Travel your way: what is a tailor-made trip?

We’re all used to marketing speak and buzzwords these days, and sometimes a word or a phrase can be so overused (or misused) that its actual meaning becomes muddy. The phrase ‘tailor-made travel’ may be guilty of that.

So, what does tailor-made travel actually mean? For us, it’s about offering a truly bespoke travel planning service. We connect you with local travel experts in destinations around the world who then co-create a customised travel itinerary unique to you and your travel companions.

The word ‘co-create’ is the key here. The beauty of a tailor-made tour is that you can bounce ideas around with our local travel experts and craft a trip that will fit your group like a glove. If you’re interested in local music – our expert will know the places and experiences to cover. If you’d like to keep the travel pace slow and spend more time in nature, they’ll make space for that. Likewise, if a challenge, like climbing a mountain or white-water rafting, is on your bucket list, they can arrange that too.

How does tailor-made travel work?

Once you have a destination in mind, you can connect with a local expert and start the planning process. These guys all live and work in their respective countries and have an intimate knowledge of life there. They’ll be able to start discussing ideas with you and get a feel for the kind of trip you’re looking for. If you’re unsure of when to travel, they’ll be able to discuss the pros and cons of visiting at different times of the year in terms of weather, experiences, festivals and more.

You may already have a good idea of the places and experiences you’d like to include, or you might want them to guide you completely. So, the planning process itself will also be tailor-made for you. To help you get started, we have a range of sample travel itineraries for each destination that you can pick and choose from.

Once you and your local expert have created an outline for your trip and discussed the types of hotels, lodges or homestays you’d like to stay in, you can sit back and let them do their thing. They’ll do all the planning, booking and scheduling, arranging things like transfers, tours, hotels and restaurant bookings, and pulling the whole trip together. All you need to do next is book your international travel and catch your flight/train. Once you arrive, everything else is taken care of.

Who are tailor-made trips for?

Tailor-made travel is for anyone who wants a thoughtfully curated trip crafted to suit their unique interests and style of travel. You may like to be guided throughout your travels with a dedicated private guide and driver, or you may prefer to be left to your own devices, perhaps with a self-drive itinerary and a choice selection of private or small-group experiences. Perhaps you don’t want to travel as part of a tour group, but it can be fun to meet other travellers for the odd day out or expedition.

A tailor-made tour is also for those short on time or those who have had enough of travel admin and holiday-planning headaches. With tailor-made, all the nitty-gritty is taken care of and you can simply make the most of travelling. You’ll also have 24/7 support while you travel. If there are any hiccups, hitches or unforeseen circumstances, there will be someone on hand with the local knowledge and language to get things ironed out and back on track.

This kind of customised travel is also for those who want to get to know a country or region more deeply and authentically. With a local expert, you can step beyond the tourist trail and explore lesser-known corners. You’ll be able to meet local people for unique experiences that wouldn’t be possible on an off-the-shelf tour. In short, their local knowledge will bring your trip to life.

What is the difference between tailor-made and pre-made?

Pre-made itineraries are crowd-pleasers – the tour structure will generally favour the road most travelled in the hope of appealing to a wide audience. They cover the holiday hot spots and must-sees, whisking you around on a top 10 bucket list-style trip that ticks the boxes. This is all very well, but these kinds of trips often fail to get under the skin of a place. The experience will often feel canned and one-dimensional and may lack that feeling of authenticity and genuine connection with another people and culture that many travellers crave.

Tailor-made trips: a way to travel responsibly

By choosing a tailor-made holiday, you can craft a trip that benefits locals, communities and the environment in your chosen country. All our travel experts are locals who live in the destination and work independently or for small, locally-owned travel companies. They have a network of tour operators, locally-owned accommodation providers, restaurants, drivers, guides, experts and organisations they work with directly. A trip planned like this guarantees that the money you spend benefits the local economy rather than international companies.

Bespoke travel planning also means that you can consciously choose more environmentally-friendly options. Ask your local expert to book bus and train tickets instead of internal flights, choose environmentally-conscious accommodation and favour slow travel with a more in-depth exploration of a smaller area.

Are tailor-made trips worth it?

Absolutely! They may be a little more expensive than a group trip or an independently planned adventure, but the advantages of tailor-made holidays are many. You’ll be in full control of the planning process, but with the backup of deep local knowledge, planning expertise and some dazzling new ideas.

Enjoy the dedicated attention of an expert who will take the time to understand your travel style and what you and your companions want from your travels. Then, to top it off, you get to skip all the scheduling details, show up and click straight into holiday mode. If you haven’t tried tailor-made travel before, it really is a game-changer.

Make it happen

Are you curious to venture into the wide world of tailor-made travel? Look no further – our local experts are ready and willing to help, so all you need to do is pick your next destination and get in touch today!