The final frontier of adventure
If there’s a final frontier for adventure travel, then space has to be it. And the Adventure Travel Company is about to send some of its clients where no adventure traveller has gone before. The retail travel adventure specialist — with 8 locations across Canada — announced a new partnership with XCOR Aerospace’s general sales agent, Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) to offer the first scheduled commercial spaceflights for Canadians aboard the XCOR “Lynx” reusable suborbital spacecraft. Clearly, it’s a partnership that will take travel to new heights, all Canadians the opportunity to participate in a real astronaut experience and to see the Earth from outer space — something only 530 or so men and woman have done before. Initially from one of two Spaceports — one in the Mojave Desert, California and the other in Curacao, in the Caribbean — participants will get the full astronaut experience including G-force familiarization flights, thorough medical screening and other exciting astronaut-related training exercises. Once flying, from on high the Earth’s curvature will be clearly visible from the cockpit where the lucky traveller will participate from what traditionally would be the co-pilot’s seat on this once-in-a-lifetime journey. Mike Merrithew, chairman & CEO, The Adventure Travel Company, a division of Merit Travel Group, observed: “After personally visiting XCOR’s site at the Mojave Air and Spaceport high in the California desert, I know that this product is the real thing. This is a sophisticated and impressive product that we’re thrilled to represent in Canada. At The Adventure Travel Company, we send our clients to the most incredible destinations in the world and when we found such a fantastic product to outer space, we were thrilled to launch this partnership to our clients.” Reinhard Spronk, chief commercial officer of SXC said: “We’ve already sold 205 tickets worldwide and are excited to bring this product to Canada with The Adventure Travel Company. Buy your SXC tickets to Space on the “Lynx” spaceship with The Adventure Travel Company, and you will have a truly life changing ‘RIGHT STUFF’ experience.” Greg Claxton, director of retail sales at XCOR, noted that its partnership with the Adventure Travel Company is “one more signal to the market that commercial space flight is headed into the mainstream, and we could not be more pleased with this development. This adventure is available for purchase effective immediately from any Adventure Travel Company location across Canada. Our designated Space Agents are highly trained and will guide travellers through the entire experience.” So check out http://www.atcspace.com for complete details. Or visit http://www.spacexc.com for more on the Space Exploration Corporation. Oh, and if you’re interested, Lynx vehicles are also available to customers in the free world on a wet lease basis — check that out at http://www.xcor.com . Watch for more on the Adventure Travel Company in an upcoming issue of Canadian Travel Press. In this photo: Mike Dawson, president of the Merit Leisure Group, poses with a display featuring the Lynx space ship in the flagship Toronto office of the Adventure Travel Company.
