In a recent ranking by British media and hospitality company –  Time Out, Lagos has secured the 19th spot as one of the best cities to visit globally.

The rankings, based on a survey of over 20,000 city dwellers worldwide and insights from Time Out’s editorial network, highlight the diverse appeal of cities around the globe.

New York City claimed the top spot, while Cape Town in South Africa secured the second position among the 50 cities listed.

Time Out’s evaluation considered various criteria such as food quality and affordability, cultural offerings, nightlife, the overall atmosphere of the city, community vibes, access to green spaces, historic sites, and more.

Claiming the 19th position, Lagos outshone cities like Melbourne, Australia; Naples, Italy; Singapore; Miami, US; Dubai, UAE; Beijing, China; and Montreal, Canada, among others in Time Out’s global rankings.

This comprehensive list not only showcases cities that are great tourist destinations but also emphasises their suitability for living.

Time Out encourages global citizens to explore Lagos, describing it as Africa’s most populous city with something for everyone, whether one is a staunch mainlander or from Lekki. The praise extends to Posh Victoria Island, which continues to captivate visitors with its blend of swanky resorts, culinary delights, and vibrant nightlife.

“Lekki is for the brunchers – make Maple Lagos your first stop. On the mainland, Kuti’s Bistro in Ikeja, owned by the legendary afrobeat family, serves up reliably delicious food and hosts parties, karaoke, and games nights.

“And then there are the beaches – hit up Oniru Beach for some fun in the sun, but be sure to bring naira for this private beach. For those who live for the night, Hard Rock Cafe Lagos provides a massive indoor-outdoor playground with top artists including DJ Obi (‘Obi’s House’ on Mondays), who set a Guinness World Record in 2016 for a 240-hour marathon set.”

See full list below:

The World’s 20 Best Cities In 2024
New York City
Cape Town, South Africa
Berlin, Germany
London, U.K.
Madrid, Spain
Mexico City, Mexico
Liverpool, U.K.
Tokyo, Japan
Rome, Italy
Porto, Portugal
Paris, France
Mumbai, India
Lisbon, Portugal
Chicago
Manchester, U.K.
São Paulo, Brazil
Los Angeles
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Lagos
Melbourne, Australia

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Wale Ojo-Lanre’s appointment, officially announced just last week, comes after his dedicated service as the Special Assistant to the former Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, with a focus on Tourism Development.

Ojo-Lanre, an extensively traveled and seasoned tourism journalist, not only excels in his profession but also proudly holds membership within the association that collaborates with several states, the Federal Government and private enterprises to promote tourism in their respective regions.

In an official press statement, signed by Mr. Oladoye Oluremi, the Organising Secretary of the Association, the Guild of Tourism Journalists expressed full confidence that Ambassador Wale Ojo-Lanre’s appointment will act as a catalyst for advancing tourism development in Ekiti State, opening doors to numerous opportunities for the region.

The association extended gratitude to Governor Biodun Oyebanjo for recognising Ojo-Lanre’s qualifications for this pivotal role and entrusting him with this crucial responsibility.

They hold unwavering trust in Ojo-Lanre’s ability to excel in this significant position.

Also, the Guild of Tourism Journalists reaffirms its steadfast commitment to nurturing and promoting domestic tourism in Nigeria.

They pledge to work closely with Ekiti State and other regions, strategically increasing visitor numbers to their localities by highlighting heritage sites and other enticing attractions.

The association’s dedication to the development of Nigeria’s tourism sector remains unwavering.

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Findings show that foreign airlines are just as hard-pressed by harsh economic realities as their Nigerian customers that have been looking forward to the season. Quite a number of airlines that had earlier positioned capacity in readiness for the summer peak period are now deploying backend-pricing mechanisms to weather the effects of the forex crisis, invariably passing the cost to consumers.

• Foreign airlines ditch lowest fares, adjust exchange rate to hedge devaluation shocks
• Average travellers lament weak naira to dollar rates, fares
• ‘Demand still resilient’, top travel agencies say

Travel agencies were not unanimous on the extent of attendant dip in demand among average travellers. Undisputed, however, was the upward movement in fares, yet with resilience in patronage, especially among die-hard holidaymakers that would not mind surging costs.

