How to plan luxury trips to off-the-beaten-path places

How to make off-the-beaten-path destinations work for high-end clients?

The answer lies in pre-running the trip myself and training our partners.

The challenge I face daily is that under-the-radar places are often not set up for very discerning travellers that I serve.

One element of luxury is experiencing places and cultures that few get to see. But unless comfort, security and service flow seamlessly through this experience, it’s just a mid-range holiday.

• Sample Itinerary
• Testimonials
• Gallery

How to make a trip run smoothly

This is where the personal approach comes in. To make sure every element is seamless, you have to go there yourself and run the trip from start to finish.

For a recent trip to Vietnam, I knew the client would love the most incredible and unvisited parts of the country in the North.

This wouldn’t be an issue for backpackers or mid-range travellers. However, for high-end clients, I needed to build a level of support that is far from the default in this region.

So I went, for 2 weeks, to reccy the trip and teach our partners on the ground how to provide an elevated service.

I took my youngest son to experience the trip from a family perspective. The feedback of a 6-year-old is surprisingly insightful.

How to make remote locations work for luxury travel

It’s all in the finer elements that are overlooked for less demanding tour operators. Take just one element, for example: the transfer vehicle. Steps I took included:
– vetting the specific make and model of vehicle
– requiring a full list of all items in the vehicle, from umbrellas to cold towels;
– providing healthy snacks and the clients’ favourite refreshments.

Often, it’s more a mindset shift than a tangible item that I need to change. It’s making the guide feel empowered to make decisions – to rejig the itinerary if the clients are tired; to arrange for a local store to open after hours for something they need; to detour to a local festival or market.

Importantly, it’s not penny pinching. It’s giving the guide a budget to spend on surprises for the clients – a memento they saw; tropical fruit from a streetside vendor; entry to a place outside the itinerary.