InTheSnow’s Ben Clatworthy spent 10 minutes with Pascal August, Founder of new travel company Move Mountains (movemountainstravel.com), to talk winter plans, travel, and their “Man Friday” service.
- Pascal, what was it that made you decide to establish Move Mountains?
PA> The primary reasons were that both my wife and I thought there was scope for a tour operator that would be a port of call for clients, and play an active role in helping them to design their ideal holiday. We are interested in spending time working on each holiday itinerary, and also delivering top quality service for our guests. We found that whenever we were tying to go on holiday we weren’t getting the answers from the sales people, and so we decided there was room in the market for a specialised top level operator, for whom service would be key, and where time would be really spent listening to the client to find the best possible holiday they could aspire to.
- You’re working with your wife, is it your first project together?
PA> It is our first project together, however, Hannah and I met whilst working for another tour operator within the ski industry; but yes, it’s the first time we’ve worked for ourselves together. The job is labour-intensive and juggling family life is a challenge, but we’re rising to it, and I would say we’re enjoying it and feel as if we’re alive.
- Where are your key winter destinations?
PA> We have focused the programme on the high-end, well known resorts, such as Les 3 Vallées and Espace Killy in France, St Anton and Lech in Austria, and Verbier in Switzerland. We also have a whole category we call “Far from the madding crowd” where we offer the smaller name resorts. For example, a person might have skied the majority of the top name resorts and is looking to rediscover skiing. We look to offer an authentic experience, and smaller hotels and chalets where things are a little quieter – that’s where the concept for this category came from.
- But, you’re doing summer as well?
PA> We also do summer, and the main focus is family-friendly luxury destinations in the Mediterranean and Canaries. Our main countries for the summer are: Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and Italy. The reason we’ve mainly chosen to stick with Europe is the safety aspect, and the flight times are short enough for young children. However, we do also deal with destinations further afield, such as the Indian Ocean islands – Mauritius, Maldives and the Seychelles – which we expect to be popular with honeymoon couples.
- Tell us about your “Man Friday” service?
PA> Our “Man Friday” service is designed to allow guests to fine-tune their holiday, both before and after they book. It saves them trawling through guidebooks, and even if we don’t have the answer, we will take the time to find and sort out what they want, for example, booking a table in a restaurant. We want to always try to give a little bit extra to the client such as finding out where the best heli-skiing is; or where the best powder can be found. It’s a concierge service, but a friendlier one.
- What was it that sparked your interest in travel?
PA> My parents were both expatriates, my mother lived in the Belgium Congo and my father was in Nigeria. I grew up in Africa and then the Far East, as my parents continually moved around with work. This ultimately sparked my love for travel from day one. I’ve always had travel in my blood, and then I ended up in the ski industry. I was working in London, and then the 1993 recession came along. The company I was working for went into receivership, and so I decided to go and do a season in the Alps. And that’s that, I never really left; and thanks to being able to speak French, I ended up working for Ski World as their contractor and legalities person for Europe.