Emerging from two years of pandemic disruptions, the world is fully reopening to summer travels this year. Besides the chaotic scenes at major airports in Europe and America over staff shortages, there is another disincentive for summer travellers in Nigeria – high airfare.

The Guardian survey of booking platforms of major airlines showed a major spike in available tickets to European, United States and Canadian routes among other holiday destinations. On the platforms are the traditional least airfares quoted, though not available for purchase.

Consequently, a Lagos-London-Lagos Economy Class ticket that earlier sold for an average of N350, 000 on platforms of European carriers is now available at higher layers of N1.1 million-plus. Early June 2022, the same tickets were sold for an average of N600, 000 and N650, 000 as at this time last year. Their Business Class variants, where available, were quoted for between N3.5 million to N4.8 million per seat, depending on the airline of choice and time of inquiry.

Lagos-Atlanta-Lagos Economy Class ticket was offered for between N500, 000 to N850, 000 as at June. It now sells for N1.3 million-plus where available. The Business Class fares hover between N3.6 to N5 million per person.

African and some middle-east carriers are offering fairly affordable deals for leisure travellers that would not mind hours of layover at transit airports. On their platforms are an average of N750, 000 fares to major destinations in the Middle-east and Europe.

Some air travellers have described the foregoing quotations as ‘ridiculous’. Abuja-based systems engineer and travel freak, Hameed Ailero, said air travel had gone beyond the middle class earners in Nigeria going by the rates airlines are offering tickets.

Ailero, who also traded-off summer travel last year due to high cost, said the Nigerian authorities should query the foreign airlines for “the discriminatory airfare.”

“For me, that is ridiculous and typical of countries where there are no consumer protection measures. Aviation is supposed to be the business of freedom where almost everybody should be able to fly. But how does one explain a six-hour return ticket that now goes for N1 million and in a country where minimum wage is N30, 000? How many people can afford that? That is what I mean by discrimination against average Nigerians, by both the airlines and complicit regulators.

“In June, when I was planning for a holiday trip, I got a quotation of about N680, 000 to London. Because I was calculating for a family of seven, I felt it was too much. Barely a week later, the rates jumped to over N900, 000. Such leaps in price should be questioned by a government that cares. It does not sound good even for our economy. Whatever could have caused the leap, it is sheer discriminatory against the travelling public,” Ailero said.

Another traveller that would be missing the summer party abroad, Yemisi Ogunleye, said she was banking on summer promo fares on two of the foreign carriers. “I have been travelling for summer holidays for about nine years before the pandemic, and had always got fairly good tickets. This time around, the more I hunt for promo fares, the higher the tickets keep going.

“This N1 million ticket to the UK sounds like a joke to me. Unfortunately, it is not the airlines’ fault. They know that there are categories of people that will still afford it. But if the country is better secured and people can move around on holidays, why should I bother about foreign airlines’ flight tickets?”

Publicity Secretary of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, Yinka Ladipo, however, said that the airlines did not increase the airfares, but for the rate of exchange that rapidly spiked for reasons not unconnected with decline in the value of the naira and airlines’ funds currently stuck in Nigeria.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the clearing house for over 280 airlines globally, recently raised the alarm over a rise in the amount of unrepatriated funds in Nigeria, put at $450 million as at April this year.

Findings showed that the stuck fund, from accumulated sales of flight tickets in local currencies, was in excess of $800 million in November 2021. It was brought down to about $283 million as at March this year, but further increased to $450 million in May, and is estimated to have reached almost $600 million in June.

In that circumstance, foreign airlines had adjusted its perpetually fluctuating Rate of Exchange (RoE) from N411 to as high as N450-plus per dollar, raising airfares some notches to mitigate losses of having funds tied down in a volatile economy.

Ladipo, a travel expert at Dart Travels and Tour, added that the foreign airlines have also blocked layers of affordable airfares for the Nigerian travelling public. “On the platforms, you will, for instance, see fares of N300,000 for London, but it is not available, except for those of N650,000 upward. It is really tough on everybody,” he said.

Chairman of the Airline Passenger Joint Committee of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Bankole Bernard, added that Nigeria was reaping the dividend of its failure to accord priority to foreign airlines and their cash-calls.

