Design Destinations Magazine Spring 2019 Issue

Spring 2019

INTERCONTINENTAL MALDIVES Raising the Bar

KAREN MAGEE An Intimate Conversation

PETERSEN AUTO MUSEUM Preserving The Classics

BALI

The Beauty of Its Culture

ICAPUI

Brazil’s Hidden Gem

ANTIGUA GUATEMALA Color, History and Tradition

ANTIGUA GUATEMALA

46

WHAT’S

PETERSEN MUSEUM

62

INTERCONTINENTAL MALDIVES

22

INSIDE

ICAPUI

13

BALI

34

KAREN MAGEE

8

4OCEAN

DIANE LANE

54

74

FROM THE

EDITOR

T

his is a very special issue as it features one of my all time favorite places - Antigua Guatemala. This small 16th

century city located in Guatemala is a magical place. The cobble stone streets, the many churches, convents and monasteries, and the unique stores all serve to give visitors a sense of tranquility. It’s as though time stopped long ago.

Scotty Graham provided the images and I’ve provided my experience growing up there. Hope you enjoy our account.

We’re featuring in this issue a new resort that will come to life in September - The InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort in the Raa Atoll in the northern part of the Maldives. We are also featuring a pictorial view of Bali with images from David Lazar. And Arthur Seixas provides us with his amazing photographs of Icapui in the northern part of Brazil.

We’re also featuring the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles, where I recently made a visit and became fascinated with the amazing collection of cars including one of my favorites: the 1951 Sauter 356 Roadster - a classic gem.

In our newest section: Career Spotlight, we feature Karen Magee, Vice President, Partnerships & Leisure Services at Tzell Travel Group in an intimate interview by Cynthia P. Howland.

We’re also very proud to feature in this issue an article on 4Ocean, an organization dedicated to cleaning the oceans one pound at a time. And in our American Legends section, we feature the incomparable and talented actor Diane Lane.

We hope you enjoy this issue as we had a lot of fun putting it together Go and Enjoy the World!

Franz E Buchhalter Editor

DESIGN DESTINATIONS MAGAZINE Editor-In-Chief Managing Editor

Franz E Buchhalter Cynthia P. Howland

Design Destinations Magazine is a publication of Buchhalter International Group, Inc. Head Office: 9121 SW 140th Street Miami, Florida 33176 Tel: 305 484 1012 Cover: Arthur Seixas

CONTRIBUTORS

David Lazar is a travel

Scotty Graham is an American

Arthur Seixas is a Brazilian

photographer from Brisbane, Australia, who captures moments of life, culture and beauty through photography. He is drawn to locations that have a rich cultural background steeped in tradition, and is especially interested in portrait photography.

David is a contributor to photography, travel and in-flight magazines, as well as newspapers, books and journals such as National Geographic, Asian Geographic and The Lonely Planet. In 2014 he was awarded Best Culture Photographer by Garuda Airways. He was the 2012 Smithsonian Photography Contest Winner in the travel category. In 2015, the inspirational book “Who Will I Become” was released by the Growing Leaders Foundation, showcasing David’s photography from Trinidad and Tobago. He has recently published a coffee table book of his work from Myanmar entitled “Myanmar: A Luminous Journey” which is now available for purchase worldwide.

photographer based in Jakarta.

Before becoming a professional photographer, he worked as a Helicopter Pilot, a SCUBA Instructor and a mathematics teacher. Teaching is one of his passions and currently Scotty also works as a full time High School photography teacher at Jakarta Intercultural School, but also works as a freelance photographer, most recently for the Olympic Committee Asia capturing the Asian Games.

ANTIGUA GUATEMALA-COLOR, H I S T O RY A N D T R A D I T I O N Page 46

travel photographer and journalist based Rio de Janeiro. Living in one of the world’s richest natural countries gives him the opportunity to capture images of the rainforest, beaches, small villages and hidden waterfalls.

In addition to capturing the scenically beautiful landscapes, Arthur has a true passion for historical cities and ancient architecture. He captures images that he hopes transports his viewers back in time. His images also capture another of his passions foreign cultures. He is drawn to the richness of different cultures expressed in dance, traditions and handcrafts. He is always searching for hidden corners that may be missed by the untrained eye and his lenses and creativity always find beauty in the unexpected.

