Original Travel founder next up on In Conversation With

The innovative travel business has been at the forefront of trends since launching in 2003 and during the pandemic, has sought to predict where travellers might look to next, and how their habits may change.

Trends that Barber and his team have identified include Philantourism, whereby travellers are more inclined to give back in the places they visit, and Travel Less, Travel Better.

“It might sound counter-intuitive for the founder of a travel company to admit that we may all travel less, but I’m confident that’s the reality we will be facing; at least in the short term,” Barber said of the trend. “We’re extremely comfortable with a trend we see emerging already, namely to plan longer trips and sabbaticals where you can really get under the skin of a destination.”

Barber graduated from Durham University in 1995 with a degree in psychology before becoming a journalist, writing for, among others, GQ, the Independent, Tatler and the Evening Standard.

In 2002, he was approached by university friend Nick Newbury with a view to launching an innovative new travel business, and the result was Original Travel; in 2017, Voyageurs du Monde bought a 60% stake in the business.

Barber will be In Conversation With… April Hutchinson, and you can see their interview from 2pm on Tuesday 29 September.

The interview will be available to members of TTG+, which you can join for just £1 in September.