Bespoke start-up focuses on Colombia

Amakuna was started by two British ex-pat financiers based in Colombia’s second largest city of Medellin who are hoping to fill the gap for a bespoke luxury specialist to the destination.

A UK-registered business, Amakuna is Atol-bonded and an Abta member and will eventually look to sell through agents here. For the time being, Amakuna offers a UK phone number, which directs to its office in Colombia at local rates.

Both Boris Seckovic and Marc Beale are married to Colombians and have travelled extensively in the country. Beale said Amakuna evolved as a result of his “desire to see Colombia fulfill its potential as a world-class holiday destination”.

“There’s an increasing demand for a reliable on-the-ground travel service that fuses trustworthy local expertise and seamless logistics with a sound understanding of the upscale traveller,” he said.

Since pilot launching in April 2015, business has been growing organically by word of mouth. But Seckovic and Beale said they believed their “hunch” that there was latent demand from luxury travellers looking to visit Colombia had been proved right, having hosted more than 40 clients on 16 bespoke itineraries in their first few months of operation.

“We are interested in creating relationships with UK agents as we establish ourselves,” Beale said.

Avianca launched a daily direct flight from Heathrow to Bogota last July and Air Europa will launch a new flight from Gatwick via Madrid this summer. Four Seasons opened Casa Medina in Bogota at the end of last year and will add another hotel in the capital within the next few months.

Seckovic said: “It’s an exciting time for Colombia as tourism teeters on the cusp of development. We feel Colombia is a perfect destination to satiate the curious mind of the British traveller.”