NEWS THE INTERVIEW


QUICK fi ŭ


group’s strength as “the amazing experiences” it offered. “Customer satisfaction was good, but it was not really joined up,” he says. “Te group was poor on tech and sharing of best practice was weak. We needed to adapt. Tere was some understanding of that, but no focus on it.” He says this was in part because


Tui had starved the businesses of investment. KKR wanted to invest. “KKR are proper investors,” he


explains. “Te average for them owning an asset is seven years. Tey like to buy and improve businesses in a way that is sustainable. Tey don’t just buy it, cut costs, spruce it up a bit and sell it on. “KKR won’t be the owners for


ever, but I’ve got to be the chief executive for the next 10 years.” Duncan has made a decent start.


At the end of this financial year [September 2019], he had grown the group’s profitability by 20%. His focus has been on identifying


the crown jewels in the business and he has sold or is in the process of selling those that are non-core.


travelweekly.co.uk Tis has included the education


division, which had 11 brands, a Dutch adventure business, some events and sports businesses, and Flexiski so far. Te plan is to reduce Travelopia


group’s brands from 53 to 10 or so core ones. Duncan reckons he is halfway through the journey and will complete it in six to 12 months’ time. Te remaining brands will include


polar business Quark Expeditions; private jet company TCS; yachting businesses Sunsail and Te Moorings; adventure business Exodus, which includes International Expeditions and Zegrahm Expeditions in the US; canal boat company Le Boat; its tailor-made division, which includes Hayes & Jarvis, Citalia and Sovereign; plus American Holidays in Ireland and MyPlanet in Scandinavia.


Acquisitions But it’s not all about selling. Duncan made his first acquisition, in May, of Munich-based high-end luxury tailor- made business Enchanting Travel. “We are looking to buy more,” he


says. “My vision is to be the world’s best experiential travel company. In some ways, we’re already unique – we have leading brands in lots of areas. Tere isn’t a company like ours with the breadth of experiences we offer.” And as Travelopia acquires more


businesses, Duncan expects staff numbers, which have dropped from 4,000 to 2,500, to “go back up again”. As well as acquisitions, Duncan


says the group is undergoing a significant data and customer-driven tech investment programme. “It’s the customer-facing tech we


need to improve and are well into a three-year programme of spending tens of millions on smarter customer relationship management (CRM). Media has been through the biggest curve; travel is much less mature.” Duncan sees an opportunity for


growth in trade and online channels, and working with agents will be key. “My aspiration with Travelopia is


to keep all the amazing experiences we offer and add the bits that are missing – data, personalisation and CRM. It’s a really inspiring business.”


1. Where is home? Chaldon, Surrey.


2. The last book you read? Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.


3. Favourite holiday destination? Ethiopia – I’ve visited the country three times in the last two years and am about to go back again.


4. Any hobbies? Playing any sport – especially hockey, golf and tennis – and, of course, any travel.


6. What has been your best experience working in travel? Visiting six African countries in nine days with our TCS business including seeing the gorillas in Rwanda. I also loved doing the polar plunge in the Arctic with our Quark Expeditions business.


10 OCTOBER 2019


13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80