The Know Daily - Tuesday 25 February 2025

_{Read in 4m 45s ∙ Listening to The Strokes ∙}

The population of endangered corncrake birds on Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland are being “positively maintained”, thanks to volunteer efforts. During winter, volunteers collect nettle roots which serve as tall vegetation for corncrakes to hide in, highlighting how small actions can lead to big impacts on wildlife.

✈️ Travel trends

Travel subscription programmes are gaining popularity across the tourism industry amidst a growing trend towards luxury getaways.

Tell me more.
Membership to “all-you-can-travel” programmes can offer exclusive discounts on air, rail or sea fares, as well as accommodation and experiences worldwide. Whilst travelling across Europe by train using Interrail passes has been popular for decades, now airlines and the cruise industry are stepping up their efforts to entice travellers with indulgent experiences. This year, for example, one cruise company launched its $120,000 pass to allow two people to travel for an entire year on their ships.

Why are we telling you this now?
Luxury travel is booming, and predicted to grow to $2.2 trillion globally by 2030. It’s not only affluent travellers seeking these holidays, but a large proportion of younger tourists willing to pay for meaningful experiences. Luxury doesn’t have to mean extravagance, but also getaways that “promise authenticity, wellness and connection with people, places and personal values”. 

What’s the reaction been?
Some have pointed to how these subscriptions impact the exclusivity of the travel industry, at a time when personal finances are being stretched globally. What’s more, despite the personal and economic benefits of tourism, the environmental impacts of encouraging ‘unlimited’ travel programmes require additional mitigation strategies, according to the European Environment Agency.

Yet, frequent travellers have already benefited from some of the schemes by being able to book last minute holidays and strengthen wellbeing with time away from work. In fact, Wizz Air’s flight membership program sold out within 48 hours when it first launched last year, and Virgin Voyages’ cruise pass has already been released for 2026 due to high demand. For now, travel subscriptions are seemingly widening the gateway to exploring the world.

🎵 Silent stand: A group of 1,000 musicians – including Kate Bush and Damon Albarn – have released a silent album.

• The bigger story: The album is a protest against the UK government’s proposed changes to copyright law, which would allow developers to train AI models on artists’ content without payment or permission, unless creators “proactively opt out”.

🪙 Amazing artefact: A stash of rare medieval coins were recently discovered by metal detectorists in the Scottish Borders.

🎓 Learned leaders: UK universities have educated the most world leaders out of any country, according to new research. 

🛒 Community cause: M&S is launching a new surplus food initiative with community impact platform Neighbourly that'll allow consumers to collect donations of unsold food from stores.

🎥 Factual filmmaking: This renowned documentarian is set to receive a prestigious award for “uncovering powerful human stories”.

🗣️ Climate talks: COP16, the United Nations biodiversity conference, is reconvening today in Rome – here’s the agenda.

🍨 Sweet treats: This is the reason you always have room for dessert, according to a recent study.

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Trivia answer: B) This famous sandal brand was deemed to not be a work of art – here’s why.

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