Original Travel is planning its first family programme, Original Kids, for this autumn. Given the quality of the company this should be good news - problem is that the programme is not all that original. Oman, Costa Rica, Forte Village resort in Sardinia, Anassa Hotel in Cyprus, Ulusaba, Sir Richard Branson’s private game reserve, in South Africa are perfectly nice, but also available from other upmarket and/or adventure tour operators; like Scott Dunn, ITC Classics , Seasons in Style, Abercrombie and Kent , Families Worldwide www.familiesworldwide.co.uk and the Adventure Company.

And not only are they not heart-stoppingly original, they are not nearly as exciting as Original Travel’s regular fare: great little boutique hotels in exciting cities such as Marrakech or Rio de Janeiro, or sporty and adventure breaks such as paragliding in France or heli skiing in Canada.

So how will the company mark itself out in the family market? Is a family holiday at a top European hotel going to be any different if you book it through Original Travel?

“We have a certain level of service,” answers Tom Barber, one of the company’s three directors “whereby we try to make travel as smooth and easy a process as possible for our customers, who are, in the main, young, busy professionals who want quality recommendations and everything organised for them.

“The idea is to improve on what families are currently being offered so we plan to ask some of our existing clients with children in for a brainstorming session so they can tell us what they really want.

“We don’t, for the time being, foresee swathes of Original Travel nannies. Instead, we’ll stick to hotels with their own kids’ clubs.

“We also plan to stick to our Original Travel formula of offering tailor-made holidays with flexible departure dates so people have the freedom of booking when they want.”

It’s a formula that has served the company well. Since it started trading in January 2002, offering “cash-rich- time-poor” City types inspiring short breaks requiring only the minimum of time off work, the company has grown to employ 12 people. In 2002, 2005 and 2006 it won awards at the Guardian and Observer Travel Awards and also the Marketing Magazine Awards. It has a slick website, littered with Johnnie Boden-style personal information, on which it is revealed that two of the three directors, Nick Newbury and Alastair Poulain, are themselves ex-City types – exactly the sort of people to whom they now market. Men who love the idea of extreme holidays (for the down-the-pub-brag factor as much as anything else), but who can’t be away from their desks for too long.

Bizarrely, however, none of them yet has children. So why, oh why, I wonder, would they think about working with them when everyone knows the famous maxim?

“It’s for two reasons,” says Barber. “Most of our clients are fairly young, but we also have a fair few older customers, so-called SKIers (spend the kids’ inheritance) looking for adventurous and different breaks. So marketing to families is a bit like putting the meat in the sandwich.

“Also, it’s just where we are in our lives. So many of our friends are getting to the stage where they are having children now. And the mothers keep telling us that we wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to organise family holidays.

“They know about Mark Warner, Scott Dunn and Powder Byrne and so on, but they want something a bit different and because they have grown up with us, they want to keep on using us. It’s almost as if each generation of travellers has its own tour operator.

“And I suppose children aren’t too far off for us too. I was married two years ago, Alastair last year and Nick is just about to be.”

Let’s just hope that their venture into family holidays doesn’t put them off.

Related links

The best adventurous holidays for kids

More original family holidays

Bushbaby travel Tailor made holidays to South Africa and Mauritius launched by Abigail Shaw in 2004. The idea came to her when she wanted to visit South Africa after having her first child but could not find any information about family friendly accommodation and tours. Great ideas and heaps of advice that will help if you are planning an adventurous holiday anywhere.

Journey Latin America Offers many more countries in South America than other family holiday companies: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Cuba and Honduras for starters……….Holidays can be tailor made, escorted tours or one-stop breaks.

La Renardière Quite off the wall this one. But really, really fun.Treehouse accommodation in Orne, northwest France. Room for up to three children at a time for the holiday of a lifetime.

What makes an adventure for your family? Email us at yoursay@timesonline.co.uk

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