As travel options continually evolve, the most recent literally anticipating client wishes, we are lucky to be living in Denver which has become the epi-center for these entrepreneurial travel companies. During the past decade we witnessed the rise and fall of the Residence Club model with the two strongest surviving entities residing in metro Denver home, i.e. Exclusive Resorts and Quintess. Our area is also home to the tried and true mainstream management companies including Sage Hospitality, RockResorts and most recently the relocation of Intrawest to Lodo.
Metro Denver is home to a new breed of travel entrepreneurs who have busily been working to bring us, the traveling client, innovative trends in vacation travel.
The new companies are literally reinventing how we view and execute our vacation planning process. Cuvee Ventures and their available to the public access, Cuvee Escapes, mentioned in this column a few months back, is so exclusive, those who are provided membership enjoy access to the finest vacation residences worldwide and potential equity appreciation we well. Members of the newly formed Inspirato, founded by members of one of the legacy families in Denver, the Handlers, are providing their clients with Residence Club quality lodging at a fraction of the initiation cost.
Next Great Place Inc., is a new venture in online travel planning. The company integrates the complex and detailed nuances associated with the custom vacation planning process (think villas and chalets, rather than standard hotel rooms and airline tickets) coupled with the simplicity of the Internet. While not necessarily a new concept, one that has never truly gained traction…yet!
When entering the Cherry Creek offices of Next Great Place, the first sight beyond the Albatross emblazoned logo (which I learned is the only species of bird to be able to circumnavigate the world) is a ping-pong table. Immediately the vibe of the office is more oriented to Google versus a traditional travel agent office. Expecting to see employees in cubes with headsets and screens blazing the distinctive pattern of the GDS, visitors are confronted by a group of employees, all well-dressed, yet casual, conversing. This is not the boiler-room of a large back-room travel agency or the client-centric design of a retail agency. Instead this very well may be the new genre in travel planning and procurement.
After initial introductions, I join President and Co-Founder Tom Filippini in a conference room for our Q&A. The name may sound familiar for those in the Denver area. Tom was one of the co-founders and Executive Vice President of Exclusive Resorts. Now with partner Erik Mitisek (another alum of Exclusive Resorts), they have developed Next Great Place.
Joseph Sobin (JS): Tom, you have a most impressive background concerning travel, thus I have to ask what was the impetus for the development of Next Great Place? Was there one particular incident which was the catalyst many entrepreneurs share which is “I can do this better”?
Tom Filippini (TF): Actually yes, I was planning a vacation to Belize for my family and I was literally overwhelmed with the information and options available on the Internet. I typed “Travel to Belize” into Google and in .24 seconds there were 85,800,000 results available for my review. I knew there had to be a better way. Long story short, Next Great Place has appropriated the best attributes of the top 25 travel web sites and distilled those offerings into one site, NextGreatPlace.com. Thus, what would consume hours of time to research, not even considering misinformation has been brought down to a 90 second request form.
Yet beyond the web platform, Erik and I also wanted to instill core values including access to a professionally vetted and reviewed portfolio of vacation options as we all know what you see is not necessarily what you get on the Internet. In addition we added an element we internally call “Vacation Certainty” which is a mix of old-school service and knowledge coupled with Internet savvy. All of this is available to our clients via the service model which allows the consumer to execute a request form and have our travel experts and partners provide options based on each client’s personal requests.
JS: You mentioned pre-vetted travel partners and suppliers as one of the attributes of Next Great Place. With all the review sites including TripAdvisor, Oyster and others, how is NGP different?
TF: I am glad you mention Oyster. We found their reviews and photos to be excellent yet at present Oyster reviews hotel rooms. At NGP we are offering a diverse collection oriented towards vacation rentals which is a segment of the travel industry which is expanding exponentially. At NGP, we have internal employees and professional consultants visit the accommodations provided to our clients. The lodging options we offer are considered at minimum 4.5-5 star ranking; in industry jargon, deluxe and high-end. When our representative visits, he or she executes a 300 question checklist which is proprietary to NGP. We then review the findings via an internal scoring methodology and if the accommodations meet our criteria, they are included for presentation.
We also work with what we call the Branded Villa entities. Familiar brands in our own state include The Ritz-Carlton vacation residences in The Vail Valley and Aspen Highlands, The Four Seasons Residences, also in Vail and others. We offer these options to our clients knowing the 5-star service, location and reputation has been vetted over time.
JS: Next Great Place offers ”touchdown to takeoff” service which we know is the hallmark of deluxe service; can you offer any insights?
TF: Working with our partners we wish to offer our clients the best value for their vacation expenditure which I would argue begins at the initial stages of trip planning. Our initial request form is the start of the process, however let’s fast-forward. Our vendors may assist a client in procuring ground transportation from their home to their local airport or jet center. Upon landing at their destination the service may continue in the form of, ground transportation, concierge consultation including activity planning, grocery delivery, private chefs and other attributes we developed for our clients from the Residence Club model we have brought to the clients of NGP.
