Last week, I had the privilege of interviewing one of the world’s greatest living explorers on stage at the annual Clia Conference.
With warmth, humility and humour, Sir Ranulph Fiennes regaled delegates with stories of his attempts to reach some of the most inhospitable destinations on Earth, to discover places never found before and to break endurance records.
What he has achieved (and is still achieving despite now being in his 70s) is nothing short of remarkable.
He didn’t always succeed first time, took risks along the way and suffered setbacks and misfortune – but unwavering motivation and determination drove him on.
Just a couple of weeks ago, we praised Myriad Travel’s initiative in seizing the opportunity to charter aircraft for the first time to take Liverpool fans to the Champions League final in Kiev.
But late last week, one of the agency’s chartered flights was among those cancelled at short notice – shattering those fans’ dreams and leaving Myriad and other agencies facing an emotional and administrative nightmare.
Three other aircraft chartered by Myriad were among the many that made it safely to and from Kiev. But the consumer media headlines unsurprisingly focused on those left behind, and we all hope that lessons are learned to avoid a repeat for other unfortunate fans in the future.
At this point in time, it wouldn’t be surprising if Myriad and other agents reading those stories decided against taking such risks again. But it would be a great shame if the courage shown so often in our industry was dampened by the possibility that things might not work out.
It never stopped Sir Ranulph, after all.
Comment from Travel Weekly, 31 May edition