CELESTIAL ESCAPES

In the modern world, truly dark skies are a rarity. it's the reason more travellers are seeking out places where the stars seem within reach.

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OF ALL THE BEAUTIFUL UNKNOWNS OF OUR world, the night sky remains one of the biggest mysteries.

It has inspired poetry and mythology. Explorers have used it to guide their way home. Nations continue to vie to be the first to navigate its outer reaches.

For a few years, travel trend forecasters focused on a handful of billionaires attempting to make space flight an option for regular humans. It turns out trends don't need to be so extreme. One estimate suggests dark sky tourism will be worth US$400 million globally by 2030, representing a 10 per cent growth each year. Closer to home, 89 per cent of visitors to Western Australia showed an interest in travelling to stargaze.

Ground zero for dark sky tourism is Tucson, Arizona. In 1972, it was the first city to adopt widespread ordinances to minimise light pollution. Two years ago, Saguaro National Park, a half-hour outside Tucson, was recognised as an Urban Night Sky Place by DarkSky International. "If you want to look up into the night sky and experience the southern Milky Way with a backdrop of mountains and saguaros - the giant cactuses - it's great," says Peter McMahon, visitor centre operations manager at Kitt Peak National Observatory.