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Carl Cronje – Expat Explore, Alpenrose Hotel & Gardens, CreateFo, PlugPlug, GroupTourShop
Joining Liezl this week is the business partner of a former guest: we’ve had Jakes Maritz on the podcast but this episode we have Carl Cronje, the other co-founder and owner of Expat Explore. Carl is a true entrepreneur with at least five businesses to his name and on the show today he’ll be talking about why he has this entrepreneurial spirit and where it’s going to take him next.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- From 200 passengers in 2005, to over 17,000 passengers per annum in 2019, today Expat Explore offers over 100 tour packages to destinations across Europe, the UK, the USA and Canada, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America.
- Expat Explore Travel began in 2005 when Carl and his friend Jakes decided to take the plunge and start weekend trips to Paris. Working as the first tour leaders of Expat Explore, they took turns to take groups to Paris and later Amsterdam over weekends and create itineraries to suit the avid traveller’s needs and wallet.
- To launch the business, Carl and Jakes had £800 as a marketing budget and used all of it to throw a launch party with the intent of making sure people had a good time, reflecting what their business is all about.
- Carl and Jakes quickly realised that once people had been with them to one place, they wanted to have the same experience again but somewhere new. This is why their list of tour packages is so wide and covers so many different places.
- Carl is also the co-founder of CreateFo, a team of professionals working around the world, including South Africa, the UK, Switzerland and Ukraine. Using their unique skills to create, build and deliver top-quality digital solutions with a dynamic approach to projects.
- PlugPlug is launching very soon and will firstly be a social media platform for the travel industry. Secondly, it is a booking engine for travel-related products. PlugPlug is one of the only social media platforms that reimburses content makers for bookings made via their content. Their mission is to reward content makers for their content and value they add to the platform.
BEST MOMENTS
‘We didn’t realise it back then that our lives would be melded together’
‘The focus was simple, keep on creating more tours’
‘For the first time in 20 years I did something I told myself I’d never do again, study’
ABOUT THE GUEST
When Carl and Jakes’s paths crossed again in the UK in the early 2000s, their mutual friends already saw a business partnership coming. Carl was the entertainer, a true tour leader and entrepreneur at heart, and Jakes had the MBA background and organisational skills to give the necessary structure to what was then only an idea at the back of their minds. Expat Explore Travel began (rather impulsively) in 2005 when they decided to take the plunge and start weekend trips to Paris. Working as the first tour leaders of Expat Explore, they took turns to take groups to Paris and later Amsterdam over weekends and create itineraries to suit the avid traveller’s needs and wallet. Since then Carl and Jakes’ dream of a travel company that would provide guided tours designed by travel experts came true; they have established Expat Explore as a trusted travel operator in Europe.
Carl, who is based between London and Switzerland, loves being innovative and has many new ideas and plans up his sleeve. He is a lifelong entrepreneur and inventor of travel products and travel tech solutions with a non-stop passion for exploring the world and discovering its cultures, attractions and opportunities.
GUEST RESOURCES
Carl on LinkedIn
expatexplore.com
Alpenrose Hotel and Gardens
Createfo.com
grouptourshop.com
ABOUT THE PODCAST
In the Spotlight was born as a platform to share, broadcast and promote the interesting, wonderful and inspiring things that some of the people who crossed Liezl’s path have done. She would love to shine the spotlight on them and share their journeys with you to hopefully inspire you to be the best you, not to give up and to follow your passion or dream. And in that way, help to make a little difference and share some of the beauty of this world.
ABOUT THE HOST
Liezl Colditz van Rooyen
Born and raised in South Africa, Liezl followed her dream to see the world at age 23 and twenty years on has now travelled to 50 countries and worked and lived in the UK, Belgium and Saudi Arabia. She is a mum of two boys, a chartered management accountant working in large energy projects, a musician, runner, a world citizen but proudly South African and now a podcaster. The incredible people she has met, the amazing places she has seen and the magic of life she has experienced, inspired her to start this podcast.
