At the Four Seasons resort in Wailea, Maui, master navigator Kala Baybayan Tanaka leads travellers on the Wayfinder's Journey, an experience that explains traditional Polynesian navigation.Courtesy Four Seasons Resort Maui
Kala Baybayan Tanaka tilts her head to look up at the inky, star-studded sky. On a balmy beach in Kihei, Maui, the master Hawaiian navigator is helping a small group of travellers pick out the Southern Cross.
Hawaii is the only state where the constellation can be spotted, and at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, guests learn about its cultural significance in traditional Polynesian stellar navigation.
“The constellation helps us find due south when you’re out on the ocean and have no land for a point of reference – just water and sky,” says Tanaka, who has twice made the journey from Hawaii to Tahiti in a waՙa kaulua, or double-hulled voyaging canoe. Both times she only used stellar navigation.
Tanaka offers an inside look at this part of Hawaiian heritage as part of the resort’s Star Stories evenings. In 2023, she helped launch the Wayfinder’s Journey, a private three-hour, under-the-stars excursion on a catamaran for up to six guests, during which Tanaka does a deeper dive into the subject.
In a world where travellers often find themselves elbowing their way through throngs of other tourists in over-visited destinations, access to private cultural experiences led by a local expert feels like the ultimate luxury – and hotels and tour operators are taking note. Like the Wayfinder’s Journey, the Four Seasons offers other expert-led tours through its Unforgettable Experiences events, and travel companies such as Black Tomato and Scott Dunn have identified learning from local masters as a key trend for 2024.
These experiences go beyond surface level to uncover unique facets of local culture, thanks to the experts who lead them. Tanaka learned everything she knows about Polynesian stellar navigation from her father, who was also a master navigator. “That’s my home,” she says, pointing to the black ocean. “We’re connected to everything, and use the other elements when we’re out there, too.”
Outside of reading the stars to chart her course, she’s learned how to pick up on cues from the currents and wind. Guests taking part in the Wayfinder’s Journey also savour a seven-course dinner imagined by chef Samual Taganeca and inspired by native canoe plants such as kalo (taro), ՙulu (breadfruit), and ՙuala (sweet potato). Each have been cultivated by Polynesians for centuries and were traditionally stored in canoes on long ocean journeys.
Other hotels jumping on the trend include The Royal Mansour in Marrakech, which recently launched a new Moroccan and Italian cooking school led by chefs trained by the hotel’s Michelin Star culinary team. In a sleek, state-of-the-art private kitchen, travellers learn the secrets to making the perfect gnocchi or mrouzia, a sweet and salty lamb tagine.
At the Royal Mansour cooking school, guests of the Marrakesh hotel can take culinary classes learning Moroccan or Italian dishes, which are then paired with a wine tasting.Courtesy The Royal Mansour
In the kitchen’s adjacent light-flooded dining space, guests taste their creations paired with wine and complementary dishes from one of the hotel’s four restaurants. In Cusco, Peru, at Palacio Nazarenas, a Belmond Hotel, guests have access to classes with master ceramicist Tater Vera, who has been credited for the revitalization of traditional Peruvian ceramic techniques.
And in Scotland, another kind of craft is being preserved at the Fife Arms: the art of designing sporrans, a traditional part of men’s Scottish Highland dress. Here, travellers work under the guidance of master artisan Monty Lewis to design their own handcrafted sporran, learning about the tradition’s history at the same time (part of the hotel’s larger initiative to collaborate with artisans whose work appear on the Red List of Endangered Crafts).
At bespoke travel company Black Tomato, partnering with local masters who can impart highly specialized knowledge to travellers was driven by a desire for intentional, passion-led trips. “As taking time out becomes ever more precious, travellers are increasingly journeying with an acute sense of purpose,” says co-founder Tom Marchant. “They’re appreciating that experiencing a different culture with a local expert provides a unique lens from which to embrace not only new surroundings, but often a new mindset, with meaningful local interactions and insight which can’t otherwise be accessed.”
The travel company is bringing this approach to life in myriad ways. Its Field Trip and See You In the Moment experiences can be integrated into almost any itinerary and focus on immersive encounters led by a local expert who grants behind-the-scenes access. Travellers can hone a specific skill or share a creative passion with family and friends, whether that’s learning to sculpt limestone with a renowned artist in Puglia, practising bushido with a master of martial arts in Japan, or trying their hand at mosaic making in Barcelona with an acclaimed local artisan.
Luxury travel company Scott Dunn is also giving guests the chance to get an inside look at a place with a niche specialist, from exploring the Vatican on a private tour with an art history expert, to learning French with a local legend in the Médoc.
“Travellers don’t simply want to visit a country, but want to feel the heartbeat of a destination,” says Stephanie McClendon, sales and services manager at Scott Dunn. “There is nothing more meaningful than taking a moment to slow down and absorb the sights, smells and flavours through the lens of a local expert, offering a unique glimpse into the heart of the community they call home.”