This is shaping up to be another monumental year for travel, and already some significant trends are emerging.
American Express Travel recently released its 2024 Global Travel Trends Report, revealing that 84% of respondents are planning to spend more or the same amount of money on travel in 2024 compared to last year.
What’s more, 77% care more about having the right travel experience than about the cost of the trip.
As far as what’s driving the continued surge in travel demand, American Express Travel identified four notable trends.
Traveling for sporting events
Travelers are excited to see their favorite sports in person this year. According to American Express Travel, 67% of millennial and Gen-Z respondents are interested in traveling for sporting events in 2024, compared to 58% of all respondents.
Three-quarters of respondents who plan to travel to a sporting event in 2024 will spend at least three hours getting there and most (58%) will be traveling for soccer, basketball or Formula 1 racing.
The top cities for sports travel this summer are New York (30%), Miami (27%), London (26%), Las Vegas (25%) and Paris (25%).
Making travel a priority
More than seven out of 10 respondents (72%) said they would rather save money for a major trip than spend it on going out with friends, and 65% are more interested in taking a major trip in 2024 compared to previous years.
Perhaps surprisingly, younger travelers are more interested in working with a travel adviser to plan and book their trip, with 58% of millennial and Gen-Z respondents seeking a trusted travel professional compared to 52% of all respondents.
Traveling solo
More than two-thirds of travelers (69%) are planning on taking a solo trip in 2024, including 76% of millennials and Gen-Zers.
American Express Travel also found that 66% of respondents planning on traveling solo are planning a trip centered around self-love and treating themselves and 60% of respondents planning on traveling solo this year intend to take two or more solo trips.
Traveling on a whim
Nearly eight out of 10 travelers (78%) indicated that spontaneous trips appeal to them and a sizable 68% of respondents agree that they like to leave unplanned time in their trip to experience local culture and activities.
The study found that millennials and Gen-Z travelers are more likely to book a last-minute trip, with 77% having done so before compared to 65% of Gen-X and 52% of baby boomers.
“People are traveling to make memories in 2024. While everyone’s motivation for booking a trip is unique —whether it’s taking a solo getaway to recharge or embarking on an expedition cruise or safari — the trips that are trending are sure to be transformative, and our American Express Travel Consultants are here to build dream itineraries and help every step of the way,” said American Express Travel President Audrey Hendley.
Move over Messi — there’s a new canine thespian in town. Ukai, the Australian shepherd/border collie/bouvier mix who stars opposite Mark Wahlberg in the new film “Arthur the King,” undertakes a performance that is more physically rigorous, if not dramatically suspenseful, than the one delivered by the French border collie who appeared in the Oscar-winning film “Anatomy of a Fall.”
But dog movies, and dogs in movies, aren’t just having a moment, they’ve been an important part of cinema since the silent era — and an easy hack to access audience’s heartstrings.
Not that Arthur’s tale needed much hacking to start with. This inspirational film is based on a true story, originally a quirky human interest sports news item about an Ecuadorian stray dog who bonded with a team of Swedish adventure racers in the middle of a grueling six-day trek, following them to the finish line, and eventually back to Sweden with racer Mikael Lindnord. The story became a media sensation, spawning a memoir and several other books by Lindnord, and a short ESPN documentary, as well as a dog rescue foundation.
Lindnord’s memoir “Arthur: The Dog who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home” serves as the basis for “Arthur the King,” adapted by screenwriter Michael Brandt and directed by Simon Cellan Jones, who also directed star Mark Wahlberg in “The Family Plan.”
This story of perseverance, suffering and salvation though physical challenges is right in Wahlberg’s current wheelhouse. The star is a deeply devout Catholic, devoted to a prayer and exercise routine that regularly starts around 3 a.m. His 2022 film “Father Stu,” in which he plays a Catholic priest who survives a motorcycle accident and is left disabled by a degenerative muscle disease, features a story of spiritual salvation through physical suffering that’s a darker side of the themes in “Arthur the King.” Nevertheless, the amount of time his character, Michael Light, extols the virtues of pain and suffering while racing in the film is a clue that this is the kind of material that Wahlberg thrills to.
Transposing the setting from Sweden to Colorado, and the race from Ecuador to the Dominican Republic (where the film was shot on location), Wahlberg stars as a washed-up adventure racer who has struggled in the past with being a team player. With one last chance to prove himself, he puts together a team for the adventure racing world championships, including an old rival, Chik (Ali Suliman), a new superstar, Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), and an estranged teammate turned influencer, Leo (Simu Liu). Together they’ll have to run, hike, bike, climb and kayak their way over hundreds of miles of rough terrain over the course of several days to the finish line.
