Custom-made holidays are nothing new but today’s discerning travellers are looking for increasingly intuitive, ultra-exclusive experiences. Sophie Grove seeks out the companies and individuals redefining the concept of bespoke travel

Discerning modern travellers are impossible to please. We want simplicity – and we want sybaritic luxury. We want the wonders of the world without the crowds and yet we don’t want to be completely on our own. We wish for heavenly views, but we certainly don’t want to end up in an ivory tower. In fact, some of us are nigh on perverse. Increasingly, we also demand to integrate into the culture like a local. Veteran status straight off the plane. All in an instant. It’s no wonder the bespoke travel industry has its work cut out.

“If I had to pinpoint one trend, it would be the desire for real experiential authenticity,” says Tom Marchant, co-founder of the travel specialist, Black Tomato, who concedes that, more and more, sumptuous luxury just isn’t enough. “Our customers want an insight into the soul of a place. They want to get under its skin. They don’t want to feel like tourists, but locals. It’s a challenge for us, as, generally, they don’t have weeks and weeks to soak it up.”

Clare Watkins, product manager at Abercrombie and Kent, agrees: “Bespoke travel is changing,” she says. “Whether it be a private viewing of the Vasari Corridor in Florence or a private cooking class in a Provencal castle, clients want an insider experience – something beyond your run-of-the-mill visit to an artist’s studio organised by a tourist office and used by all. They want a true, private moment.”

It’s a tall order. No amount of Frette cotton or cosseting can compensate for zeitgeist. Spontaneity and untainted experience of the locality are key. As demand quickens, the luxury market has had to think beyond the realm of infinity pools and foie gras, and travel companies have had to broaden their scope and seek out staff who can make things happen.

Enter ‘the fixer’. Since the luxury market has made known its preference for authenticity, bespoke travel companies have been nurturing dexterous, switched-on gurus on the ground. “Fixers are hard to find,” says Marchant. “They are from all walks of life. Whether it’s a guy who owns a record store in Rio, who knows the club scene, or a fashion designer in Helsinki with an edge on the art world. They won’t necessarily look at logistics, but they’re the ones we turn to when we want something completely inaccessible. They’ll make the right calls and pull the right strings – open up sides of the city that can’t be done.”

Black Tomato has a matrix of über-fixers around the world whose credentials range from sportsmen to members of state. Whether it’s a trusted Bedouin chieftain or a gastronome in Tokyo, these wild cards carry a cache that no five-star hotel can match. Black Tomato’s standing army of fixers have done the impossible – they’ve closed the Sistine Chapel for a private candle-lit Mass. They also provide whimsical, often wacky experiences, like whisking customers off to play in a local football tournament on a beach in Belize for some entirely local fun. They are part of a body politic; they facilitate adventure and provide a direct plunge to the pulse of a culture. It’s these experts that are becoming indispensable to the luxury market.

The fixer is quite different from your average concierge. “Fixers are intuitive,” says Serena Cook, who’s company, Deliciously Sorted in Ibiza, is used by everyone from Jemima Khan to Primal Scream. “As useful as they often are, a straightforward concierge is usually either hotel- or office-based, whereas a fixer is running around the city – on the ground, on the move. They never say no. And they’re personal – that’s why I wouldn’t do what I do anywhere else. People keep saying, ‘I wish you were in St Moritz or St Barts’, but I won’t go. I know [Ibiza] implicitly; I spent 15 years here, which is what makes me good at what I do.”

Fixers deal in experience. Perhaps this is why the burgeoning global concierge company Quintessentially has created a wacky sib, Quintessentially Escape, to cater for the wilder, more creative travel requirements. “Our requests sometimes seem impossible,” says Jenna Bromage, managing director who heads up the new team. “Whether it’s closing the Taj Mahal for a day or providing a personal audience with the Dalai Lama, we try not to say no. And, surprisingly, we usually manage it.”

Fixers may be a fresh on the luxury scene, but they’re nothing new. “Behind every award-winning journalist there is a network of local fixers,” says one long-time foreign correspondent. “Often, they’ll find the scoops and headline stories for us. Now, they’re doing the same for the travel industry and the super-rich – who, in the end, are after the same thing. They want the scoop on a place, fast, like us.” As the desire for authentic becomes more acute, the industry has had to find its investigative streak. Bespoke travel has become intuitive. This October, the luxury travel company Cox & Kings has even enlisted political correspondent, John Sergeant, to lead a group of intrepid travellers up the Ganges. Experts like Sergeant, who has years of investigative reporting behind him, are ideally placed to share their lifetime of experience with novice travellers.

At Quintessentially Escape, Bromage’s team has cultivated a relationship with Egypt’s ultimate fixer: the archaeologist Dr Zahi Hawass, the pharaoh of the country’s archaeological heritage. Head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and affiliate of National Geographic, Hawass is a flamboyant, incisive guide with access to every archaeological site in the region. The Q Escape team can organise a private tour of the Pyramids, after-hours – which includes a rare trip to the foot of the Sphinx. “Our members see each experience as an investment,” explains Bromage. “Dr Hawass is amazing. His wealth of knowledge is staggering, and he’s great fun.”

While luxury outfits take a leap of faith for their customers, they are also entrusting clients with something sacred. “Fixers are selectors. If they are opening up a gallery for a private exhibition, they want to know the people going in will be appreciative – there’s something intimate there. You’re representing that person,” says Marchant. And while you may have to pay a premium, it’s clear that fixers, by their very nature, are like friends. “It’s not about just throwing money at it. They’ll be the one to tell you what little café has just opened downtown or where to go for amazing live music,” he adds. “That’s what’s refreshing about the fixer. They make things happen.” High-end travel has taken risks that are paying off. The result goes beyond luxury – and into the realm of memory.

www.blacktomato.co.uk
www.abercrombiekent.com
www.deliciouslysortedibiza.com
www.quintessentiallyescape.com
www.coxandkings.co.uk

FOUR OF THE BEST FIXERS

PATRICIA BAHR, Barcelona

Bahr will help you bypass the Rambla and head straight to the obscure, edgy bars and private views. She is one of the few fixers christened a ‘cool hunter’, and it’s a welldeserved title.
www.hotelartsbarcelona.com

ARTVIVA EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCES

Whether it’s an academic tour of Venice with Count Francesco da Mosto, a private visit to the Vatican Museums with the venerable art history scholar, Timothy Verdon, or a tour of Chianti with American wine writer Burton Anderson – Florence based Artviva Exclusive Experiences has Italy’s best fixers on speed dial.
www.italy.artviva.com

TANIA ILLINGWORTH, St Petersburg

A name goes a long way in Russia’s cultural capital and Tania – a relative of Tolstoy – knows it. She can get you a late-night visit to the Hermitage, a private look at Catherine the Great’s Chinese Palace and a behindthe- scenes trip to the Yusupov Palace where Rasputin was murdered.
www.theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk

MARÍA CARRASCAL, Buenos Aires

Carrascal can navigate BA blindfolded. She’s also well-in with the real authentic tango scene and can lead you away from the crowds and straight to the beating heart of the city’s dance hall culture.
www.mariacarrascal.com