Bernard explained that airlines made monies either by volume or by yield. “Volume is when they sell their cheap tickets so that a lot of people will be able to travel because they are given access to cheap fares. In the absence of volume, they turn to yield and the money they are supposed to make from five people, they will make it from one person and deny the other four that want to travel. So, the airlines did not increase the fares, they only removed the cheap ones for the expensive ones.”

Bernard, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Finchglow Holdings, added that people, especially the well-off Nigerians, are still braving the odds to travel, though with a tweak in choices of destinations and budget size.

“There are people that will do everything possible to travel because movement has become inevitable. The only difference is that instead of two or three destinations on a summer trip, they will do either two or one. So, the market is booming for summer travel, though people are paying through their nose,” he said.

President of Skal Nigeria, Daisi Olotu, affirmed that without government making allowances for the travelling public, airfares have become cut-throat and even Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) are not readily accessible at the banks.

“Should we then blame the airlines if they insist that they want to sell in dollars? We can’t blame them, but the cost will eventually be passed down to the travellers. Yet travelling is part of education.

“The entire world is moving while we have decided to remain on self-imposed lockdown. That is unfortunate. Yes people are still breaking their banks to travel, but the industry has not grown the way it should and the authorities should be worried,” Olotu said.

IATA’s Regional Vice-President, Africa, and the Middle East, Kamil Al-Awadhi, had described efforts to persuade the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reduce the backlog as “a hectic ride”.

Al-Awadhi, however, warned that countries with foreign airlines’ trapped funds are sure to have airfares that are three times higher than global rates, to enable airlines to make profit from one leg of the trip instead of on return.

“It is sad that Nigeria owes the bulk of the entire blocked funds. This is very unacceptable. We heard that there is a shortage of dollars. Airlines are scrambling to get more flights to Nigeria. Nigerian travellers are willing to pay for it. But the trapped fund is not helping the airlines and not helping other Nigerians to travel. The prices are ridiculously expensive, more than twice the price. We urgently need the funds for more work,” Al-Awadhi said.

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Chelsea’s club-record signing had failed to score in five games before arriving in Abu Dhabi, and the Blues are looking for the 28-year-old to find his best form in the second half of the season.

The Belgium international swept in from close range on 33 minutes after a defensive lapse to send Chelsea through to Saturday’s final, the second in three years between English and Brazilian teams.

Chelsea can join Manchester United and Liverpool as the third English side to win the Club World Cup, having finished as runners-up to Corinthians on their first appearance in 2012.

Hilal’s forward Odion Ighalo (R) vies for the ball with Chelsea’s defender Andreas Christensen during the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup semi-final football match between Saudi’s Al-Hilal and England’s Chelsea at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, on February 9, 2022. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

They may yet have coach Thomas Tuchel in the dugout come the weekend, with the German still isolating back home after testing positive for Covid-19.

Al Hilal, coached by former Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim, will contest the third-place play-off against Egypt’s Al Ahly as Chelsea’s win made it 12 from 12 for Europe against Asian clubs in the tournament.

Despite the presence of former Manchester United and Watford forward Odion Ighalo alongside ex-Porto striker Moussa Marega in attack, Al Hilal struggled initially to test Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal.

The Spaniard kept his place in the line-up despite the return of Edouard Mendy following his Africa Cup of Nations triumph with Senegal.

Hakim Ziyech fired a shot narrowly over and Lukaku failed to make proper contact with Cesar Azpilicueta’s low ball across goal, but there was no shortage of service for the Belgian.

He held off a defender only to strike straight at Abdullah Al-Mayouf, but Lukaku was presented with the simplest of chances when Yasir Al-Shahrani’s failed clearance left him to turn in the opener.

Kai Havertz, whose cross led to Lukaku’s goal, clipped an effort against the outside of the post after jinking into the area early in the second half.

Chelsea’s forward Romelu Lukaku (C) reacts after scoring the opening goal during the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup semi-final football match between Saudi’s Al-Hilal and England’s Chelsea at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, on February 9, 2022. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

Ziyech then drew a good stop from Al-Mayouf before Al Hilal, who put six past Al Jazira in the previous round, belatedly sparked into life around the hour.

Arrizabalaga raced off his line to block from Marega and then pulled off a sensational one-handed save, flying to his left to keep out Mohamed Kanno’s curling attempt from 20 metres.

