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Combining surf and turf vacations is a growing trend, said Todd Smith, small ship cruise expert and founder of AdventureSmith Explorations, the active travel company that matches adventure-seeking clients and expedition ships.

“The trend makes sense,” Smith said. “You’ve cruised through a region and seen it from that perspective but you also realize that you may never get there again, so you also plan to maximize the possibilities ashore for cultural and natural explorations while you have the chance. We’ve seen our sea and land bookings increase two-fold in the past three years.”

To encourage the coupling of land and sea, AdventureSmith Explorations will offer a $100 discount to each client booking a cruise with an added land extension. This incentive, said Smith, does two things: it saves the client money and assures smooth logistics and a precise pre-set itinerary from ship to lodge and beyond.

“By making these arrangements, guests turn over to our staff a multitude of logistical puzzle pieces. It’s to the traveler’s advantage to make arrangements with a company that can deftly package a cruise and a cultural/nature adventure vacation before or after. Assigning one tour operator to be responsible for the entire itinerary can save time, money and anxiety,” Smith said, adding that a company should be able to arrange details in traveling to/from an embarkation city, arrange hotels, transfers, flights and tours, plus make recommendations for packing, all at no extra cost to the traveler. For more information, call 800-728-2875 or visit www.AdventureSmithExplorations.com.