Just back - PURE Life Experiences in Marrakech

Just back - PURE Life Experiences in Marrakech

Last week (Nov 12 - 16, 2012), PURE had its fourth annual travel trade show in Marrakech, our third time attending.

PURE is indisputedly the best travel show for trip planners who craft interesting travel experiences for their trusted travellers. The show is invite only, the show organisers have great discipline in only selecting those who offer unique travel experiences, whether it is the travel designer (like us) or the supplier offering something unique. It is truly a meeting of the minds on both the buy and sell side of the transaction.

We attend shows like this for a few reasons.

1) Research with travellers in mind.
This year, we were planning trips to China, Turkey, a non-golf trip to Scotland, Argentina, Cabo San Lucas, Costa Rica and New Zealand.

1b) Research specific regions
We concentrated on Latin America, in particular, we were interested in learning more about Brazil, beyond the big cities of Sao Paulo and Rio, which we visited in 2001. As hosts of both the World Cup (2014) and the Olympics (2016), we're sure there will be increased interest in Brazil from our travellers in the years to come.

2) Put faces to the names or email addresses.
We work with many people around the world, where it is impossible to meet them all in person, yet a show like this brings everyone together, it is definitely one of the more enjoyable features of the week.

3) Networking
It is around the appointments that some of the best business is done. Meeting people over a drink, catching up, while enjoying spectacular parties. This year, the hosts were the new Selman hotel, The Delano and the Sofitel. The networking keeps us in touch with industry trends, developments, etc...

In the end we are curators of travel, so it is critical to constantly renew our relationships with the world's best artists while looking for the the emerging ones at the same time and PURE helps us do that.

The party at The Selman Hotel in Marrakech

Highlights of First Non-Golf Trip to Scotland

We have planned many golf trips to Scotland, but recently were asked to help with a post-Olympics jaunt to Inverness.

Here are the highlights from our travellers

Falconry at Dunrobin Castle
We absolutely loved Dunrobin Castle and the falconry.  I'm sure
you've gotten this comment before.  It was so interesting as well as
entertaining.  Fish & chips lunch at Trawler's was also perfect, great
choice.  It was also nice to visit this area (more desolate) first,
before heading to Inverness.

Falls of Shin
The Falls of Shin was absolutely worth visiting.  Not only did we
get to see a few leaping salmon, the entire place was amazing to
see--so beautiful, peaceful.

Biking Loch Ness
The bike ride to Loch Ness and back was spectacular and one of our
most favorite things of the trip.  We took the side roads (per the map
and the guy at the shop) to and from, both paths amazingly beautiful.
We actually spent 4 hours and the cost for the hybrid bikes were 15
pounds per bike (30 pounds for 4 hours, not 40 pounds for 3 hours).
We also ended up not doing lunch at Castle Tavern, but did a late
lunch at The Dores right on the lake, which we really enjoyed, and got
a beer late afternoon at the Castle Tavern (great place too).

Cullodon Battlefield was very interesting, glad we stopped.

The Glenmoriston was a great choice and the room overlooking the
canal was perfect.  Mustard Seed was also great for us, we got seated
upstairs with a view.

 

The topper for our trip was Boath House.  How beautiful!  We got
upgraded to room 3 (probably thanks to your connections) and it was a
stunning room - basically most of the back of the house facing the
pond.  Huge room and huge bathroom.  We walked the gardens, we got in
the row boat and rowed around the pond.  The dinner was spectacular,
we ate way too much but relished every bite.  The only bad thing was
that we hated to leave.

So, maybe too much detail, but we wanted to let you know how much we
enjoyed our time.  You have certainly become our new favorite travel
expert.  We will definitely be contacting you for our next one.  By
the way, do you know much about Patagonia?  Machu Pichu?