You can learn more about Arthur’s images in his instagram and blog which have been published in travel magazines @arthurseixas www.arthurseixas.com

BALI - THE BEAUTY OF IT’S CULTURE Page 34

ICAPUI - BRAZIL’S HIDDEN GEM Page 13 Cover

KAREN

CAREER SPOTLIGHT

MAGEE

A Chat with Karen Magee Vice President, Partnerships & Leisure Services at Tzell Travel Group.

Cynthia Howland from Design Destinations Magazine recently had the opportunity to catch up with Karen. She generously shared her thoughts on the challenges and opportunities for those of us lucky enough to be part of the global travel community today, the importance of mentoring, her favorite travel spots and more.

Design Destinations Magazine: Can you tell us what you most enjoy about your job, and career in travel thus far?

I love working with Tzell’s advisors. I get to work with people who are so well traveled, so knowledgeable and informed about the world and what’s going on in it. They have to be informed for their clients. We have to be problem solvers and no two days are the same. We also have the opportunity to travel the world and work with partners from all different backgrounds. It makes us global citizens because we have empathy and understanding for people who were brought up very differently from us; and I love that. It is a privilege to have those opportunities.

Can you tell us a little about the person who stands out as having been most influential in shaping your career and the professional you are today? Karen- I did not know if you wanted to mention the organizations and names of these people. Feel free to drop them in if you would like to.

I have a few. My very first boss when I was in the finance world (which has actually helped me be successful today) was extremely influential to me. She was logical, very thoughtful and a great leader.

She taught me how to be a manager. It was a small business and she taught me how to run a business. That experience of sitting side by side with her was extremely valuable to me. As I continue to work in various capacities, she has continued to be a cornerstone for me. Sometimes in the travel business, we get too wrapped up in it and we need people out of the industry to take us outside of it.

My first boss in travel taught me the respect for our partners and he introduced me to the world of the luxury independent travel advisors. He was so passionate about this industry and stressed the importance of our relationships within it; which was immensely valuable. How are we respecting the partners we are working with and the advisors we are supporting? Are we providing a place where the advisors want to work? Are we making the agency a fun place to be, where we support them in building their business? He also put me on a platform and gave me the opportunity to meet so many incredible people.

This business is all about relationships and, when you’re young and don’t have those relationships, it is critical to have someone who will help you with that key introductions, singing your praises, helping you connect.

Finally, today at Tzell, I am so fortunate to be supported by a management team that lets me run with my ideas and projects. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't; but we’re an agency with a long history that’s supportive of new ideas. Working at Tzell has also taught me the true meaning of teamwork. Our leadership is fiercely loyal and non-egotistical. It is a family atmosphere and I am very lucky to work with this team. It forces collaboration and teamwork.

Sticking with the topic of mentorship, you are active in several organizations including WINIT (Women in Travel) and YTP (Young Travel Professionals). Can you tell us about a couple achievements in this area that stand out to you as being the most gratifying?

YTP is the biggest. I am proud of it and my involvement. It was great place to meet with peers in a comfortable environment where we could support each other. Back then, we demonstrated that this is a vibrant industry for young people. I was discouraged when people would say there was no future in the business for someone young like me. I fell in love with the industry and didn’t believe that to be true. With YTP, we found like-minded younger people and created a massive organization (at one point with 15-20 chapters). We showed our partners that there was an energy and life in our generation. We created an identity for this “lost generation” that became a powerhouse in the travel industry. We’ve sadly had to sunset the organization, but it served a critically important role in a lot of peoples’ careers and I’ll be forever proud of that.

And I would mention also WINIT, (Women In Travel). I was honored to be on the board and it was truly empowering. I was able to surround myself with

people that moved forward with families and careers and managed to find success balancing it all. As a young, career invested woman that is also newly married and looking to start a family in the near future, that was important for me on such a personal level.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine balancing all of that but this network helped me realize it can be done This year I am committing to more time to mentoring. I love making time for people who want to hear my story because I love this business and watching people find grow and find their place within it.

What advice and insight would you give to a bright and ambitious Tourism and Hospitality graduate just starting out in the business today?

I would first try to help them pin down where in the business they best fit. People don’t know about the many verticals that exist - hotels, DMC’s, tourism boards, and the many things you can do in travel.

The second thing is the importance of networking.

Every career move I have made has been the result of networking and recommendations. I said ‘yes’ quite a lot - to industry groups, conferences, internships, and countless other opportunities.

Finally, find a company that stands for something you can believe in. A company is its people. Get to know them. No one stresses that enough when you’re growing your career. Companies are ultimately a collection of people; get to know its leaders, culture, and their work ethics.

