· · · · · · · · · · ·

Luxury travel news this week

Here’s a round-up of luxury travel stories that have caught the eye this week. To make sure you receive these new weekly alerts in your web browser, please click on the red bell icon in the bottom right hand corner of the page and click ‘subscribe’ (works on desktop only – for other ways to subscribe, please click here). This will also alert you to any other posts on the blog. Should you wish, you can unsubscribe at any time, by clicking on the icon again and selecting ‘unsubscribe’. The luxury hotel built into a Chinese quarry A luxury hotel with a difference, which has been years in the planning, is set to open soon. What makes the Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland so unusual is that it is being built into a Chinese quarry and that 16 of the 18 floors are technically underground. The bottom two floors will be entirely underwater… [read more] Google makes it easier to keep track of travel research Google is introducing new features to its Trips tool that will make it easier for you to keep track of your travel plans. When you’re putting a trip together, you might end up juggling a lot of information like flights that you’re keeping an eye on, hotel options and restaurants or sites you’re interested in visiting. Beginning in October, Your Trips will help you manage all of that info, organizing what you’ve saved and searched for and letting you resume planning where you left off… [read more] Revealed: The world’s fastest growing travel destinations To anyone who has battled the crowds in Venice, Barcelona or Dubrovnik in recent years, the following fact will come as no surprise: tourists have never been more numerous. A record 1.323bn overseas trips were made by travellers last year, according to statistics released last week by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)… [read more] Saudi Arabia to build a new luxury destination that will rival Dubai Saudi Arabia have launched an uber-luxury tourism destination with a focus on wellness, health living and meditation. The project, called ‘Amaala’, found on the northwestern coast, has been dubbed the ‘Riveria of the Middle East’ as it hopes to become a magnet for international tourists. The development is set to host a number of cultural, artistic and sports facilities as well as retail areas. These will span hotels, private villas, galleries, ateliers, an arts academy, a yacht club and luxury boat cruises. The project is the brainchild of Prince Mohammed… [read more] We really enjoy hearing from our readers and would love to hear your views on any of these stories! Please click on the comments below and share your thoughts. Thank you.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.

Did you enjoy this article?

Receive similar content direct to your inbox.

7 Comments

  1. Interesting to read about the world’s fastest growing destinations. Not surprised by Japan, given the build-up of interest with the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics, but pleasantly surprised to see Vietnam and Chile featuring quite highly.

    1. Yes, I thought there were some interesting statistics and graphs in that article. Interesting to see that global tourism has grown year on year for almost 10 years straight now, and the impact that China is likely to have on the figures in the coming decade.

  2. I’ve heard of projects in the past that have promised to be ‘the next Dubai’ and they seem to bear fruition. I would imagine it would take enormous investment to build anything that’s even remotely on that scale.

    1. Yes, I’ve seen many cities use that catchphrase (and a number of them are places I’ve never heard of). The likes of Gwadar in Pakistan have been touted as the next big thing, but I really don’t see it happening any time soon (unless of course they too discover some huge oil reserves…)

  3. I actually really enjoy this news round up. Sometimes it’s easy to miss something so this is a great way to stay on the pulse. I agree that Google’s developments are really helpful in organising trips. The hotel in the quarry is just amazing it really does look luxurious. Also really interested to see what the new hotel in Saudi Arabia will be like.

  4. I would like to know more about the Intercontinental Hotel built into the Chineses Quary, particularly on environmental grounds.

    Of course if is making use of a quary that could well have been abandoned and I guess the water quality is good with plenty of fish around the lower floors but you wonder about the environmental costs of such a massive undertaking.

    I’m a big fan of Intercontinental Hotels so I may just have to go and do my own Environmental Audit.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *