Troy Glennon Named Among 150 Top Travel Specialists for 2012
OutdoorHub 11.20.12
Award-winning tour operator Austin-Lehman Adventures (ALA – http://www.austinlehman.com/), the active travel company setting adventure travel standards in The Americas, Europe, Africa, Arctic and the Caribbean, announces that Troy Glennon, its Latin America travel guru, has been named one of the world’s leading experts on Peru travel in Condé Nast Traveler’s 13th Annual Top Travel Specialists list for 2012. This is the first time that he has been named to this prestigious list.
“What a pleasure to have Troy on our team and to share this exciting time with him,” said Dan Austin, founding director. Glennon’s affiliation with ALA was formalized last summer when his company, Go South Adventures, was acquired by ALA. Glennon subsequently was invited to join the Billings, MT-based company as its Latin American expert, enhancing the company’s program development team as well as supporting the sales team. He has worked for over a decade guiding travelers through the region and developing sustainable tourism experiences.
Conde Nast Traveler’s Wendy Perrin, Director of Consumer News & Digital Community, has published her 13th annual Top Travel Specialists in the December 2012 issue of Condé Nast Traveler.
Condé Nast Traveler says of Glennon: “A former tour guide in Peru, Glennon is perfect for active travelers who want to explore without a heavy reliance on guides. He knows how to avoid crowds at the country’s highlights and where the less-touristed gems are—say, the Colca Canyon, where you can watch condors soar in the thermal currents …” See: http://www.cntraveler.com/travel-tips/travel-specialists/troy-glennon
In his 13 years of traveling about Peru, Glennon has opened visitors’ eyes to this country that boasts 75 percent of the earth’s ecosystems plus the archeological remains of many expansive pre Columbian civilizations found spread across Peru’s deserts, mountains and cloud forests.”
“The Lost City of Machu Picchu is of course a must when visiting Peru. It has a mystery and air about it that captures everyone’s imagination. However, knowing how to avoid the tourist crush will have a big impact on your experience,” Glennon advises, adding that one big mistake people make is not spending enough free time in Cusco, the center of the Inca world, where history radiates along it’s cobbled streets once walked by Inca noblemen and Conquistadors. He suggests exploring beyond the picturesque main plaza to experience the quieter, local side of charming Cusco.
In upcoming ALA itineraries to Peru he envisions adding Colca Canyon that is considered one of the deepest canyons in the world along with less-visited regions of southern and eastern Peru. Here guests are imbued in Andean culture while sleeping comfortably on an island in Lake Titicaca and accessing the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest, all a short flight from Lima/Cusco.
Glennon has been both a solo traveler and group tour leader in Peru, Bolivia and Chile. He studied in Mexico and has a degree in Spanish Literature and Culture from the University of Washington
According to Perrin, “The travel planners featured represent the best blend of destination knowledge, insider connections, user-friendliness, and value for your dollar that I’ve found in more than two decades of scrutinizing the travel industry for this magazine. They have all been road-tested by Condé Nast Traveler readers, editors, or both. Of the more than 10,000 travel agents and tour operators who have tried to break onto this list since its inception 13 years ago, only a tiny fraction have made the grade. Getting into this group is, statistically speaking, tougher than getting into Harvard.”
Staying on Perrin’s list is tougher still: It requires not only an absence of valid reader complaints but also ongoing positive assessments from both readers and editors.
