Kane Pirie, the former boss of Travel Republic, who famously won a landmark court case brought by the CAA over an alleged breach of Atol regulations, has returned to travel with a new bespoke online tour operator.
Vivid Travel will launch in September selling both direct to customers and also via luxury travel agents. It has joined Abta and has a full Atol licence.
Vivid will sell bespoke holidays that “combine a number of different phases”, according to managing director and founder Pirie, who believes he has spotted a gap in the market.
He told Travel Weekly: “Our mission is to help people have more interesting holidays. Currently, to a certain extent, people are not getting the most out of the time and money they are investing in their holidays.
“I was on holiday in Tenerife and saw people constantly on their phones, doing exactly what they might be doing on the commute to work, except in a bikini by a pool. We will offer different phases providing unbeatable variety of experience to keep people totally interested and engaged. Spending the whole time in one beach resort is not the future of holidays.”
Pirie said a Vivid Travel trip might combine a number of phases, such as a beach phase with a touring phase, a city phase, an adventure or activity phase, or a safari and wildlife phase.
The website, at vivid.travel, will offer example itineraries, but customers and agents will call to speak to a ‘travel designer’ in person who will create a bespoke and unique holiday for each client.
A dedicated agent phone line and trade section of the site will be available by next month, and Pirie said he would pay agents great commissions and really look after their clients’ every desire.
Pirie believes Vivid Travel will appeal to people who want more real experiences on holiday, including families and those active on social media.
And he claimed the technology the company is building is pioneering.
His co-founder is former Travel Republic IT director, Adam Gill, and Pirie said: “In the same way that we used technology at Travel Republic to change the dynamics of short-haul beach holidays, so our software at Vivid will transform luxury long-haul holidays.”
Pirie already has 15 staff based at offices in Guildford and Clapham Junction and is actively recruiting another 10 by the end of the year including travel designers and software developers.
Pirie commented: “We are setting the bar high and only want the very best for Team Vivid. Our customers will expect no less.”