Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 26 January 2026
KING OF THE WAVES
Our excellent cruising writer Michael Ferrante is one of five finalists in the Media Award Australasia category of the 23rd Cruise Industry Awards. It’s the big national competition of the year, and Michael will be at ICC Sydney on March 7, to hear the result. Michael gives a huge amount of energy and his own time to his work. Heart and soul. He’s a winner already, and every week, in my view.
HOMAGE TO LIU
The Singapore that we visit, trust and enjoy today comes largely from the vision of Dr Liu Thai Ker. For he was the architect who designed Singapore’s public housing system, where most of the country’s 5.9 million residents live. Liu, who died aged 87 on January 18, shaped the landscape of modern Singapore, with those distinctive public housing blocks. Liu didn’t just build the city, but shaped the way Singaporeans live, move and belong.
Liu’s father, pioneer painter Liu Kang, set up a small business called Morrow Studio during the Japanese occupation in Singapore (from 1942 to 1945). Ostensibly offering commercial sign painting, behind the scenes Liu Kang was a well-educated resistance fighter. In 2017, aged 79, his son, Liu Thai Ker, used the name Morrow for his new architecture firm, in homage to his father. The word is derived from “tomorrow” — with all its promise and hope.
The architectural firm Morrow’s vision: “Envisioning a future from one generation to the next, Morrow shapes lives through liveable and sustainable environments that foster identity, community, purpose, and possibilities.”
TRACK STAR
Su-Mita Hill joins the Bibbulmun Track Foundation as CEO this month. An experienced walker and camper, she has a long connection to the track and WA’s wild places. And she believes that time in nature plays an important role in wellbeing, personal growth and a sense of belonging. It also carries a responsibility to care for our wild places.
Su-Mita’s first night on the Bibbulmun Track was when she was five, camping with her father at Ball Creek campsite. She completed an end-to-end from Kalamunda to Albany in 2019.
The Bibbulmun Track, stretching 1000km between Kalamunda and Albany, is one of the world’s great long distance walk trails. The foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that provides support for the management, maintenance and marketing of the track. (The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions’ Parks and Wildlife Service is overall manager of the track.)
bibbulmuntrack.org.au
SLOW CAMINO
Active travel specialist UTracks has a collection of new tours for 2026. Among them is one called Guided Portuguese Camino for Senior Travellers. A UTracks spokesperson says: “The Portuguese Camino’s final stage, from Vigo to Santiago, is tailored for seasoned travellers seeking substance over speed. Starting where the Coastal and Central routes converge, this guided walk covers the sacred last 102 kilometres, just enough to earn your Compostela certificate and every bit of the pilgrim experience, at a slower pace so you can have more time on the journey.” It is $4590 for the 10 days, which includes accommodation and 18 meals.
utracks.com
VOYAGE DEAL
Cruising increasingly takes travellers to places they might not otherwise see. Some are in our big South-East Asian backyard. Oceania’s ship Nautica (which carries a maximum of 670 guests) is sailing from Bangkok to Singapore, calling at Koh Samui (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam, overnight) and Kota Kinabalu (Borneo). The 10-day voyage, with a hotel night in Bangkok before the cruise and two nights in Singapore afterwards, is from $4699 per person, twin share, with a balcony cabin from $6566, with Bicton Travel. The cruise starts November 13, 2026, and the offer code is OCE147.
9339 5199 and book.cruisehq.com.au
EGYPT OFFER
I like Viking’s Pharaohs and Pyramids itinerary in Egypt — a round-trip from Cairo, with 12 days on the Nile. And there is currently an offer: “Fly free, flight upgrade credit or save up to $5000 per couple.” It is from $11,395 per person in a standard stateroom and has to be booked before March 31, 2026, to take up any element of the offer. It visits the Temple of Karnak with its 136 soaring pillars.
Travel agents and viking.com
CUT DOWN
Police on the Thai island of Phuket arrested an Egyptian man for illegally cutting hair. This is an occupation reserved for Thai nationals and he had set up a barbershop on Phang Mueang Sai Kor Road in Patong. They apparently caught him red-handed, cutting a foreign customer’s hair. His defence is that he’s lived in Phuket for more than a decade, but had only had the shop for two years. He has been charged under the Foreigners’ Working Management laws for working in a restricted profession. Hair today, gone tomorrow.
US FALLS
International travel to the US fell for the eighth straight month in December 2025. The US National Travel and Tourism Office has released data which reveals that overseas visitation fell 1.3 per cent to 3.2 million people. In October and November 2025, it fell by 3.1 and 3.5 per cent respectively. Inbound tourism continues to trail pre-pandemic levels.
The travel industry is counting on the FIFA World Cup (that’s soccer), which the US is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. But the Trump administration has expanded a “visa bond” policy that will require visitors from 38 countries to have bonds of up to $15,000 to enter the country, and four of those countries have qualified for the World Cup.
WA RECORD
. . . meanwhile, new Tourism Research Australia data shows that more than one million overseas visitors arrived in WA in the 12 months to October 2025 — the biggest in the State’s history.
DUELLING DUALS
After last weekend’s story on issues facing people with dual nationality (Australian and British or Irish) visiting the UK from February 2026, I have been inundated with enquiries. The story is live and free to read — just hold your phone camera over this QR code.
AFRICAN SAFARI
We also had a lot of interest in our Travel 2026 Guide (thewest.com.au/travel) and particularly a package to South Africa that I mentioned. It is Trip a Deal’s 5 Star African Safari, which is from $4499 per person, twin share. That includes international flights, two nights in Johannesburg and seven nights at the Sebatana Private Game Reserve, with 24 meals. Go to tripadeal.com.au and put 5145 into the search. There are dates from June 17, 2026, to December 1, 2027.