I love working as a travel-designer. The reason I do is because I am able to propose and create truly original and creative experiences, that are, literally, once-in-a-lifetime. My favorite term for this is tailor-made, but other phrases evoke the same feeling of individuality. Our company has certainly created packages in the past, and yet we nearly never sold that exact same trip. But what is a tailor-made trip? In this article I would like to take the time to explain what I really mean when I say tailor-made travel, and why this style of travel beats all others.
The article is organized as follows:
· A definition of tailor-made travel
· History of tailor-made travel
· Our experience, or your experiences
· Why packages still exist (this is all about Google’s influence)
· Examples of outcomes that bring joy
Tailor-made travel is a way of travelling, following a unique itinerary where every part of the trip has been created individually to adapt to your style, taste and budget. The term is interchangeable with ‘customized holidays’, or many other words, and just means your flights, stopovers, accommodation, tours or vehicle hire have been arranged to match your individual requirements. It is experiencing France your way, when and how you want, with whom you want, and nothing more.
The evolution of mass market for travel in the 1950s and 1960s saw the prominence of tour operators, and inbound travel agencies. Of course in this time travelers planning an individual tour in Europe would have incurred significant costs in time and expense, to choose and correspond with foreign hotels, and high monetary expenses for international phone calls. Buying separate services in a pre-arranged package reduced costs substantially and so the package tours reigned up until after the year 2000. These trips were often fixed-date departure for a small or large group tour leaving on x-date for x-$ per person in a twin share room. As information costs came down, and the internet broke down distance, tour operators now had the opportunity to create trips for folks who have their OWN dates, duration and interests. There was now no longer any need to see Versailles again should it be lumped into an otherwise attractive package!
While we also have packages on our website, but I can tell you the truth – they have never been sold, and will probably never be sold, as is. We use these packages to inspire and provoke, and also to tease the algorithm behind some search engines. Our itinerary ideas include beautifully descriptive words about relaxation, and the French way of life and style, they don’t use the words ‘customization’, ‘bespoke’, ‘one-off’, or ‘hand crafted’; since these are less common when used by potential clients when searching for their next trip. It is the way it is, and Search Engine Optimization is still a way of life. Instead, we know that all folks have specific criteria meaning they choose to tweak and improve the itinerary to suit them. We prefer using our itineraries as a a guide, and base our initial conversations around them.
A tailor-made travel agent is an experienced consultant who is knowledgeable about a specific country and can therefore offer you first-hand experience and recommendations in your chosen destination! We work together to curate a day-by-day itinerary with seamless transfers, tried and tested guides, immersive private excursions, and perfectly adapted lodgings, all hand-selected to match your interests and preferences. The result is, an authentic and sincere experience.
My personal approach honed in 6 years on the job, is based on an initial long and relaxed phone or skype video call. I have a set of starter questions, and I aim to eke out your interests, and your experience with a host of open questions. I try to introduce some early ideas, and propose a rough set of options. This funnels me along to the stage (at the end of the phone call) where I am ready to create one or two proposals. I usually prefer doing only one proposal, with some options, such as luxury lodgings to finish the stay, or perhaps a night-time adventure in a 2cv (!) that pushes the budget, but adds so many memories to your stay. It usually takes me a day or two to research and collate any answers from guides and drivers. We’ll then email you the first draft of your unique itinerary. This will include your accommodation, and a detailed description of each day and the total price. The idea is for you to read through your itinerary to see if you like the sound of it. At this point nothing is (usually) booked, so if you choose to switch any hotels or add/remove any options, you can.
The whole point is that the final say is yours – we want yours to be the trip of a lifetime! Before you stop reading and start thinking, “Hold on, this sounds expensive!” – it doesn’t need to be! The concept is just to create a trip that suits you, designed by someone who knows plenty about where you’re going. Ways of reducing the overall cost, are mixing the quality of accommodation on your trip. For example, you could opt for a 3* hotel in expensive Paris but a 5* hotel in a cheaper city like Avignon, to balance your costs. I love proposing the nicest hotel for the last nights of your stay.
The best way to explain what we do is via some special examples. One example marked me and has stayed with me year’s later. It was the request by a French speaking Canadian to undertake a luxury anniversary trip with his wife in London, and while he was there to undertake a surprise renewal of vows ceremony. I took it on to search for the perfect French speaking celebrant in London. It was a work of joy to search for a specialist, make a selection, then train the celebrant to precisely provide what the traveler wanted. I later received feedback that this was a complete success for all. Another example was to be given a carté-blanche and told to create something impressive and refined for a day, so I made day out from Cannes, by helicopter, to an excellent restaurant in Baux de Provence. I have had bucket list requests for long stays in Parisian apartments with very specific mobility needs. I once also created a trip focused on healing from grieving, and visiting some of the important Catholic pilgrimage spots. I have also loved creating active vacations that explore and expand on what folks already know. I have taken a thrill from showing travelers the joys of adrenalin filled Canyoning and Via-Ferrata, two sports invented in Europe and little known elsewhere. Lastly, I still exchange pleasant emails with an ex-traveler, who spent his time learning very detailed French cooking skills while his wife worked in Toulouse and Bordeaux. I could go on with a longer list; and nearly include all past travelers. None of these experiences would have been possible in a group tour – they are too individual based on taste, budget, and level of fitness.
I hope you enjoyed this article on what is a tailor-made trip and why choose it over other way of traveling. We know that there is nothing worse when you travel somewhere special than following fifty people around, and be forced to stay behind a guide with a flag, or face getting lost. The sheep-herd mentality is certainly not appealing in the post-Covid world.
This article has shown how a tailor-made individual trip is made to suit a family, or a group of friends, and allows the freedom to explore and make the most of every minute. But first things first; you need to have an idea of how long you want to travel for, when you’d like to go and how much you want to spend. After that’s decided, it’s time to talk to us! Of course we organize around your time zone and preferred availability, before we set-up a call.
If you enjoyed this article, do not hesitate my previous post on how to see the best places at the optimal moment during your travel.
