MP Damian Hinds learns about wildlife travel agents Naturetrek

Transcript

00:00People that want to go see the world's iconic mammals, want to cruise in pristine environments.

00:04Dan in the corner will organise a trip to see the world's rarest amphibians and reptiles.

00:10Gosh, okay. So our clients are people that want to spend all or the vast majority of their holiday in pursuit of wildlife,

00:19whatever that wildlife might be. So they're quite dedicated kind of clients.

00:23Obviously you plan it, book it, inspire people. Do they then do it independently?

00:33No, we take them. We organise a group trip. It's a standard departure.

00:38We have a lot of options. We have a huge brochure that you can customise over.

00:44We'll have some clients that will come back year and year and year and they'll get different trips each year.

00:49So we'll take them. We'll research it ourselves, recce it, put it all together.

00:54We'll sign an expert tour leader to take the group and show them everything.

00:58Some of them, they'll then go into the same spot for 20 plus years and they'll know every flower on the mountain that they're going to.

01:04How big are the groups usually?

01:07Up to about 16. A cruise is bigger if we take over a charter on a cruise vessel, up to 100, 110.

01:13Normally 16. And as Kerry says, an expert tour leader on all of our tours.

01:18That makes up about 85% of our business. 15% is what we call tailor-made, bespoke travel,

01:23where a couple or a small family group come to us and say,

01:25we really like what you do, but we don't want a group tour with 10, 12 other strangers.

01:29We want a special anniversary celebration or grandparents take multi-generational family trip away.

01:35And that's our tailor-made business. Similar kind of product.

01:39Is that the main brochure?

01:41That's a copy. Sorry about that.

01:43Well, it's well used.

01:45I haven't actually got my jacket in the car, I haven't got my reading glasses, but I get the gist.

01:51You get the gist from the photos, don't you? Gosh.

01:54And there's a lot in it.

01:56I mean, it's...

01:57It's hard and hard over the years to find a new destination, a new country we don't operate to.

02:01We really do cover the world and that's one of the strengths of the business.

02:04We're quite kind of thinly spread.

02:06Yeah.

02:07So if there's political unrest or a natural disaster, if you're a one country specialist...

02:10Right, you can just pull out of that little bit and you've still got many others.

02:13And move the business elsewhere, so that's one of the company's strengths.