Yet behind the scenes with all of our partners and suppliers we have an internal Standard Operating Procedure associated with clients of NGP. While not divulging too much, every client of NGP when working with an affiliated supplier receives an enhanced level of service and attention to detail they would not otherwise receive if they booked directly.
For our vendors and suppliers, even though we have requested enhanced service and amenities for our clients, we have become a valued source of business . NGP is truly a partnership distributing a premium product via an innovative distribution model and most importantly delivering “closed business” for our partners. From our initial trip planning questionnaire we are literally turning lookers into bookers.
JS: What about flights?
TF: At present we are not offering flight reservations. However we are exploring potential partnerships with a travel entity which may offer coach, business and first-class ticketing as well as options concerning general aviation. At present we truly wish to enhance our existing model to the benefit of our clients and supplier partners.
JS: How is NGP different from the Residence Clubs and entities such as Inspirato and Private Trade Winds?
TF: Next Great Place offers a free, online, service-supported booking platform for travel planning. At this time, there is no comparable service. There is no risk to the consumer as there are no upfront or hidden fees or service charges.
JS: In many respects, NGP is offering the services once the domain of the front-line travel agent. Thus, do you consider NGP the next evolution in travel planning?
TF: While we have been innovative mixing technology with inspired service, we continually strive to build the business from the bottom up presenting properties which we have vetted as we only have one opportunity to build trust and brand equity. We have the utmost respect for our travel agent peers however their model is somewhat dated. Their inventory is provided via the GDS {Global Distribution System} and is oriented towards hotel inventory. A select few have started to offer concierge services. At NGP we are offering a different product including vacation villas not loaded into the GDS, attractive client-centric pricing based on immediate yield-management not what is static on a reservations system and finally personalized service usually not found with an Internet based entity.
JS: Can you please explain attractive client-centric pricing?
TF: At NGP each inquiry is custom. Our partners respond accordingly and thus have the flexibility and will to offer more attractive pricing based on occupancy-levels and time-of-year in a yield-management model. The bottom-line, our partners are providing clients of NGP the most attractive pricing available, usually beating posted rack rates as well as flash-sale and opaque reseller sites.
JS: It seems all the new travel models all offer large homes in the same locations in Ski Resorts and in Mexico. I swear all the homes are starting to look alike.
TF: We are somewhat guilty as our two most popular destinations at present are the ski resorts and Los Cabos in Mexico. The reality is, these are popular destinations. However as we continue to expand we desire to offer locations, resorts and projects based on our client’s input and requests. Most residence clubs and similar entities build a portfolio based on specific criteria i.e. number of bedrooms, bathrooms, location and so forth of available properties and then provide access for their clients. We are doing the opposite as we are client-driven.
We want our clients to advise us where they wish to travel and we continually survey them as well. Yet we also may provide options our members are not aware of including unique lodging options, off the beaten-path locations and so forth. Just like our logo, the Albatross spans the world and so will our offerings.
JS: Philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility are trends. Any insights concerning NGP?
TF: Our corporate logo includes The Albatross, a bird considered “good luck” by sailors, the only bird to fly around the world and unfortunately in danger due to long-line fishing. Thus we do support a charity with the mission to protect the Albatross. Yet, we are also aware not everyone has the love of the bird as I do. Thus, we have sponsored animals through various charities and looking into options of partnership with the World Wildlife Federation.
On the client-side, we hope to begin including options for Voluntourism. While it is a very small segment of the marketplace, to be able to offer the option to literally “do good while on vacation” is quite appealing and is in-line with the values of NGP.
JS: The economy seems to be stuck in neutral, resorts in Colorado have been cautious concerning pricing pressures yet I hear NGP continues to expand. Thus, can you share employment and expansion plans?
TF: As mentioned prior, the vacation villa rental segment of the market continues to expand even during this period of economic uncertainty. What it comes down to it, vacation rentals offer an enhanced value for the vacation spend. No matter one’s socio-economic level, we all desire to get the most satsfaction and value for our vacation expenditure.
Concerning NGP, at present we have 12 persons on payroll. By the end of 2011, that number will most likely increase to 20-25 with additional hiring in 2012. Most of the new hires will be on the service side of the business. Thus we will be in search of the best concerning client-centric service which we feel can be trained, yet for who we wish to hire, it is an intrinsic trait.
In addition, we will be adding 25-35 consultants for our review team. We are very specific in who we are contracting for these tasks. Since they will literally be our eyes and ears for our collection of residences we will be searching for experienced hospitality and tourism professionals including travel writers, reviewers and agents. Again while such skills can be taught, we prefer those who possess the passion and skill-set to provide our clients the most accurate and professional review possible sans bias or compensation.
JS: Tom, thank you it has been a pleasure and I wish you and Next Great Place the best of success.
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