Making Dreams Reality How to achieve unparalleled travel experiences Executive Summary This special report explores how to achieve transformative and experience. Working with agents lacking a comprehensive flawless travel experiences. understanding of the unique wants and needs involved, will also make for a less smooth and definitively more time-consuming While the refined offerings of luxury resorts were once planning process. satisfactory, many, such as yourself, now seek life-changing trips that no other traveller has experienced, and travel adventures that Experiences picked from a limited menu of options will, inevitably, create indelible family memories. There are several approaches to not meet your expectations. There could be unexpected glitches assembling a trip with all the standard luxe offerings - DIY online on the ground, even unacceptable lapses in personal security. research, traditional travel agencies or tour operators, corporate As well as the possibility of missing out on under-the-radar travel departments, concierge services, or special-interest tour destinations and unique experiences, because there was nobody operators. with the in-depth knowledge of global travel options required to challenge and redirect you to the most fitting destinations and But these travel-planning services cannot meet all the challenges experiences, according to your tastes. associated with this level of exacting standards. While these traditional options may work for a simple getaway to relax and The real solution is to seek out a truly bespoke travel advisor with indulge, they will likely fall short when it comes to the extreme a proven track record, who can offer: personalisation that makes for a truly unforgettable travel ☑ Extreme customisation ☑ Exceptional service from start to finish ☑ An extensive network of contacts and local knowledge ☑ A proven track record of working with exacting clients This special report explains these ideas in more detail. 1 The Challenge: How do you plan extraordinary trips? As you may know, planning truly memorable adventures isn’t always that simple. The following trends have been reshaping the expectations of travellers and raising the stakes for travel-planning services: Transformative experiences Extreme customisation Unfettered access Impeccable execution Transformative experiences Extreme customisation Typically, travel has been geared towards pleasure and When investing extensive time and money into a trip, you would rejuvenation. But as Vogue magazine predicts in a 2017 travel expect it to be highly customised. But not every travel service trends report: “Transformational travel is the next evolution… has the expertise, creativity, resources, and exacting standards it’s travel motivated and defined by a shift in perspective, self- to deliver. Travel Technology and Solutions (a leader in travel reflection and development, and a deeper communion with industry technology) notes in its 2017 trends analysis: “There nature and culture”. is one thing that technology is still very poor at, and that is the personalised human touch which can enhance travelling”. The more tech gadgets take hold in our lives, the more we all yearn for Unfettered access face-to-face service from someone who is truly listening. Access to rarely visited places and people should come as a standard offering. “Travellers want to live personalised, out-of-the- ordinary experiences with a wide variety of activities that reflect local cultures and lifestyles”, states brand-ing agency Origin. But this demands a wealth of local knowledge and contacts. 2 Impeccable execution Naturally, you would expect that everything runs flawlessly. “At Accounting for all this means that anyone—no matter how its most basic, travel means never having to deal with the petty experienced—can get overwhelmed trying to plan a travel and not so petty annoyances”, points out luxury travel magazine adventure at this level. Condé Nast Traveller.4 Your trip should afford you absolute privacy and iron-clad security for some uninterrupted time to focus on your loved ones. Your children should cherish memories of their trip for a lifetime. From Owning to Experiencing: The evolution of travel Elite travellers collectively spend $45 billion annually on travel, As hyper-connectivity makes the world seem smaller, and its according to a recent Luxury Brands report, by international possibilities broader, profound experiences are more in demand. lifestyle publisher Spafax.5 “Owning specific, expensive products like the Hermès Kelly bag You may lead a demanding life, often in the public eye, so it is doesn’t mean as much anymore”, reports National Geographic in understandable that you want to make your holidays count. its 2017 luxury trends round-up. “Travel experiences—and posting about them—matter more”.7 The world’s foremost political, cultural and economical commentary magazine, The Economist, notes that travellers now place “a high value on doing or feeling something new”. “They gain three times the emotional reward from an experience, compared with owning something with the same price tag”.6 3 Traditional Travel Planning Options How do they measure up? In the past, you may have planned trips through one of the following options: ☑ DIY online tools ☑ Travel agents and tour operators ☑ Corporate travel departments ☑ Concierge services ☑ Special-interest tour operators We’ve listed these five options from least to most personalised. But how well do these services work for you? Can they truly help you plan unique and memorable travel adventures of the highest order? Here’s how these five traditional options compare. 