Digital marketing and social media have changed the way we buy, and the way we sell. What role do they play in the luxury travel space? How “digitally and socially” active do agents who want to succeed in the luxury space need to be today?

If your goal is to grow your business, you have to be in the social media space. That is the first-place people will go whether you’re referred by name or they find you themselves on the internet. Even if you aren’t actively engaging on a daily basis, at the bare minimum you should have an online presence that’s reflective of you as a brand and what you offer to your clients. The advisors that utilize social the best are the ones who have a consistent and clean image that continuously inspires their followers (a.k.a. clients and potential clients) to travel. They’re also engaging and sharing their clients’ journeys as well. Consumers are spending a lot of their time on Instagram, Twitter, and the other platforms. If you’re not there in an authentic way that makes them feel connected with you they won’t reach out to you. It is of utmost important.

Of the many trends we see in travel today wellness, sustainable travel, multi-generational, personalized and experiential travel, adventurewhat do you see as the things that will most inform and impact your business in the next few years?

enjoyed the countryside. It was enjoyable and relaxing.

I would say all of those trends are continuing to grow in popularity, there’s no one particular trend that is outpacing the others. The underlying commonality within all these “trends” is the growth of niche travel and the larger desire to experience what no one else has. This is a huge opportunity for advisors. With an advisor, the experience of planning the trip starts from the day you start building your itinerary, giving you the opportunity to make that experience hyper-personal.

Our advisors work hard to find that next product, the latest destination for this reason exactly

My bucket list … everywhere I haven't been. Alaska is very high up there as well as Patagonia! I'm also dying to get to Australia & New Zealand. I like anywhere with wildlife, nature, great scenery ... and a good spa doesn't hurt.

We have to ask! What is your most memorable travel experience, and what’s on your bucket list?

From a brand perspective, Tzell has been around for a long time and there's a reason for that. It’s all about the people that work there and the collaboration we bring to the job every day. We’re here to support our agents and to help them service our mutual clients to the best of our ability. That’s why we’re here. I’m passionate and driven to make the business, the agents, and our products better. We're an industry that's thriving from creativity and peoples desire to branch out and experience the world. It doesn't get much better than that.

It is so, so hard to answer that. Some of my most memorable ones are very simple. My husband and I took a lovely trip to France two years ago that stands out because we intentionally avoided over-scheduling ourselves. We stayed in a beautiful hotel in Paris, walked along the streets, visited museums, and took a train to Aix-en Provence where we rented a Fiat and

On the other hand we also went to South Africa for the first time this past November and did a safari in Sabi Sands for four days. That was truly life changing.

I am also into wellness and am a yoga teacher as well, so a full wellness vacation is really high on my bucket list.

Are there any parting words for us about you, about Tzell or about any other topic?

Cynthia P. Howland, travel veteran, writer and blogger has interviewed many travel industry executives including William Talbert, CEO CVB of Miami, Ted Tang, CEO, Leading Hotels of the World, Albert Herrera, SVP of Virtuoso Travel, Ignacio Maza, SVP of Signature Travel, and international novelist Mark Gimenez to name a few, She is the Managing Editor for Design Destinations Magazine and has just launched her blog.

ICAPUI BRAZIL’S HIDDEN GEM PHOTOS BY ARTHUR SEIXAS TEXT BY EDMUNDO RUANO Brazil is famous for being home to some of the worlds most beautiful beaches. Ipanema is perhaps the most well known however, having a stretch of coastline of more than 4,650 miles, Brazil has plenty of beaches to explore and discover. The northern region of Brazil is less known than the southern region and it is here that you will find some of Brazil most diverse, unusual and beautiful beaches. The state of Ceará, offers a stretch of coastline of more than 300 miles of beautiful and varied beaches, and Icapuí, a city just a few hours drive from the vibrant city of Fortaleza shares a few beaches that stand out for their unique and unexpected landscape In Icapui you’ll find Peroba Beach, Requenguela Beach, Ponta Grossa Beach and Redonda Beach each one uniquely different and beautiful.

Peroba Beach is an invitation to rest and relax, with its crystal clear waters that are ideal for swimming, large palm trees and many coral reefs which form natural pools. Requenguela Beach will surprise you with its mangroves, and when at low tide, the sea retracts to more than a mile forming a beautiful landscape. Ponta Grossa Beach is an ecological refuge, with incredible scenery; with multicolored cliffs that decorated the shoreline, contrasting with its immensely blue sky, the waters are calm and ideal for bathing. And Redonda Beach’s cliffs and low waves make it one of the region’s most amazing beaches.

