Vacation packages have long sought to combine personal passions with travel like yoga retreats and deep-sea fishing trips. Could drones be next?
A 2018 survey by Booking.com BKNG, -0.80% asked customers what their ideal travel activities were. 27% of respondents said it was “learning a new skill.” And if your desired skill is “learning how to fly a drone, then travel agencies are catching on.
The New York Times Journeys, a travel program run by the New York Times NYT, -6.17% launched its first ever “Drone Photography Journey.” The $7,600 trip (not including airfare) departs next June and will lead guests on an 8-day trek around Norway, promising to take visitors to spots including the dramatic Lofoten Islands and ancient Viking settlements.
Since this is a drone trip, every day also includes one or two drone photography sessions, led by photojournalist Josh Haner, who frequently uses a drone to take photos that have been published in the New York Times. Guests can bring their own drone, or new pilots can use one provided by the company.
The New York Times offers dozens of “Journeys” — mostly led by New York Times journalists — such as a culinary journey through India led by a reporter for the Food section, or a climate change-focused Antarctica trip led by two of the Times’ science writers. But this is the first time that the New York Times has ever offered a drone-themed vacation.
The idea of using your vacation to try something new or try a unique activity is gaining traction with travelers across the board. Expedia Group EXPE, -1.20% Chief Executive Mark Okerstrom said the company generated “north of half-a-billion dollars in bookings” in 2017 across its Things to Do and Local Expert businesses, and grew its activities transactions by approximately 20% in the first quarter of 2018. TripAdvisor TRIP, +0.20% added 30,000 new guided experiences to its site last year, a 50% increase.
For people who want to learn more about drones without devoting multiple days to it, Airbnb’s Experiences, an arm of the home-sharing company that allows travelers to book customized experiences and tours with locals, offers a handful of drone experiences.
Elena Buenrostro is among the entrepreneurs who now offers a “Drone Experience”. For $100, New York City visitors can have an hour drone-flying lesson. Customers meet at the waterfront Grand Ferry Park in Brooklyn, which looks out onto the Manhattan skyline. Buenrostro provides the drone.
Similar drone experiences hosted on Airbnb are offered in cities like Singapore and Miami.
Other tour companies don’t offer explicit drone vacations, but bringing a drone is highly encouraged and incorporated.
Polar Adventure company Quark Expeditions offers a $7,500 trip to Somerset Island’s Arctic Watch, a world-famous beluga whale hot spot, in which numerous visitors have arrived with drones.
Beluga whales come to Somerset Island’s inlet to shed their skin in July, making it a dream for drone pilots, as the shallow water makes it a unique vantage point for aerial photos.
Also on the itinerary is a lecture with Nansen Weber, one of the lodge’s founders and a world-renowned drone photographer whose work has appeared in places like National Geographic & Netflix NFLX, -1.09%
Legal hurdles around drone vacationsOne of the major ways travel agencies are pitching their drone vacations relates to the laws (or lack thereof). Some countries have stringent drone laws that tourists may not know about, so tour operators have sought out regions where drones are easy to legally fly.
Norway doesn’t require a license, and rules are fairly lax: don’t fly near airports, keep the drone in your line of site and stay below 400 feet. The country’s lack of strict restrictions was a primary reason why the New York Times opted to host their “Journeys” trip in Norway.
“Clearly there are so many different legal issues and requirements that go into where you can fly a drone anyway, and we wanted to make sure we chose a country where flying would be feasible, and where it would also be an interesting place to feature,” said Victoria Hanson, Director of Times Journeys.
Flying drones in a place like northern Somerset Island is appealing because there aren’t any people, trees or buildings to fear crashing into. At Arctic Watch Wilderness Lodge, the only sign of manned aircraft is a single dirt airstrip, removing the headache of having to coordinate with air-traffic control.
