2016 has been a bit of a landmark year all in all. Will and I founded Ticket to Ride in 2006. In our minds we started in in 2005 as that’s the year that we finished the original business plan, made the commitment, qualified as surf instructors and headed off to South Africa, but it was 10th January 2006 that Ticket to Ride Limited was actually officially incorporated at Companies House; so this has seen our 10th year anniversary come and go, and as such it feels like we’ve actually moved into the realms of a more mature organisation.
Will and I on our South Africa “recce” in 2005
Will and I in Meribel this year
When Ticket to Ride was founded we only had our eyes on one trip, and that was the flagship 10 week South Africa trip that we still run today (in fact, very little has changed from the original itinerary, the personnel have, and very sadly we have lost some of the smiling faces that used to greet us, and we now have a great team on the ground, but all in all the core itinerary of the trip has unchanged.) Over the years we have opened up a number of new destinations, but this year there’s been a real focus on the shorter experiences, we partnered with Wavelength to offer some unique week long trips to Portugal and Hossegor, and have run surf camps and tours in South Africa, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Mozambique, France, Spain and Portugal and have also ran a number of snowboard camps in Canada and France.
Enjoying the conditions in the 3 Valleys
Within the TTR Group, we have a number of different brands, and as an organisation we’ve been operating chalets in the mountains since 2013, but it was only this year that we decided to manage our own properties in surf locations. And as we sat down as a team for pre-ferry beers before heading down to Hossegor there was a real excitement around the table as we were heading off to take on a new challenge, with a combination of our surf and snow team.
Good vibes down in Hossegor, me, Max, and Sam in the background with some customers
The whole month followed and went really well, and the team delivered on all fronts. So for me it really highlights the importance of having good people in everything that we do, that’s what we strive for and if we continue to do that then the experiences we offer will continue to be truly unique and keep people wanting to come back for more. It’s all a game of building up momentum and with all the new destinations, courses and lodges we’re bringing out in 2017 it dosen’t look like we’ll be slowing down any time soon!
Sam and Gwil down in Hendaye, Franc
I was also fortunate enough to enjoy a travelling experience outside of what we do in TTR, as I headed off on a trip to the states with my young family and we spent 3 weeks road tripping in an RV from LA, to Yosemite, up to San Francisco and back down, we then did a quick stop off in Miami on the way home. It was the first time I’ve spent any length of time like that away from the business since we started it, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it if we didn’t have the team behind us that we now do.
Someone once told me that your brand is only as good as your worst person on their worst day, and that’s really resonated with me. Over the past 11 years we have worked hard to build up a strong and reliable team of great individuals, and I can honestly say it’s what made us what we are today; and the great thing about having a bit of establishment is that those great people aren’t also just your staff, but you also build up an awesome team of loyal customers too, people who believe in what we do, and are keen to get more and more involved in the experiences that we strive to deliver. In that way, this year has felt like a major turning point.
Bring on 2017!