What three things does it take
to be successful in business? Passion, intuition and precision! That is what I answered in an interview with Citywealth: a monthly newsletter
providing news, analysis and features on
wealth management to ultra high net worth individuals around the world.
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Passion: Collette O'Connor in our London office in interesting
talks with Scott de Mercado on Golden
Eye Hotel Jamaica |
I have always known that passion and intuition were important in building up Select Travel/Select Collection
over the last 22 years.
But recently we have sharpened
the tool of precision at Select.
More than ever we are able to focus on our discerning customers to provide
personalized luxury. Our technical setup has advanced dramatically so that my
team can pour their passion and energy into serving our valued customers to
perfection.
More questions were
taken up in the interview published in the September issue of the Citywealth
newsletter, mailed out to 8500 ultra high net worth individuals around the
world. Here are some of them:
Tell us about your
business?
We create individual luxury
travel experiences, with our chic Nordic-style travel boutiques offering a
perfect start to a perfect journey.
Where are the most exotic places to travel to now?
Burma is very exotic, with its
golden pagodas, rubies and silver, beautiful waterways and people living
as they have done for centuries. A luxury cruise is the way to explore.
Another place for those who have
seen it all is Bhutan, where the people value gross national happiness more
than GNP. Warm friendly people who live cut off from the world in the
Himalayas.
What is the most unusual trip you
have organised?
When a honeymoon couple booked
by another travel agency phoned our office crying about their awful hotel on
the Barrier Reef, I organized for them to fly to another island – and managed
to get their money back from the first one.
Where do very wealthy clients really want to visit?
Generally the most popular
destination for those who can afford it is “paradise” - a lush, tropical island
with just one luxury hotel, offering villas on stilts or on the beach, your own
private pool, gym and spa. But our wealthiest clients are now also demanding
top notch adventures like Galapagos and Antartica.
What do you do for wealthy clients that
they can’t get elsewhere?
Our concierge service reaches
around the earth, so you could get champagne delivered to the top of a Table
Mountain, ready for a carefully orchestrated proposal of marriage, or be
serenaded by an opera singer in a gondola in Venice …
Do you see philanthro-tourism?
The five star hotels we prefer
make an effort to support and invest in the local communities. It is too early
still for customers to come in and say: “Take me somewhere where they are doing
good”. But I personally would like to create the demand…
What are the secrets to travelling ?
Of course the real secret is to
have a tour operator who plans everything so well that there are no unfortunate
surprises – only pleasant ones
Who would you most like to have as your travelling companion?
My lovely man – whom I met just
before my recent birthday