Intercut with the race prep is the plight of a Santo Domingo stray pup who is starved and wounded living on the streets. When Michael tosses him a meatball during a rest at a race transition, the dog starts following the team through jungle downpours, river crossings and ocean paddles, serving as both motivator and mascot. He even has his own “Lassie” moments, communicating danger to the team along the way. They dub him Arthur for his stoic, regal demeanor.
It’s fairly standard, and often treacly heartwarming dog fare, calling to mind other adventurous pups in TV and film, like the aforementioned Lassie, Benji and Rin Tin Tin, but edged up with an adventure sports milieu and vibrant, handheld cinematography by Jacques Jouffret that gives the film a more adult, action-oriented look and feel (there is one CGI shot of Arthur that should have been reconsidered given the film’s grittier aesthetic).
Suffering may be Wahlberg’s raison d’etre, but this is a lighter and more uplifting mode for the actor, who clearly enjoys the extreme physicality of the performance, even if the emotional tenor is well within his established star persona. And if you’re a dog person, it will be impossible to resist the tale of Arthur and his knights of extreme sports.
Even if you’ve never been to Miami, you’ve sort of already been to Miami.
This South Florida city has starred countless times on the silver screen and television and is always coming up in popular music, too, with many of these Miami-centric works becoming downright iconic.
All of this has painted such a vibrant picture of the city, that whether or not you’ve ever crossed over the city limits, you have years of stored-up visions of what this city will be like when you finally get there.
Considering all of this, when you visit for the first time, there’s a bit of pressure to find the Miami you have always envisioned. I recently visited the city for the very first time and the following is an account of how I tried to capture the essence of the city that I had dreamed of while also trying to see a couple of surprises along the way.
Sunrise on South Beach in Miami Beach. (Scott Hartbeck/TravelPulse/TNS)
Art Deco architecture in South Beach, Miami. (Scott Hartbeck/TravelPulse/TNS)
The exterior of News Cafe in South Beach, Miami. (Scott Hartbeck/TravelPulse/TNS)
Little Havana is a wonderful area to explore in Miami. (Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority/TNS)
View from a boat trip with Watersports Paradise. (Scott Hartbeck/TravelPulse/TNS)
The pool at The Plymouth Hotel South Beach. (Scott Hartbeck/TravelPulse/TNS)
The leaf-filled lobby of The Plymouth Hotel South Beach. (Scott Hartbeck/TravelPulse/TNS)
I know you’re on vacation, but you simply have to wake up before dawn and take in a sunrise during your trip to Miami, preferably on your first morning. Darkness gives away to soft light as the sun slowly rises above the Atlantic Ocean, streaking the sky in hues of pink, gold and blue, casting a soft glow over the water and the sand below.
If you’re standing on South Beach like I was, odds are you’ll be surrounded by a mix of early risers and up-laters all with different motivations for visiting Miami and all pinching themselves that they’re taking in this special sight with their own eyes. On your way back from the beach, make sure to grab a photo with one of the iconic neon lifeguard towers—it is the golden hour after all.
News break
Famed for its prime role in revitalizing South Beach during the heady hedonistic days of the ’90s, News Cafe is open 24/7 and located at the heart of South Beach (8th & Ocean Avenue). You’re probably going to pass it anyway so you might as well pull up a chair outside and chill for a bit.
Back in the day, this cafe was frequented by the glamorous, the fabulous and everyone in between as it served up one of the first slices of European cafe culture on South Beach—and today the pulse of the neighborhood still beats strong here.
Enjoy a Cuban Club and a Paper Boy (their take on the bloody mary) as I did, or a frosty, citrusy Frozzie Rossie cocktail as the sidewalk in front of you becomes a runway full of locals on bicycles or rollerblades, wide-eyed tourists, wanna-be influencers and drivers showing off their shiny cars.
Art Deco up close
If you’re anything like me, you may know that Art Deco is synonymous with South Beach, but do you know the stories behind the style and the facades? That’s where the Miami Design Preservation League’s expert guides come in as they take travelers on daily jaunts through the Art Deco District each morning at 10:30 AM. The guides tell the stories behind each building (you’ll see Art Deco, Miami Modern and Mediterranean Revival on the tour), endearing you to their efforts to preserve these special buildings.
Eat old school
For more than a century, Joe’s Stone Crab has been drawing in crowds from far and wide for its famed crustaceans and no trip to Miami is complete without a stop here. Located in the vibrant heart of South Beach, Joe’s is famed for its succulent stone crab claws plucked from nearby waters, alongside an array of other mouthwatering dishes. Think of it this way: everybody is going to ask you if you went to Joe’s, so you might as well!
