Trend Archives - Com Namibia

Voyamar: 2026 Could Align With the 2025 Trend

October 5, 2026 by Amara Nambinga

Voyamar : 2026 pourrait s'inscrire dans la lignée de 2025 - Photo Voyamar

Aer Lingus

TourMaG – After a spring that proved difficult for operators due to the conflict that began in the Middle East at the end of February, has Voyamar and Travel Explorer’s activity managed to rebound?

Aurélien Aufort : Since Monday, I have been seeing a +30% trend. It has been a long time since we had days at that level. We had an initial rebound in August with a pickup in orders. We are observing a second rebound since the start of September.

It is still early to get carried away since we only have eight days of data, but the trend is rather positive.

TourMaG – Are last-minute sales driving the demand?

Aurélien Aufort : Indeed, we are seeing a lot, a lot, a lot of last-minute sales.

TourMaG – Could these sales make up for part of 2026?

Aurélien Aufort : Today, our objective is to reach the level of 2025, and we believe we can achieve it. Two months ago, I would not have said the same. Sales are progressing every day and are gradually offsetting what we lost over several months, notably in April and May.

On the individual departures for 2027, we are gradually catching up on our backlog. We are also seeing very pleasant surprises on destinations. Notably, something very interesting is happening with Japan, which currently has wind in its sails, as well as with Brazil. These are two focus areas that we are selling a lot, with major files in progress.

“Travel Explorer is well above our expectations”

TourMaG – Do the composed groups show some momentum, do you notice it?

Aurélien Aufort : The group segment is the one that has suffered the least, or perhaps not suffered at all. 2026 is an exceptionally strong year. And for 2027, we are currently more than 30% ahead of the previous year. We are carrying out many long-haul trips within this activity.

TourMaG – Where do you stand with Travel Explorer, have agencies adopted the tool?

Aurélien Aufort : The real blockbuster of 2026 is Travel Explorer, which is well above our expectations. To give you a sense of scale, last week Travel Explorer showed a progression of more than 70% compared to the same week last year. On average, since the start of the year, we have been recording growth of over 40%.

I attribute this mainly to the adoption of the tool by agencies and the work we have been doing over the past two years. I believe the tool is truly extraordinary and has no equivalent on the market. It enables selling both short-haul dossiers and tailor-made trips, to Japan, Bali, and Canada.

Canada is having a very strong year in 2026. Travel Explorer is taking an increasingly important place in our sales.

Tunisia is also experiencing a very strong post-season. September departures and October departures will exceed our expectations. This is good news because July was not exceptionally strong and August was stable.

TourMag – Are there new features on Travel Explorer?

Aurélien Aufort : We have integrated new features. Version 3 of the AI now allows constructing a trip in natural language, like on ChatGPT. Just indicate your desires, constraints, or destination, and the tool will build the journey. It now works very well, which wasn’t the case before.

We have also worked a lot on the details, with new filters and new features around tailor-made travel. For example, it is now possible to build a trip by car with an electric vehicle simply by selecting this criterion. The tool then builds the itinerary taking this constraint into account.

This may seem minor, but it is a growing demand, especially in Europe, from travelers wanting to reach Italy, Spain, or Portugal with their own car.

The challenge for 2027 is really to work on circuits and to develop this service on Travel Explorer. We especially want to offer circuit combinations with bedbanks, so that the client can adjust their journey before or after the circuit. The objective is to create a new segment, that of semi-custom travel: the client buys a guided circuit but can personalize the start or end of their stay.

“My sense is that the United States will really rebound”

TourMaG – The United States, Egypt… How are these destinations faring?

Aurélien Aufort : Egypt is gradually picking up again, but we have not yet returned to the levels we should reach. Jordan is at a standstill. It was an axis that accounted for 3% to 4% of our activity, which is not negligible.

Regarding the United States, that is the question everyone asks: will it rebound? My sense is that the destination will really pick up again, even though this remains an intuition. It has been two or three years that we have faced difficulties with this destination. New York has so far been relatively spared from this decline in activity.

Now, indeed, I do not control Donald Trump’s communications. I still clearly see a return of the United States in 2027.

TourMaG – What about the Naya Clubs?

Aurélien Aufort : Tunisia has resisted well, notably thanks to prices that helped maintain a solid level of sales. Spain, for its part, had a very good year.

TourMaG – Will you launch new clubs?

Aurélien Aufort : For the winter, we will consolidate what we have achieved. For 2027, we are working on one or two new clubs in Tunisia and on expanding in Spain. We will have two clubs in continental Spain, in Malaga and on the Costa Brava.

TourMaG – Will you be present at IFTM with all the other brands of the Marietton group?

Aurélien Aufort : Indeed, we will be present at IFTM with the three major tour operators of the Marietton group: Austral Lagons, Voyamar and Héliades. For the first time, the three brands will be gathered on a single stand. This was a deliberate choice on our part: to allow agencies to come to meet us all together.

Are Extreme Travel Experiences the New Social Media Trend?

August 8, 2026 by Amara Nambinga

Crossing Iran by bike, hitchhiking across South America, or linking Russia and Portugal by running… Social networks are now filled with content creators sharing their extraordinary travel projects. Among them is Ian Andersen, an American who crossed the Iranian border by bicycle as part of a 16,000-kilometer journey from Portugal to Japan. In June 2025, the young man shares videos of his crossing in a country that the United States does not recommend traveling to.