Consider exploring Ceará, Icapui and Fortaleza on your next journey, as they’re far from ordinary.

INTRODUCING

INTERCONTINENTAL MALDIVES MAAMUNAGAU RESORT

AÂ new experience lies ahead of you this InterContinental's flagship Delight in an exclusive escape in a world-class experiences will awaken your senses with a unique

September 2019 with the opening of resort in the Maldives. destination, where personalized service and natural emphasis on sustainability and wellness.

BAL

LI

Photos by David Lazar Text by Francisco Ruano

Bali is located east of Java and west of Lombok in Indonesia, and is the most well known holiday destination in the region. The island’s history dates back to the year 2,000 BC, when the first know settlers migrated from Southeast Asia and Oceania.

The Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese, and particularly Hindu cultures and the blend of theses cultures created a people that are known for its warm hospitality.

Exotic temples and palaces set against stunning natural backdrops provide visitors a glimpse of a glorious past and today are some of Bali’s top attractions. Tourism for Bali represents the majority of the income for the population; however, agriculture, fishing and handcrafts continue to make an important contribution to the economy of Bali.

Bali is also known for its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. The influence of Hindu is prominent in the performing arts as often it portrays stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana (one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India).

Throughout the year, there are a number of festivals that are celebrated such as the Hindu New Year, Nyepi, celebrated in the spring by a day of silence, On this day everyone stays at home and tourists are required to remain in their hotels. Another important and essential ceremony in the life of a Balinese is the tooth-filing or coming-of-age ritual. The aim of the ceremony is to symbolically “cut down” on the six negative traits that are inherent in humans: lust, greed, wrath, pride, jealousy, and intoxication.

Balinese dance is famous and the Kecak Dance is often performed. The Kecak dance, or 'Tari Kecak', is a captivating traditional Balinese/Hindu art performance, which also goes by, 'the monkey chant dance', and loosely as the 'fire dance’. The dance was created in Bali in the 1930’s and traditionally was performed by men until recently when women joined the performance.

ANTIGUA GUATEMALA

Color, History and Tradition Photos: Scotty Graham

Text: Franz Buchhalter

There are places that impress you and others that inspire you. The colonial city of Antigua in Guatemala is both. Known for its many churches, convents, monasteries and art galleries, this small town was founded in the early 16th century on patterns inspired by the Italian Renaissance Baroque-style. Antigua became a bustling city and a religious center and become the capital of the Captaincy-General of Guatemala under the Spanish Crown. The city was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1773 when most of the buildings were destroyed but most of the monuments have been preserved as ruins. The capital was later moved to the present location but Antigua maintained its historical importance and in 1944 was declared a National Monument and later declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. Today Antigua has been mostly restored and the whole city is full of historic buildings, monuments, fountains and ruins. During the week it is a quiet and sleepy, and on the weekends is full of local tourists. Vendors fill the cobblestone streets, and local marimba bands play in the central park. Due to its location, the weather is always pleasant and strolling through the ruins is sure to take you back in time.

The many restaurants, art galleries, textile shops and markets are a must for visitors, as are visits to the many historical sites like the first Theological University in the Americas - today a museum, or the Palace of the Captains-General. Or maybe you simply want to sit on one the street benches and watch people pass by.

THE PATH TO ONE MILLION POUNDS The story begins when Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper take a surf trip... to Bali Indonesia that would inevitably change their lives and the fate of the ocean. Devastated by the amount of plastic in the ocean, they set out to find out why no one was doing anything about it. One afternoon they came across an old fishing village where fishermen were literally pushing their boat through piles of plastic that had washed up on shore. The two surfers realized that the proliferation of plastic threatened both the ocean environment and the fishermen's livelihood. Could the fishermen use their nets, they wondered, to pull the plastic from the ocean? This idea stuck with the 2 surfers and they knew it was time to hit the drawing board.

After realizing that the demand for seafood was driving the fishermen to focus on fish instead of plastic, they knew they had to create something that could fund the desired cleanup efforts. This is how the 4Ocean Bracelet was born.

Made with recycled materials, every bracelet purchased funds the removal of 1 pound of trash from the ocean and coastlines. In less than 2 years, 4ocean has removed 4,236,224 pounds of trash from the ocean and coastlines.

4ocean currently operates out of multiple countries and employs over 150 people worldwide.