… and new
Sushi may not be the first thing that pops into your head when thinking of Miami, but why wouldn’t it be great here? Enter Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill, which is an oasis of Japanese cuisine situated within the historic Plymouth Hotel South Beach (just past the retro-cool lobby and beside the beautiful pool). The menu is overseen by sushi master Toshi Ueki and chefs Bruce and Eric Bromberg and boasts a tantalizing selection of traditional sushi and sashimi, expertly crafted to perfection. Oh, and there’s also a much-loved version of fried chicken. You’ll feel cool slinking into one of their booths, but not intimidatingly so.
Say adios to South Beach
Wynwood. Little Havana. Downtown. Little Haiti. Key Biscayne. Coconut Grove. Coral Gables. It doesn’t matter where you go, but you have to get outside of South Beach during your time in Miami because it’s only a small—albeit shiny—part of this spectacular city.
My time in South Beach was punctuated with spells in Wynwood and Little Havana, where I was able to get a taste (literally) of two entirely different sections of the city and sip (literally) up slices of its unique story.
Get out on the water
If you’re wondering when this piece is going to leave dry land, the time is, well, now. I hooked up with Watersports Paradise—known for boat tours, yacht charters and boat rentals in addition to any other active water pursuit you can think of—for an unforgettable adventure through Miami’s waterways.
We saw opulent Millionaire’s Row and plied the waters across Biscayne Bay to marvel at the splendor of Star, Palm, Hibiscus and Venetian Islands with the occasional burst of speed to get the heart racing. The stories of fun times on Monument Island had me dreaming about the weekends I would spend there if I lived in Miami. And okay, I’ll admit it: I set the highlights of this excursion to the “Miami Vice” theme song when I posted it on social media.
Where to stay in Miami on a first trip
Before you even touch down in Miami, there’s the little decision of where to lay your head. And as one of my previous points makes clear: Miami isn’t all beaches. South Beach is just one section of Miami (Miami Beach to be precise) and the city is home to a dizzying array of diverse neighborhoods, all perfect for getting a true feel of the city and almost all could make a great base.
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On your first trip, you almost certainly have to stay in South Beach. This neighborhood has captured the world’s imagination and so since you’re going to want to see what all the buzz is about, you might as well stay there.
When it comes time to start thinking about where and what type of South Beach hotel you’d like to stay in during your first trip to Miami, among the factors that loom large, two words stand head and shoulders above the rest: Art Deco.
I mean, you can’t come to Miami for the very first time and not stay in a historic hotel with the flourishes of Art Deco design, can you? And the hotel certainly has to have a fantastic pool, right?
I couldn’t imagine it any other way and so that’s why I’m glad I posted up at The Plymouth Hotel South Beach.
Located a stone’s throw from the Miami Beach Convention Center and opposite Collins Park and its superb Bass Museum, The Plymouth has over 100 rooms splashed with sophisticated touches and is a true poster child for Art Deco. So much so that Barbara Baer Capitman used a photograph of the corner exterior of The Plymouth on the cover of her 1988 book Deco Delights.
Stepping inside, you’re immediately enchanted by the seamless blend of historic Art Deco charm and contemporary luxury, with the overall atmosphere being a blend of boutique and beach-adjacent vibes.
Speaking of the beach, guests get exclusive access to The Plymouth’s private stretch, just a block away between The W and The Setai. Like many great hotels, the lobby is perfect for lingering and I loved hanging out among the lush leaves and a stirring mural by the acclaimed Ramon Chatov while watching the happenings at the bar or the aforementioned Blue Ribbon Sushi.
Then there’s the 1940s Art Moderne pool area, one of the most perfectly formed bodies of water in the city. With its distinctive harlequin tiles and inviting peach and brown colors, it’s a quintessential Miami backdrop. (Go on, strike a pose.) Like many first-time visitors to Miami, I left knowing this certainly wouldn’t be my last visit and The Plymouth’s pool was a big reason why.
In summary, to live up to the level of hype that has been thrust upon Miami is almost impossible, but this city made it look like a breeze.
The unofficial start of the Mississippi River navigation season has begun. The first motor vessel, a towboat named Joseph Patrick Eckstein, was locked by the St. Paul District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with 12 barges through Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings on Sunday, on its way to St. Paul.
The St. Paul District considers the unofficial start of the season when all of its locks are accessible to both commercial and recreational vessels. The average start date of the navigation season is March 22, with the earliest dates in history being March 4 in 1983, 1984 and 2000.
In the 2023 season, the first tow arrived March 12, when the motor vessel Phillip M. Pfeffer passed through Lock and Dam 2 with six barges. The 2023 season ended on Dec. 5 when the motor vessel Thomas Erickson departed Lock and Dam 10 near Guttenberg, Iowa.
The St. Paul district operates 12 locks and dams from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa and maintains a 9-foot-deep navigation channel. Using this system, producers save around $1 per bushel of corn and soybeans by using the river to ship commodities. The commercial navigation industry saves an estimated $400 million annually by using inland waterways.