On June 13, Israeli strikes against Iranian sites upended his itinerary. The cyclist found himself alone, his guide no longer able to guarantee his safety, and he eventually left the country via Azerbaijan with the help of an assistance program. “I knew the risks and I still went,” he told the New York Times, which looked at the dangers of the popularization of these extreme travelers.

@ridewithian

Huge thanks to my friend @lavenam for helping me get an Azerbaijani visa—and to the U.S. Embassy in Baku for the emergency green light to enter the country. I’m out, and truly grateful for all your prayers, messages, and support. It’s an honor to have you following this journey and caring about my wellbeing out here in the Middle East. The most harrowing part of the day was the exit interviews with Iranian officials at the border. No footage of that (for obvious reasons) but I’ll write more about it soon on Substack if you’re curious. And finally, to my Iranian guide Reza—there’s no one I’d rather have had by my side. I’m out—but the conflict is just beginning. I’ll be keeping normal Iranians and Israelis in my thoughts. Especially the younger generation of Iran, who keep paying the price for decisions made by their fathers and grandfathers. There’s a phrase in Persian that roughly means: “the forgotten generation.” That feels true. The journey continues soon. Thank you again. -Ian Fast facts: Total distance: ~10,000 miles (16,000 km) Key gear: stove, tent, patch kit, cigs Today’s distance ridden: 0 miles (0 km) Total distance ridden: 4,328 miles (6,980 km) Currently in: Astara, Azerbaijan

♬ original sound – Ian Andersen – Ian Andersen

Bold travelers despite warnings from their governments

For safety experts, these expeditions pose dangers that go beyond adventure sports. In some countries, travelers also expose themselves to risks of arbitrary arrest, surveillance, searches of their electronic devices, or espionage charges. Medical evacuation, when possible, can cost hundreds of thousands of euros. For certain parts of the world, the United States even goes so far as to advise travelers to provide a DNA sample, or even to draft a will.

Yet these warnings do not seem to deter some travelers questioned by our American counterparts. Some argue that official advisories reflect primarily a government approach to safety and that simply respecting the laws and the locals is enough to limit risks. They also stress that they obtained the necessary visas before departure.

A travel trend that glosses over reality

Authorities, however, remind that a positive testimonial on social media never guarantees safety. “Alert levels reflect real cases. We work with the families of people arbitrarily detained. It can break lives”, remarks a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department. The main issue lies not only in the adventure itself, but in the image it projects on social media. According to neuroscientist Jay Van Bavel, internet users eventually identify with the creator.

They then feel that this type of journey seems more accessible than it really is. American authorities thus remind that travel advisories are based on real situations and not on hypothetical scenarios. They warn against the lure of trusting accounts from content creators claiming that “everything went smoothly”, while their services sometimes have very limited means to intervene in countries rated at the maximum alert level.

A New Embarrassing Trend Spreading Across Airports

June 14, 2026 by Amara Nambinga

Fortunately, ridicule isn’t fatal! If you spot someone wearing a T-shirt that catches your eye at the airport, it’s because they’ve fallen for this new concept making the rounds on social media. It’s a challenge that involves wearing a shirt chosen by a friend, often quite conspicuous and hard to ignore. The Washington Post recently interviewed several people who took part in this trend.

Take Kate Swenson, a 43-year-old mother who, while traveling with friends, had to wear a T-shirt reading: “posez-moi des questions sur ma diarrhée explosive”. The only rule was to wear it for the entire first day, even if it made her uncomfortable. “I just remember the laughter, then regrets, then more laughter.” Some of her friends had to wear T-shirts proclaiming that they “transpiraient à des endroits inhabituels”, that they “arboraient des piercings corporels insolites”, or that they “avaient besoin d’un énorme cocktail”.

Following that, they recounted being tapped on the hand by flight attendants and laughing from strangers. Their social media post has racked up more than 83 million views on Instagram to date, and the friends said they felt “like celebrities” after being recognized on their Florida-departing cruise.

A Fun Challenge, but with Boundaries to Respect

Aarya Patel, who also took on the challenge by wearing a T-shirt that read “j’ai fait caca aujourd’hui”, said it was “a way to set the tone for the trip.” “We were finishing finals at that time. It helped us forget all that and focus on the trip”, she claimed. However, one should not forget that some airlines may refuse to transport passengers wearing clothing deemed indecent or offensive, in accordance with their terms of carriage.

That’s why one shouldn’t stretch their imagination too far. Paul Davis, a social-media and online-safety trainer based in Toronto, warned on his professional Facebook page against the “hypersexualized, aggressive and degrading” versions of this airport-shirt exchange and spoke to parents about them. He finds it cute, but only “within the bounds of good taste.”

He feared that compromising videos could harm some people and prevent them from obtaining a scholarship or a job, or that problematic clothing could trigger real-life conflicts. He also stressed that jokes about shirts referencing weapons are never a good idea. “I’d rather be cautious,” Davis said. “I remind kids every day that the Internet never forgets, and that, since it never forgets, it can be merciless”, he concluded.