Matheus Pereira tormented Chelsea on his last outing against them while at West Brom last season, but the Brazilian’s fizzing effort into the side-netting was the last glimmer of hope for the record four-time Asian Champions League winners.

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Other dignitaries expected at this year’s carnival are, the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi Ajagungbade; Onpetu of Ijeru, Oba Sunday Oyediran Lagbami Osekun and Olugbon of Orile Igbon, and other traditional rulers.

Akinwale Akinwole, the Chief organizer, Ajilete Carnival, also informed that Otunba Olusegun Ogunwuyi, the Chief of Staff to the Oyo State Governor, is the Chief Host.

The Ogbomoso-born entrepreneur and Chairman, Ogbomoso United Football Club, added that apart from the cultural display, masquerade dance, the Fuji music exponent, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma; Abolore Akande popularly known as 9ice and many other local artists are billed to perform during the event.

Ogbomoso Ajilete Carnival Concept, in a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday, stated that the event is scheduled for 26th December, 2021, at  Recreation Club along old Ogbomoso-Ilorin road.

Akinwole, in the statement explained that the change of venue from Ogbomoso Township Stadium to Recreation Club was to avoid distractions on the upgrading of the township stadium.

“To encourage more participation, we have added raffle draw and dancing competition to the event and winners will go home with a lot of prices and special gifts”, he explained.

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Governor Ben Ayade of Cross Rivers state has suspended the 2021 edition of the Calabar Carnival.

The popular carnival is an annual display of culture and beauty and to mark Christmas celebration. Cross-River is the home of tourism and hospitality  in Nigeria and Africa, and goes by the slogan ‘The People’s Paradise.’

According to the governor, the health concerns arising from the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, as well as the prevailing security situation, are his reasons for the suspension.

Ayade made the announcement on Monday at the State Executive Council Chamber attended by carnival band leaders, members of the State Executive Council and local government chairman from the 18 Council areas of the state.

He said the gathering was to unveil the theme of the 2021 edition of the carnival but based on the emergence of the new variant called Omicron and advice by health experts that it kills faster than other variants, the carnival has to be suspended.

The decision was unanimously agreed upon by the stakeholders at the meeting.

He added that the lives of people are paramount and he would compromise the lives and safety of the citizens for the fleeting excitement of the carnival.

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A 25-year-old Chioma Okocha, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail by Justice AC Obiozor of the Federal High Court in Benin, the Edo State capital.

Okocha was convicted for trafficking 200grams of crack cocaine, following her arrest in the Edo State capital on 24 September, 2021, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The conviction comes on the heels of her arraignment in suit No. FHC/B/136c/2021.

In a statement on Wednesday, NDLEA said the convict pleaded guilty to one-count when her case came up in court on Monday, November, 15.

Meanwhile, the judge, granted her the option of paying a N2 million fine or spending 15 years in jail effective from September 24 when she was arrested while trying to deliver 200grams of Crack Cocaine to a customer at an eatery in Benin city.

Also, five men, including Ndubuisi John, Haruna Aliyu, Saddam Abdullahi, Bashir Usman, and Usman Ibrahim have been sentenced to a total of 126-years imprisonment for trafficking in cocaine and cannabis sativa.

Their sentence was passed at the Federal High Courts sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The five men; were sentenced by Justice Ogunremi Omowunmi Oguntoyinbo in suit no. FHC/AB/105c/2021.

The convicts were arrested on the 14th of September 2021 along Lagos -Ibadan expressway conveying 46 bags of Cannabis Sativa weighing 552 kilograms in a truck.

They were subsequently charged on three counts of transportation, possession and dealing in the illicit drug.

Justice Oguntoyinbo, in her judgment delivered on November 9, sentenced the 1st, 2nd and 3rd accused persons to 30 years’ imprisonment each while the driver of the truck bagged 21 years and the motor boy/driver’s assistant 15 years in jail.

While Ndubuisi, Haruna and Saddam were sentenced to 10 years on each count, Bashir got seven years on each count and Usman five years on each count.

The jail terms are to run concurrently.

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Prince Aderinwale, a strategic marketing and communications expert died in his sleep on the 30th of September 2021, few days after he celebrated his 57th birthday.

The online news publishers, in a statement by its Chairman, Olayinka Agboola and PRO, Remi Oladoye,  described the demise of the late Aderinwale as sudden and shocking.

