Travel Tastemakers

*THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED PRIOR TO THE OUTBREAK OF COVID-19* Bruce Simpson's current position is CEO of Time + Tide, a collection of luxury lodges in Zambia and Madagascar. Prior to this, over a nearly 30 year career he has held a multitude of positions within Wilderness Safaris, Singita, &Beyond and North Island in the The Seychelles, starting as a guide and ending up as a CEO. Bruce's knowledge of Southern African tourism is almost unparalleled, not only has he run lodges across the bo...

Suzanne Bayly-Coupe is the owner of Classic Portfolio, a strategic marketing company that works with a collection of privately-owned lodges and camps across 14 African countries. Peter and Suzanne discuss the impact COVID-19 is having on smaller lodges and camps across Africa. Suzanne talks about the cost of conservation efforts and how hard it is for camps to sustain them without any guests. As staff at remote lodges are let go, there has been a rise in poaching, and years of conservation wo...

Peter talks to Greg Ward, who is Head of Global Sales and Distribution at AMAN about COVID-19 and it's impact. They discuss what is happening with the AMAN properties right now, and how that differs across the world. Greg offers some optimistic data that shows the domestic markets re-opening in China, Southeast Asia and the USA. He talks about how AMAN will adapt to regulations by being creative about how they use their properties and the land around them, and how they will adapt according to...

Almost all industries have been affected by COVID-19, but travel and hospitality are perhaps the worst hit. Peter sat down with Simon Jeffries, who is head of product at Carrier, to discuss this crisis. They are owned by DER Touristik, also owns Kuoni (among several others), so they are hugely influential not just in luxury travel, but across the whole sector. They talk about Carrier pre-COVID, what it looks like now, and what Simon sees it looking like in the future. Simon tells Peter that b...

*THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED PRIOR TO THE SPREAD OF COVID-19*Peter met Calvin Cottar, whose family have run a safari camp in Africa since 1919, at TFest in Dubai. Calvin has some fascinating stories from being on the frontlines of the development of Safari's in Africa, which his family have been for generations. Their current camp is the Cottar's Safaris 1920's camp in the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Having grown up there, Calvin's understanding of the land, the laws and the customs of the area are u...

Mirjam Peternek-McCartney lost a third of her team when she told them she wanted to shake up the way her business, Lemongrass Marketing, was run. Mirjam recognised that in order to utilise the new data tools available in the digital age, she needed to have more dynamic teams. It's a shake up that has clearly worked. Mirjam's clients include &Beyond and Lanserhof Health Resorts. She sat down with us at TFest and told us about the difficulties of forging a new path, and the amazing marketin...

Dr Tara Ruttley has worked at NASA since 2001. She holds degrees in Biology, Mechanical Engineering, Neuroscience and Anthropology-Archeology. Over the years, Tara's research has taught her that our brains change when we have new experiences. It can become better able to adapt to change, overcome fear and adversity and improve our creative skills. Tara says that one of the best ways to have new experiences and forge these changes in our brains is to travel. But, in order for us to keep travel...

A CEO, entrepreneur, mother of four and MasterChef finalist- is there anything Emma Barnett-Spitzer can't do? Peter talks to Emma about Tots Too, her travel design agency that allows parents to travel with young children without compromising on luxury and Essential Escapes, her spa and wellness brand which is about to undergo a transformation.

We sat down with Laura Protat from Discover Montenegro at our Private Luxury event in Montenegro in October. She told us why there is so much more to the region than just beautiful beaches. This episode was recorded at Porto Montenegro, as we sat outside the Naval Heritage Museum, just a short stroll along the marina from our wonderful partner hotel The Regent Porto Montenegro.