CONTACT METHOD
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inthespotlightwithliezl
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inthespotlightwithliezl
Facebook personal: https://www.facebook.com/lcolditzvanrooyen/
Instagram personal: https://www.instagram.com/liezl_colditzvanrooyen/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/van-rooyen-liezl/
View all episodes
By Liezl Colditz Van RooyenJoining Liezl this week is the business partner of a former guest: we’ve had Jakes Maritz on the podcast but this episode we have Carl Cronje, the other co-founder and owner of Expat Explore. Carl is a true entrepreneur with at least five businesses to his name and on the show today he’ll be talking about why he has this entrepreneurial spirit and where it’s going to take him next.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- From 200 passengers in 2005, to over 17,000 passengers per annum in 2019, today Expat Explore offers over 100 tour packages to destinations across Europe, the UK, the USA and Canada, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America.
- Expat Explore Travel began in 2005 when Carl and his friend Jakes decided to take the plunge and start weekend trips to Paris. Working as the first tour leaders of Expat Explore, they took turns to take groups to Paris and later Amsterdam over weekends and create itineraries to suit the avid traveller’s needs and wallet.
- To launch the business, Carl and Jakes had £800 as a marketing budget and used all of it to throw a launch party with the intent of making sure people had a good time, reflecting what their business is all about.
- Carl and Jakes quickly realised that once people had been with them to one place, they wanted to have the same experience again but somewhere new. This is why their list of tour packages is so wide and covers so many different places.
- Carl is also the co-founder of CreateFo, a team of professionals working around the world, including South Africa, the UK, Switzerland and Ukraine. Using their unique skills to create, build and deliver top-quality digital solutions with a dynamic approach to projects.
- PlugPlug is launching very soon and will firstly be a social media platform for the travel industry. Secondly, it is a booking engine for travel-related products. PlugPlug is one of the only social media platforms that reimburses content makers for bookings made via their content. Their mission is to reward content makers for their content and value they add to the platform.
BEST MOMENTS
‘We didn’t realise it back then that our lives would be melded together’
‘The focus was simple, keep on creating more tours’
‘For the first time in 20 years I did something I told myself I’d never do again, study’
ABOUT THE GUEST
When Carl and Jakes’s paths crossed again in the UK in the early 2000s, their mutual friends already saw a business partnership coming. Carl was the entertainer, a true tour leader and entrepreneur at heart, and Jakes had the MBA background and organisational skills to give the necessary structure to what was then only an idea at the back of their minds. Expat Explore Travel began (rather impulsively) in 2005 when they decided to take the plunge and start weekend trips to Paris. Working as the first tour leaders of Expat Explore, they took turns to take groups to Paris and later Amsterdam over weekends and create itineraries to suit the avid traveller’s needs and wallet. Since then Carl and Jakes’ dream of a travel company that would provide guided tours designed by travel experts came true; they have established Expat Explore as a trusted travel operator in Europe.
Carl, who is based between London and Switzerland, loves being innovative and has many new ideas and plans up his sleeve. He is a lifelong entrepreneur and inventor of travel products and travel tech solutions with a non-stop passion for exploring the world and discovering its cultures, attractions and opportunities.
GUEST RESOURCES
Carl on LinkedIn
expatexplore.com
Alpenrose Hotel and Gardens
Createfo.com
grouptourshop.com
ABOUT THE PODCAST
In the Spotlight was born as a platform to share, broadcast and promote the interesting, wonderful and inspiring things that some of the people who crossed Liezl’s path have done. She would love to shine the spotlight on them and share their journeys with you to hopefully inspire you to be the best you, not to give up and to follow your passion or dream. And in that way, help to make a little difference and share some of the beauty of this world.
ABOUT THE HOST
Liezl Colditz van Rooyen
Born and raised in South Africa, Liezl followed her dream to see the world at age 23 and twenty years on has now travelled to 50 countries and worked and lived in the UK, Belgium and Saudi Arabia. She is a mum of two boys, a chartered management accountant working in large energy projects, a musician, runner, a world citizen but proudly South African and now a podcaster. The incredible people she has met, the amazing places she has seen and the magic of life she has experienced, inspired her to start this podcast.
CONTACT METHOD
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inthespotlightwithliezl
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inthespotlightwithliezl
Facebook personal: https://www.facebook.com/lcolditzvanrooyen/
Instagram personal: https://www.instagram.com/liezl_colditzvanrooyen/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/van-rooyen-liezl/