Michael Steinberger runs Latin Tour Dimensions, a company that is known for its custom tours in Central America and South America, trips that are “complex, in-depth, and expensive.”  I interviewed him to find out what kinds of travel trends he is seeing. We talked about the changing face of tourism, what destinations are hot, and how a travel agent is like a doctor making a diagnosis. A short version of the interview is here, with the rest of it continued after the jump.

What kinds of trends are you seeing in Latin America? What has changed?
On the destination side, Argentina has been crazy–it’s off the map. Whereas every second request used to be Costa Rica, now every second request is Argentina. Plus people are staying longer and doing more. It used to just be Iguazu Falls, Buenos Aires, Bariloche, and then over to Chile. Now people are doing long custom tours of just Argentina and going to Mendoza for wine tours. They’re going beyond Bariloche to Calafate. In Chile, travelers are branching out beyond the well-worn path.

We are also getting a lot more upscale family tour requests now, with soft adventure activities and requests for a different kind of hotel style, one with a real sense of place. It’s a bonding experience.

There has also been a clear shift in what people want to experience when they travel. Before, people went to cities in Europe to see buildings, to Africa to see animals, to Asia to see monuments. But then the baby boomers really got hooked on experiential vacations. They decided they wanted to go to Tikal, Machu Picchu, and remote jungles, to see ancient civilizations. That’s what put Latin America on the map because we have it all. We saw that early on and embraced it. People who travel to Central and South America are well-versed travelers who are looking for more.

Give me some examples of some unusual requests you’ve been able to fulfill.
We do all kinds of adventure activities, but the toughest one to get together was a wine and gourmet tour across Chile and Argentina. We got the request from four couples in New York that had various wine and restaurant connections in their jobs. They knew their stuff and wanted a true gourmet experience. So we called in chefs to take them to market and cook for them, got them into the best restaurants, and had them meet with top winemakers. The challenge was that there wasn’t a structure already set up for this by anyone else. We had to find the right small local suppliers in each place to make it seamless, with the same high level of service throughout.

We also had one family from London that was very involved in polo and horses, so we needed to line up estancias around Argentina that would satisfy them, going beyond the surface level offerings to put them together with real horse people. We welcome challenges like these though. We really enjoy doing them because it shows we’re better equipped than the paint-by-number tour groups offering very similar programs.

See the rest of the interview with Latin Tour Dimension’s Michael Steinberger.

Have you ever wondered who is pulling out of the marina in those sleek yachts and buying those $5 million condos in Cabo San Lucas?

Apparently there are a good 47,000 people able to do that without breaking a sweat. A report out from the IRS earlier this week says the ranks of the ultrawealthy have grown 62 percent over the past decade.

The tax collection agency says 47,000 Americans had a net worth of $20 million or more in 2004, the latest year they have tabulated. (Really though, how bad is their computer system if it takes them four years to figure that out?!) Another 79,000 had a net worth of 10 to 20 million dollars, up from 51,000 in 1998.

Where are these people? The top two are states where the housing bubble has burst the most dramatically, so these figures may dip lower in years to come. Tops with a net worth of $1.5 million or more were California, Florida, New York, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.

The super-rich definitely do not have all their money in real estate though. “Of the total income for the $20 million or more group, the biggest single asset category by far was publicly traded stock ($719.28 billion).”

Running a magazine full of perfume and watch ads (surrounded by a bit of travel content) is apparently not a sure thing anymore. Town & Country Travel is folding.

Here’s the quote from Wooden Horse Publishing:

TOWN & COUNTRY TRAVEL, the quarterly spin-off, has been folded by Hearst Magazines.  Launched in 2003, the magazine became a supplement in 2006.  “Given the small number of people affected, and that the product never was a full-fledged newsstand magazine, but rather a polybagged brand extension, it made sense to fold the content into the flagship,” a spokeswoman said…

I’m not sure what it takes to be “a full-fledged newsstand magazine” since I used to see a stack of copies on the shelf at every Borders and Barnes & Noble. Perhaps they mean you couldn’t find it at Wal-mart?

The magazine was launched with plenty of fanfare in 2003 and this quote from the editor-in-chief looks kind of comical now. “I believe the moment is right for a magazine called Town & Country Travel, largely because I know there is an audience eager for it.” Hmmm, maybe not so eager after all.

The one article from this magazine that really stuck with me was perhaps emblematic of the limits of its audience. Fifteen women took so much stuff with them on an Inca Trail hike that they required 54 porters and 800 pounds of food. The New York City writer doing the story admitted that she hadn’t been away from home for more than a week since her 12-year-old daughter was born.

The publisher will still operate a travel section on their website, but for Latin America anyway, there are better places to find luxury travel features and reviews.

We’ve had our first batch of luxury hotels in Belize up for quite a while, but with one nagging omission. We were missing the exclusive private island hotel Cayo Espanto.

Well, thanks to Kirsten Hubbard, who runs the Central America travel section of About.com, we now have a nice comprehensive review of Cayo Espanto.

This is, by most accounts, the best and most exclusive hotel in Belize. It’s a magnet for celebrities who want to escape those nagging photographers and for wealthy tycoons who rent out the whole place and have their own island resort completely staffed. Although Cayo Espanto is removed from all else, you don’t have to go very far out of the way to get to it. It’s located between Ambergris Caye and the mainland of Belize. (But the beach is nicer than you’ll find on most parts of Ambergris.) We’ve got some photos on our site, but the one above is from the resort itself. A view from one bungalow’s dock.

We also added a review of Ka’ana Boutique Resort and Spa, which is in the interior instead of on the sea. For those who want their jungle experience in small doses—and would like to come back to a fancy room with lots of gadgets—this is an upscale alternative to Chaa Creek Lodge, which has far more land but is more rustic.

I haven’t posted on this blog for a while because I’ve been on the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Panama Canal aboard the Discovery. This luxurious ship, run by Panama Marine Adventures, offers a truly unique experience.

The ship itself holds a maximum of 24 passengers in 12 cabins, which means plenty of room to stretch out. The photo here is the main deck for lounging, eating, and drinking. You can do plenty of all three since the the rates are all-inclusive. There’s a wall of glass providing panoramic views and decks in several spots for taking it in with fresh air.

Cabins are compact, of course, but well-designed and comfortable, with individual climate controls and a shower with more pressure than my one at home. Cabins are cleaned each day, with turndown service at night.

The itinerary is what really makes this trip special, however. By zodiac launch and kayak we explored the Pearl Islands of the Pacific, went upriver into the Darién Gap to visit the Chocoe Emberá native Americans. After a snorkeling and beach stop in the Pearl Islands again, it was time to transit the Panama Canal. Unlike the hulking cruise ships that go through here though, the Discovery gets to spend the night on Lake Gatun in the middle, anchoring near a Smithsonian research station and then touring the Barra Colorado nature reserve with their guides.

After transiting the other side of the canal, we stayed on the Chagres River (the Caribbean side), spotting lots of herons and a sloth from the motorboats. A few of us paddled along on kayaks and got a closer look, hearing and seeing nothing but nature.

The trip ends up in the bay of Portobelo, a historic town that was once the transit point for most of the gold crossing through the new world and on to Europe.

I’ll post a few more tidbits and photos this week before the full story goes up in our tour feature section. For more info, see the Panama Marine Adventures site.