4 DIY online tools Pros: The internet is available 24/7 and a simple web search can yield that may appeal to you, away from the crowds. And without insider seemingly limitless possibilities. Online booking sites and room- knowledge and a network on the ground, no one can orchestrate service apps are user-friendly and reviews can inform decisions. the one-off experiences that guarantee you your bragging rights. Cons: As the World Travel Market 2017 Luxury Travel Trends Report notes: “The most elite of travellers want more than just a luxurious Running web searches, aka disappearing down a rabbit hole, can experience. They want to experience something that none of be incredibly time-consuming. Contradictory, dated or downright their friends and counterparts have done before, and also live to incorrect information may come up. The internet is particularly tell the world about it”.8 poor for researching remote destinations without existing tourism infrastructure or a developed online culture—the types of places There is not an app for that. Travel agents and tour operators Pros: These professionals save time by planning itineraries and making Luxury women’s fashion and lifestyle magazine Elle UK notes bookings, with elements of customisation. growing enthusiasm for extreme travel, and cites wilderness experiences such as Porsche ice rally driving in Sweden and Cons: sea kayaking to spot Komodo dragons in Indonesia.9 And in its 2017 luxury travel trends round-up, Global Traveller USA Traditional high-end agents simply retail pre-existing products magazine points to “a rise in luxury travel to places with a sense from a list of approved vendors. But these packages are very of urgency, such as destinations undergoing rapid changes or that generic. And a conventional travel agent’s knowledge is never may become off limits due to natural or political limitations”.10 specific enough to tailor the rare and insider experiences that If something goes wrong, not having the option to call in the you undoubtedly crave. On top of that, agents seldom assign middle of the night could be worse than inconvenient—it could a personal contact available 24/7 to provide total, personalised be catastrophic. continuity and peace of mind. Does that matter after the reservations are made? Absolutely! A responsive service and glitch-free travel, from start to finish, will save you precious time and angst. 5 Corporate travel departments Pros: These on-staff bookers are experienced in arranging flights, Child. But do they know anyone in a village in Northern India hotels, ground travel and classic business leisure such as spa who can arrange for the you to be a guest at a colourful Hindu treatments and golf. They may even be familiar enough from wedding? Can they set up afternoon tea with Nobel Prize winner previous business trips to arrange details such as special diets and Archbishop Desmond Tutu? Since everyone in these corporate seating preferences. departments is busy organising trips for an entire company, they face competing priorities. Throughout the day, they are driven Cons: by relentless demands. That means they often interrupt their planning for phone calls, emails and queries on mundane changes A corporate travel department knows how to organise business to bookings. travel, not life-changing experiences. The internet is their biggest resource for researching anything out of the ordinary, and we’ve So when you need to get through to these harried staff members already seen the limits of that approach. with urgent matters, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear, “Please hold the line for the next available agent”. Yes, corporate bookers can secure the best seats in business class or score last-minute tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Concierge services Pros: With their insider knowledge and high-level lifestyle management travel required to foster relationships with local people in specific capabilities, concierge services will be able to cater to your desires. destinations to create and implement your dream itinerary. The most high-end concierge companies will be exclusively available and extremely familiar with your needs, tastes and wants. For example, no concierge has the extensive network needed to plan a weekend for a fashionista to shop with a fashion TV Cons: presenter in Milan, try on clothes from the collections of Parisian style magazines or go backstage at a shoot in Cannes. The definition of a concierge is someone who can arrange third- party services on behalf of a client.