“People are beginning to look for something more meaningful than sitting on a resort beach,” says James Faubel, president of Himalayan Travel Inc. The travel agency’s most popular trip – 32 days climbing Mt. Everest in Nepal, with Sherpa guides, for $1,900 – is just the kind of adventure trip that most sophisticated travelers now crave. Faubel says that business this year has improved by 25 percent.
Most travel agencies agree that a simple Mediterranean cruise is no longer appealing to most travelers, and so have put together packages that are more adventures than vacations.
Business for South American Wilderness Inc. has improved by 40 percent since last year. Its big attractions: a hiking expedition through Patagonia (22 days, $1,700), a trip down the Amazon River (17 days, $1,325), and live-in visits with four Ecuadorian Indian tribes, with an anthropologist (23 days, $1,700).
Other offbeat tours include a balloon ride over the Rockies in Colorado, rafting down the rapids in West Virginia, and taking a train through the back country in Mexico.