“The demise of this good-natured is a personal loss to our members who used to know the late Mr. Ade Aderinwale as a jolly good fellow who was always willing to support growing businesses with his influence and network.

“We became closer when he was engaged to manage the Guest House of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council, Ibadan and when he later attended the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) for his PGD programme in Journalism.

“Two days before his untimely demise, he invited our Chairman and the Public Relations Officer of SWEGOP, to a meeting with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of a conference being planned by the South West Hoteliers Association.

“The essence of the meeting was to open discussion on partnership with SWEGOP on the proposed conference, scheduled for February 2022.

“At the meeting, the late Aderinwale did not only give his colleagues the reason to partner with us, he also suggested to the group that we should submit a proposal for the media package/management of the event. The package was ready and was about to be taken to him when his sudden death was announced”, the statement read.

It continued, “We commiserate with the wife, children, friends, business associates and other members of his extended family and pray that God will give them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss and grant him eternal rest.”

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Blue Origin has planned its first crewed mission, an 11-minute hop from west Texas to beyond the Karman line and back again, to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of the first Moon landing.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson made the voyage on July 11, narrowly beating the Amazon magnate in their battle of the billionaires.

But Bezos, like Branson, insists it wasn’t a contest.

“There’s one person who was the first person in space — his name was Yuri Gagarin — and that happened a long time ago,” he told the TODAY show on NBC on Monday, referencing the Soviet cosmonaut’s 1961 milestone.

“This isn’t a competition, this is about building a road to space so that future generations can do incredible things in space,” he added.

Blue Origin’s sights are also set higher: both in the altitude to which its reusable New Shepard craft will ascend compared to Virgin’s spaceplane, but also in its ambitions.

Bezos, 57, founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the goal of one day building floating space colonies with artificial gravity where millions of people will work and live.

Today, the company is developing a heavy-lift orbital rocket called New Glenn and also a Moon lander it is hoping to contract to NASA.

New Shepard has flown 15 uncrewed flights to put it through its paces and test safety mechanisms, like firing the capsule away from the launchpad if the rocket explodes, or landing it with one less parachute.

“We learned how to make a vehicle safe enough that we’d be willing to put our own loved ones on it, and send them to space,” Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said at a briefing on Sunday.

Lift-off is at 8:00 am Central Time (1300 GMT) from a remote facility in the west Texas desert called Launch Site One, some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the nearest town, Van Horn.

Weather conditions currently appear favorable and the event will be live streamed on BlueOrigin.com, starting 90 minutes before launch.

VAN HORN, TEXAS – JULY 19: David Morales stands near a mural on the side of his building he had painted to honor Jeff Bezos as the billionaire plans to launch his Blue Origin rocket from a launchpad in West Texas on July 19, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas. Mr. Bezos is scheduled to lift off from the launch pad at 8 am local time on Tuesday in the Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard rocket in the first human spaceflight for his company. Mr. Bezos is to be joined by his brother Mark Bezos, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, and 82-year-old Wally Funk. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

– Richest, oldest, youngest –
Joining Bezos will be barrier-breaking female aviator Wally Funk, who at 82 is set to be the oldest ever astronaut, and 18-year-old Dutchman Oliver Daemen, who will become the youngest.

Rounding out the quartet is Jeff Bezos’ younger brother and best friend Mark, who directs the Bezos Family Foundation and works as a volunteer firefighter.

Notably absent is the still anonymous winner of a $28 million auction for a seat, who had “scheduling conflicts” and will take part in a future flight.

Daemen’s father, the CEO of a private equity firm, was a runner-up in the bidding, allowing his teenage son to become the company’s first paying customer.

After lift-off, New Shepard will careen towards space at speeds exceeding 2,300 mph (3700 kph) using a liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engine whose only byproduct is water vapor.

The capsule separates from its booster, and when it gets high enough, the astronauts unbuckle and experience weightlessness for three to four minutes.

The spacecraft peaks at 65 miles altitude (106 kilometers), allowing the crew members to admire the curvature of the planet, and the inky black of the rest of the universe.

The booster returns autonomously to a landing pad just north of its launch site, while the capsule freefalls back to Earth with three giant parachutes, and finally a thruster, for a gentle landing in the desert.

