Elegant Resorts: 35 Years Of Impeccable, Personalised Travel Experiences

10 months ago

Elegant Resorts is a Great British Brand 2024

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Elegant Resorts is an entry in our Great British Brands 2024 book.

Elegant Resorts: Great British Brand 2024

‘Elegant Resorts was established in Chester in 1988 with a very small team – forming the first ever luxury tour operator. We set out to understand the needs of our ultra-high net worth clients, dreaming up incredible bespoke holidays to the Caribbean. In terms of who we are, nothing has changed today, though the competitive landscape is very different – and our trips reach a much wider range of destinations.

The more we understand people, the more we absolutely get it right for them. It really is the human touch and relationships that make the difference. Our repeat business is exceptionally high at 80 percent. We’re very focused on the finer details – securing the exact room people want, treating them like VIPs while travelling, getting access to restaurants that nobody can get into or securing tickets to an exclusive event – you can’t do that through technology, and people are blown away if they haven’t travelled with us before.

However, technology gives us strong data to understand our clients’ interests and can enhance efficiencies to allow us more time to focus on our clients. We’re using AI in graphic design, web design and as a research tool. But we’d never use it to advise clients, relying instead on our direct experience and considerable knowledge. We’ve sent team members on 50 trips this year and their experiences come through on our live vlogs, blogs and social media – building trust because people can see what we’re actually doing. Our brochures are smaller and more specialised, for example focusing on wellness retreats and products; and instead of a restrictive annual brochure we add hundreds of products to our website annually. Clients are still interested in print, so our magazine, Elegant Traveller, conveys news and destination stories.

As a company we do all we can to act responsibly. We’re building up our slow travel with lovely trips including on the Orient-Express – I’m sure the popularity of these is driven by heightened consciousness.’

Lisa Fitzell, CEO

Five Proudest Moments

Opening our doors in 1988 as the first UK tour operator to specialise in luxury travel. We still offer the highest levels of service and product in the UK travel industry.
The launch of Elegant Journeys in 2019, a collection of over 100 individual itineraries around the world, showcasing unique experiences.
Winning Best Luxury Tour Operator at the British Travel Awards in 2022 – one of the most successful years in our history.
Unveiling our Wellness Collection in 2023, carefully curating 32 of the best wellness resorts and retreats worldwide. These offer a wide range of therapies and treatments: from emotional healing to results- oriented fitness programmes, ayurveda expertise to mindfulness.
Achieving Travelife Partner Status in 2023 along with the first steps on the journey to B Corp accreditation.

What I’ve Learnt…

Doing the right thing pays off. During Covid, we amended holidays multiple times or provided refunds. By 2022 our new business was above 2019 levels.
The key to a successful business is an engaged and happy staff.
Small touches and personalised details are differentiators in luxury travel – even just fast-tracking clients through an airport like a rock star!