Childhood friends put the personal back into booking luxury travel accommodation
Announcement posted by Asia Holiday Retreats 03 May 2017
The local Sydney boys are aiming to crack the $25billion luxury travel industry
Two Australian school friends are on a mission to buck the trend of huge travel booking companies by providing a specialised concierge service for holidays in Asia. At a time when interacting with fully automated booking sites are the norm, Asia Holiday Retreats aims to keep their booking services very personal.
Launched by Sydney natives Mark Tulloch and Nathan Ryan, who have a combined 40 years of experience in the hospitality and travel industries, Asia Holiday Retreats has more than 500 hand-picked luxury villas and accommodations across Asia including Bali, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Unlike many online booking companies, Asia Holiday Retreats has staff on hand to talk person-to-person on the phone and arrange far more than just accommodation.
Mr Tulloch said: “We saw a gap in the market for true attention to detail for people booking luxury holidays in Asia and wanted to provide a full concierge service that our customers can trust. We have high customer return because our services are guaranteed.
“Not only do we have amazing accommodations to suit mid to high end budgets but we also have local travels tips and booking services for each location and can recommend restaurants, activities and tours. For those looking for something more specific, we can arrange tailor-made surf, golf and health retreats or whatever the customer desires.
Mr Ryan added: “Having travelled extensively ourselves, we know how frustrating it can be trying to book a holiday and you can’t get all the answers on a web page; that’s why we provide one-to-one care to take stress out of the whole process.”
The men’s career paths have given them a rich understanding of the industry with Mr Ryan having an established a real estate and villa management company in Bali while Mr Tulloch started at the bottom in the hospitality trade in Australia and ending up turning around 5 star boutique hotels in London to become top performing businesses.
Since Asia Holiday Retreats was started in 2014, they’ve expanded considerably and are looking to go global in the near future. And with the luxury villa rental market already estimated to be worth over AU$25billion, and Airbnb recently acquiring Luxury Retreats for AU$265million, the vision of Mark and Nathan is clear.
“We believe it’s important to grow the business at a steady rate and that’s why we began by focusing on the emerging Asian market,” said Mr Ryan. "We aim to build on that in the future. We aren’t trying to compete with the likes of Expedia or Airbnb because what we provide is a totally different service that isn’t suited to luxury travelers, but we do aim to overtake them because we believe this is what the customer wants. The days of booking a holiday in an actual travel shop are long gone but this is the perfect solution between a travel agency and a completely impersonal booking site."
Launched by Sydney natives Mark Tulloch and Nathan Ryan, who have a combined 40 years of experience in the hospitality and travel industries, Asia Holiday Retreats has more than 500 hand-picked luxury villas and accommodations across Asia including Bali, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Unlike many online booking companies, Asia Holiday Retreats has staff on hand to talk person-to-person on the phone and arrange far more than just accommodation.
Mr Tulloch said: “We saw a gap in the market for true attention to detail for people booking luxury holidays in Asia and wanted to provide a full concierge service that our customers can trust. We have high customer return because our services are guaranteed.
“Not only do we have amazing accommodations to suit mid to high end budgets but we also have local travels tips and booking services for each location and can recommend restaurants, activities and tours. For those looking for something more specific, we can arrange tailor-made surf, golf and health retreats or whatever the customer desires.
Mr Ryan added: “Having travelled extensively ourselves, we know how frustrating it can be trying to book a holiday and you can’t get all the answers on a web page; that’s why we provide one-to-one care to take stress out of the whole process.”
The men’s career paths have given them a rich understanding of the industry with Mr Ryan having an established a real estate and villa management company in Bali while Mr Tulloch started at the bottom in the hospitality trade in Australia and ending up turning around 5 star boutique hotels in London to become top performing businesses.
Since Asia Holiday Retreats was started in 2014, they’ve expanded considerably and are looking to go global in the near future. And with the luxury villa rental market already estimated to be worth over AU$25billion, and Airbnb recently acquiring Luxury Retreats for AU$265million, the vision of Mark and Nathan is clear.
“We believe it’s important to grow the business at a steady rate and that’s why we began by focusing on the emerging Asian market,” said Mr Ryan. "We aim to build on that in the future. We aren’t trying to compete with the likes of Expedia or Airbnb because what we provide is a totally different service that isn’t suited to luxury travelers, but we do aim to overtake them because we believe this is what the customer wants. The days of booking a holiday in an actual travel shop are long gone but this is the perfect solution between a travel agency and a completely impersonal booking site."