Jeep safaris, hot air balloon rides, desert treks and horseback riding among the dunes—a whole new world awaits the adventurous traveller in the Arab lands and beyond
This season, you might just want to swap out the snowboard for a sandboard on your year-end getaway. Desert locales, which are replete with dramatic scenery like shifting sand dunes and swooping hawks, are growing in popularity as an off-the-beaten-track travel destination for luxury globetrotters.
From the dunes of Morocco to glamp sites in Dubai, an increasing number of travellers are gravitating towards adventures in sandy destinations, Further afield, the deadly (but gorgeous) Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, as well as the alluring Atacama desert in Chile, are drawing the jet-set crowd.
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“Travellers are looking for more experiential travel opportunities, in order to gain an authentic experience of a country that delves into the culture, history and the landscape of a place,” said travel agency Scott Dunn’s Middle Eastern destination expert Emilie Mounier.
“And nowadays, travellers are looking to escape the stresses of everyday life and holiday to off-the-beaten-track deserts. A desert holiday allows guests to view a contrast of a country, for instance from the Middle East’s bustling and cosmopolitan cities of Oman’s Muscat and Jordan’s Amman, to the arid landscape of the desert.”