Conservation, pure and simple.

"HOW" - THE THEORY

Redistribute visitors across more sites, have fewer stops at each Visitor Site and route ships to space them out among available Visitor Sites.

"HOW" - THE REALITY

The first "expedition ships" began bringing visitors to the Galapagos in the 1970's. From the beginning there were rules and regulations governing how the islands were visited: there were specific Visitor Sites, permits were required and each vessel could operate 2 itineraries within a 7-night period and could not repeat Visitor Sites. 

This resulted in 3, 4 and 7-night itineraries, repeated every week all year.

Beginning mid-January 2012 vessels will operate a maximum of 3 itineraries within a 14 night period with no visitor site repeated during the 14 nights.

This is resulting in a variety of itineraries:

      5 nights + 5 nights + 4 nights

      6 nights + 4 nights + 4 nights

      7 nights + 7 nights.  

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU AND TO YOUR CLIENTS?

In the past selecting a Galapagos program was based on the ship, day of the week and length of cruise.

But now two other components play a major role in the selection process:

      Visitor Sites in the itinerary

      Dates

Gone are the days of "If it is Tuesday, it must be Belgium". 

Days of the week are OUT; dates are IN.

This means getting the best experience requires more research and planning. 

This means re-writing "Galapagos 101".

STAY TUNED FOR GALAPAGOS 101 RE-WRITTEN! 

In the next three weeks LADATCO will do three newsletters with "GALAPAGOS: THE BIG PICTURE" in mind:

      Wed May 18  - RESEARCH:

                            Which Size Ship, How Long, Specific Interests

      Wed May 25 -  PLANNING:

                            When, Getting There, The Focus or Part of the Whole

      Wed June 01 - DOING:

                            Is it really a cruise? The Average Day, Wet vs Dry, Essential Gear

 LADATCO's preferred ships and itineraries 2012

2011 Holiday space