“My brother and I literally grew up in what are now two of the suites. We treated the hotel’s garden like our playground,” Huxter reflects. 

But as the boys aged, the family thought it best to relocate the garden games and moved off site, but Huxter was still gaining valuable insight into hospitality and tourism. 

“My mum would talk about agents and her clients, what worked and what didn’t and what made a good stay,” he says. “We were also privileged to travel about and stay in other luxury hotels.”

When he had been working in the corporate world for many years, Huxter’s mum Susan decided to sell her hotel; the move prompted discussions about another travel project.

Huxter set up Cartology Travel in London in 2016 with Susan and handling the day-to-day running with his partner Kathy Boate.

Southern and Eastern Africa, Italy, Greece, Sri Lanka and India are among the agency’s specialisms these days.

“A lot of our success is built on my mum… with 30 years’ experience she knows everyone in the industry, it opens doors,” he explains. 

Indeed, the Chief Motherly Officer, as Susan is known, was recently able to secure a client an upgrade to a Kempinski presidential suite thanks to a contact.

Savings, minimal overheads and geographically spread clients with varied restrictions helped Cartology ride out the pandemic and the agency’s average booking value has increased year-on-year, starting from around £4,000 to £6,000 and rising to £25,000.

Inspired by agents in the US, where it is common practice, Huxter charges planning fees from £500 to £1,500 or even £2,000 depending on the complexity of the trip. He says he can “count on one hand” the number of potential clients this has deterred, and the upfront cost means his conversion rate is almost 100%.

Holidays are fully tailormade, Huxter explains: “We will sit down and design each itinerary from scratch, even destinations popular for us where we do multiple trips a year. We don’t fall into the trap of recycling itineraries. It’s trying to move away from travel being a bit of a commodity.”

Client profiles are sent to suppliers ahead of a visit to help ensure personalised service. The agency also keeps in constant client contact to gain real-time feedback and head off any potential issues. 

Huxter also tries to meet clients face-to-face at least once a year, even when it means travelling overseas to do so. 

Influencer tie-up

Though Cartology’s customers have until now come almost entirely through word-of-mouth referrals, in the last year, Huxter started working with Serena Crawford, a designer and influencer with a high-end following on Instagram. 

Rather than use the tie-up purely as a marketing exercise, on her request, the agency has booked trips for her followers, enabling them to join her on location. 

Twelve international guests each paid $20,000-25,000 to travel with Crawford in South Africa, visiting the private homes of artists. The agency is working on future trips with her to India, Portugal, Italy and Australia.

What’s more, three guests from the South Africa trip have also since gone on to book other travel with Cartology, including one’s solo trip worth $160,000.

Huxter was mindful that many supposed travel influencers post more bikini selfies than destination insight. But he stresses: “Serena’s in her 60s so she’s not prancing about in her swimwear, she’s going in depth about places and artists.

“I’ve been on calls with her and clients and they’re genuinely excited to be travelling with her.” 

His mother has meanwhile brought in some lucrative bookings from among her own groups of travel companions. 

Huxter puts a lot of time into cultivating relationships with suppliers, taking part in twice weekly training sessions, attending shows through the year, and meeting contacts every week while they’re travelling through London or he’s making site inspections abroad. The reduction of a minimum stay requirement at a One&Only villa over a school holiday is among many favours Huxter says he is able to credit to good supplier relations.

As a member of the Conscious Travel Foundation, Cartology tries to prioritise more sustainably-minded suppliers and donates a portion of annual sales to a South African charity which provides meals to underprivileged children. 

The agency has grown by recruiting Cartology Travel Independent Agents, homeworkers who run their own businesses under the brand’s umbrella. There are 14 to date, spread across various countries, including eight in the UK.

“For me it makes a lot more sense than getting a big office, I can keep the infrastructure a bit smaller,” Huxter explains, adding: “It really gives us time to work on the business rather than in it.” 

In future, Huxter would like to hire another staff travel planner to free up more time for business development and that all important engagement with clients and suppliers. 

For now, the existing team have their first Cartology conference in South Africa, back where it all began.