully-staffed villas, special access/big ticket excursions and even safari trips that historically included one or two destinations. We now have several safaris planned for 2022 that include three, four and even five countries.
We have members who were meant to travel to Japan for the Olympics but are missing it, so we have increased interest in major sporting events for 2022 onward, including the Super Bowl and beyond
We have quite a few families that are planning family sabbaticals that will last several months, and others who are doing extended voyages to several destinations so they can catch up with family and friends here and there. And many more who are planning rentals for months at a time.
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