Watch the video. https://vimeo.com/297156098 For more information please visit www.4Ocean.com

PETERSEN AUTO MUSEUM Founded on June 11, 1994 by magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen and his wife Margie, the $40-million Petersen Automotive Museum is owned and operated by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation. The museum was originally located within the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and later moved to a historic department store designed by Welton Becket.

Opened in 1962, the building first served as a short-lived U.S. branch of Seibu Department Stores, before operating as an Ohrbach's department store from 1965 to 1986. Six years after Ohrbach's closed, Robert Petersen selected the largely windowless site as an ideal space for a museum—allowing artifacts to be displayed without harmful exposure to direct sunlight.

In 2015, the museum underwent an extensive $125 million renovation. The building's façade was redesigned by the architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, and features a stainless-steel ribbon assembly made of 100 tons of 14-gauge type 304 steel in 308 sections, 25 supports and 140,000 custom stainless-steel screws.

Designers at The Scenic Route configured interior spaces to accommodate changing exhibits. The remodeled museum opened to the public on December 7, 2015.

The Museum houses a collection of over 100 automobiles on display in 25 galleries. Plus there is an additional priceless collection in the private “Vault” located in the basement of the museum. The Vault collection features an array of extravagant automobiles including several presidential and one papal cars. In addition to the automobile collection, the museum features a collection of motorcycles and throughout the year several special exhibits go on display that feature classic automobiles. An example of the exhibits is the Legends of Los Angeles an exhibition curated in collaboration with Ellen Bireley. The exhibit features a 1956

Watson-DeVisschop “How Special”, a 1929 Ford Model A Roaster 22 Jr; a 1966 AAR Eagle and a 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 FIA to name a few.

Another important exhibit is The Porsche Effect - which runs through mid May. The exhibit focuses on the history and significance behind the brand’s distinctive design, engineering, advertising, partnerships, and its enviable record of racing triumphs resulting in the emergence of a automobile that defined the priorities of a new generation of sports car enthusiasts post World War II and becoming a marque and a recognizable symbol of postwar affluence and an iconic producer of luxury vehicles. The Porsche Effect exhibit encompasses five thematic sections, each of which will contain a combination of automobiles, artifacts, archival material, image footage, and visual reproductions. The extensive collection of Porsche includes a rare 1939 Porsche 64, one of only two in existence.

Another impressive exhibit is the Winning Numbers: The First, The Fastest, The Famous - running through January 2020. A collection of one of the world’s foremost ambassadors of automotive enthusiasm, California-based car aficionado Bruce Meyer who spent decades carefully building a collection of truly superlative vehicles. Winning Numbers presents a selection of Bruce’s finest competition vehicles, each with a story as captivating as its beauty. These machines are regularly driven and appear in this exhibition as a testament to Bruce’s passion and ongoing desire to share with others.

For more information on the current exhibits please visit www.petersen.org

1951 Sauter 356 Roadster

1966 906 Carrera 6 Chassis 134

1964 Cobra 289 FIA

1958 356 Speedester

1929 Ford Model 22 JR

1964 901Type

1964 904 Carrera GTS

1924 Miller 122

1947 Kurtis Kraft Leader Card

1968 911

1996 911 Junior

AN AMERICAN LEGEND

DIANE LANE

“I think that anybody that smiles automatically looks better” - Diane Lane

Ms. Lane is probably best known for her role in the 2003 film Under The Tuscan Sun for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Diane’s career began at the age of six when she made her acting debut in the theater in her native New York. Hollywood paid attention and cast her at the age of 13 in the 1979 film A Little Romance opposite the great Sir Laurence Olivier. The film launched her career and she appeared on several magazine covers including “Time”. She made several films that unfortunately did not do well commercially and in 1983 Francis Ford Coppola cast her in two films Rumble Fish (1983) and The Outsiders (1984.) Both films became cult classics and positioned Diane as a leading actor. In the following years she made a few films but it wasn’t until a TV miniseries - Lonesome Dove (1989) for which she received a an Emmy nomination that the world took notice. She co-starred in the blockbuster hit The Perfect Storm (2000) co-starring with Mark Walhberg. However, her greatest career moment came with her lead role in the enormous critical and commercial hit Unfaithful (2002), in which she superbly portrayed Richard Gere's adulterous wife. Her performance won the respect of critics and audiences alike, as well as many awards and nominations including Best Actress Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.

Diane has made more than 60 feature films and several made for television films.

Photo: Touchtone Pictures

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