Courtesy Erindi
Erindi guests who book the “Drone Safari” travel with specialized guides who have knowledge of drone-flying protocolsSome tour companies even use government restrictions to their advantage. In Namibia, drones aren’t explicitly banned, but there are strict rules. Among the most disappointing rules for wildlife-seeking drone pilots? They cannot be flown near national parks or game reserves without written government permission.
But Erindi, a private game reserve that offers luxury safaris, is actually able to capitalize on that to draw tourists hoping to fly drones over the savanna. Erindi offers a “Fly Your Drone Safari,” a 3-hour drone-focused trek that costs an additional $225 per person on top of the safari trip, and requires that tourists use their own drone.
Courtesy Erindi
A Namibian game reserve offers tourists the ability to use their own drones, for a fee.There’s another hurdle to overcome with drone vacations — the element of danger. While a typical wellness vacation does have some element of danger — a yogi could always pull a muscle in Locust pose — there’s a whole extra layer of danger involved in drone vacations: putting a flying piece of machinery with spinning blades in the hands of an inexperienced tourist could result in a crash.
Even the most experienced drone pilot isn’t immune from a crash. Despite major technological improvements in recent years, drones are still known to occasionally “fly away” if they lose connection with the software in the controller, and they don’t often succeed in tough weather conditions.
Hanson said the potential dangers of drones did come up in conversation topic during the planning process of the New York Times drone trip.
“If we didn’t think we could do it in a safe and legal way, we wouldn’t be doing it,” she said.
Since the trip was just announced, Hanson said she doesn’t know what sorts of people will sign up, but she says she anticipates it will be a mix of people who are already experienced drone pilots and want the chance to learn from an expert New York Times drone photographer in a unique environment, as well as people completely new to drones.
Hanson said that all guests need to go through an educational and safety briefing upon arrival, and they should be prepared for potential changes to any plans around drone-flying.
“Even if they have been flying drones for many years, we want to make sure everyone goes in with a safe mind-set,” she said. “If something comes up, whether it’s weather conditions or something else, then we’ll assess the itinerary.”
Doing it yourself for cheaperVacation spending is equal to about 2% of the total budgets of all U.S. households annually, according to ValuePenguin, so an $8,000+ per person drone trip is out of the realm of most budgets. Plenty of drone pilots are planning do-it-yourself drone vacations for a fraction of the cost.
Cher Brown packed up her car with camping gear and her drone, and drove from Jacksonville Florida to Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina for the sole purpose of photographing the trip with her drone. Her and her husband spent a total of $1,500 on the trip, which included a campground rental and new gear. She expects future vacations will be cheaper since she has gear now.
Drone pilot Jenna Cook spent less than $600 on her drone trip to Maine with the intent of using her drone to photograph the seafood run, including $80 for two full tanks of gas for her 6-hour car ride and two nights at a hotel.
And many budget-conscious drone trips are skeptical of whether the highly planned trips are really worth it.
“Photography trips have always been expensive because they sell people on the learning aspect of the trip, but I don’t know anyone who has gone on a photo trip purely to learn photography,” drone pilot Juneisy Hawkins said.
Hawkins said it’s better to get a drone and practice on your own, rather than get thrown into it while on vacation.
“If you don’t come from a photography background, learn the basics and practice that in addition to flying,” she said. “Then plan a trip around your own interests with accommodations and excursions within your budget.”
So why go on a drone vacation?Of course, the multi-thousand-dollar trips do offer some money-can’t-buy perks. For tourists on the New York Times trip, it’s a chance to learn from a New York Times photographer.
“We expect to have guests on the trip who love all things Josh Haner, and want to sit down and learn from his experiences,” Hanson said.
Waves are lapping at Easter Island's coastline threatening the ancient statues & artifacts of an impressive civilization. @caseysjournal and I visited: https://t.co/4yvpNuWnT3 pic.twitter.com/h5TsmKwVdQ
— Josh Haner (@joshhaner) March 15, 2018