Funk, who excelled in the Mercury 13 project meant to train women for space, but was denied the opportunity to go because of the sexism of the early space-era, said she planned to make the most of the opportunity.

She told NBC she was looking forward to floating, turning and rolling in near-zero gravity.

– ‘Read the room’ –
Blue Origin has remained relatively coy about what comes next.

The company says it plans two more flights this year, then “many more” next year.

Analysts say much will hinge on early successes and building a solid safety record.

Smith, the CEO, revealed Sunday that the next launch could take place in September or October, adding “willingness to pay continues to be quite high.”

At the same time, the sector is beginning to face criticism over the optics of super wealthy individuals blasting off to space while Earth faces climate-driven disasters and a coronavirus pandemic.

“Could there be a worse time for two uber-rich rocket owners to take a quick jaunt toward the dark?” wrote Shannon Stirone in an Atlantic piece titled “Space Billionaires, Please Read the Room.”

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All you’ll need is a bit of patience. And a lot of money.

Here’s a rundown of where things stand.

Who’s offering spaceflights?

Two companies are offering short “suborbital” hops of a few minutes: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, founded by Richard Branson.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket takes off vertically and the crew capsule detaches and crosses the Karman line (62 miles, or 100 kilometers, in altitude), before falling back to Earth with three parachutes.

Virgin Galactic uses a massive carrier plane, which takes off from a horizontal runway then drops a rocket-powered spaceplane. This in turn soars to over 50 miles altitude before gliding back.

In both cases, up to six passengers are able to unbuckle from their seats to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and take in the view of Earth from space.

When can you go?

Virgin Galactic has said regular commercial flights will begin from 2022, following two more test flights. Their waiting list is already long, with 600 tickets so far sold.

But the company predicts it will eventually run up to 400 flights per year. Two seats on one of the first flights are up for grabs in a prize draw: registrations are open until September 1.

As for Blue Origin, no detailed calendar has been announced.

“We’re planning for two more flights this year, then targeting many more in 2022,” a spokesperson told AFP.

Another way to get to space is via reality television. Space Hero, an upcoming show, says it plans to send the winner of a competition to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2023.

How much will it cost?

The first tickets sold by Virgin Galactic went for between $200,000 and $250,000 each, but the company has warned that the cost for future sales will go up.

Blue Origin hasn’t announced prices. The anonymous winner of a public auction for a seat on the first crewed flight paid $28 million, but decided to defer their trip.

It’s not known what amount was bid for the seat secured by Dutch teen Oliver Daemen, who will fly in the auction winner’s place.

The more “budget conscious” might consider spending $125,000 for a seat on Space Neptune: a capsule that offers 360 degree windows and is lifted to the upper atmosphere by a balloon the size of a football stadium.

Despite the promise of spectacular views, the balloon ascends only 19 miles — far from the boundary of space, and weightlessness.

The 300 seats for 2024 have all been sold, but reservations are open for 2025.

Are the physical requirements tough?

No — you’re only expected to be in reasonable shape. Virgin Galactic’s training lasts just five days.

Blue Origin promises to teach you everything you need to know “the day before you launch,” and its first crewed flight includes pioneering aviator Wally Funk, who at 82 will become the oldest astronaut.

The company’s requirements include being able to climb seven flights of stairs in under 90 seconds (the height of the launch tower) and being between 5’0″ and 110 pounds (152 centimeters and 50 kilograms) and 6’4″ and 223 pounds (193 cm and 100 kg).

What about SpaceX?

Elon Musk’s company is also getting into the space tourism game, but its plans involve journeys that are far longer. The costs are also predicted to be astronomical — tens of millions of dollars.

In September, American billionaire Jared Isaacman has chartered a mission called Inspiration4 to take him and three other passengers into orbit around the Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon, launched into space by a Falcon 9 rocket.

Then in January 2022, three businessmen will travel to the ISS with an experienced astronaut. The mission, named Ax-1, is being organized by the company Axiom Space, which has signed up for three other future flights with SpaceX.

Elon Musk’s company is also planning a trip to orbit for four people, organized by intermediary Space Adventures — the same company in charge of the flight of the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to the ISS in December, aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.

Maezawa is also supposed to take a trip around the Moon in 2023, this time aboard a rocket that is still under development by SpaceX, called Starship.

He invited eight members of the public to join him — but applications are now closed.

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