Cookson Adventures is one of the world’s most interesting travel companies, organising everything from conservation trips in Antarctica to exclusive retreats in Bhutan. Founder Henry Cookson shared a few details with Sam Bradley.
You’ve been described as the billionaire’s dreamcatcher, which sounds wonderfully enchanting but also rather vague. What is it that you do exactly?
My passion is turning people’s travel aspirations into reality. Some people come to me with a fully formed idea (I want to climb this mountain that’s never been climbed, or sail to a
particular island) but for most people it’s a bit more vague. That’s where we get to put our creativity into action. I have a wonderful team in London – over the years we’ve hired army captains, helicopter pilots, tv producers, arctic specialists etc – and we’re confident we can design an experience that will surprise and delight our guests.
There’s also a fair amount of planning and logistics that goes into these trips as I’m sure you can imagine, as it often means operating in some of the coldest or hottest or most extreme places on earth. We then go all out to hyper-personalise the trip, so it’s perfectly suited for the client. We build our trips from scratch each time, and they’re always done as private excursions, and that’s to make sure it’s exactly tailored to the guest’s interests.
And lastly it’s just good old fashioned hard work – each project we run involves a lot of research, and we only take on a small number per year. So that gives us an incredible amount of time to read into the history of a location, discover what hasn’t been done before, chat to local experts on the ground, and most times do a “recce” (reconnaissance) to scout out the best experiences and most interesting locations.
Were there clues in your childhood that pointed to this sort of a career? How did it all begin?
It’s been an interesting road, that’s for sure. I had a relatively normal upbringing in England, although always with a keen interest in nature and wildlife (David Attenborough was my hero growing up). Then when I was 18 I spent a year as a horseback safari guide in Kenya, which was a transformative experience in my life. There’s an energy to Africa you don’t find elsewhere, and I soon knew I wanted to explore more of the world – and show other people these unique experiences.
I then stumbled into the world of Arctic exploration. Drinks with a few friends led to us foolishly signing up to a race across the Arctic – none us knew what we were doing, but we somehow won the race. Spurred on, we decided to navigate to the Pole of Inaccessibility (the centre of the Antarctic landmass) where we won a Guiness World Record for completing the first unaided expedition. I think that’s probably where the travel bug really got me; a desire to push myself and discover truly remote places.
Being involved on a day-to-day basis means you have an up-close and in-depth view of the travel industry. What are the trends you see emerging, and what does the future of travel look like?
Advances in technology means there are changes to the modes of travel, such as space balloons and submersibles, but the actual experience is still at the core of what travel really is. It’s all about the experience – however much or little someone has travelled before, and whatever their time or budget constraints, it still boils down to the experience. We travel with all of our senses – we want to see and smell and touch and fully be in the moment. So the desire for a real and authentic experience hasn’t changed, but the type of experiences people are prioritising is changing. And we’re fortunate that the current travel trends seem to be moving towards what we’ve been specialising in for the last fifteen years.
For example, ‘conservation travel’ has become much more popular. We’re hyper-aware of the danger our planet is facing, and the many species that are threatened or endangered. Travellers on some of our past trips have helped relocate giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands, tag hammerhead sharks and release baby turtles. While holidays with a day or two dedicated to these pursuits used to be few and far between, we’re now seeing this on a way more regular basis. On a recent trip guests helped relocate rhinos, a really exciting process that had them in the thick of the action – and we’re seeing a lot more requests for these sorts of opportunities.
Can you pick out a few of your favourite and unforgettable moments?
Having done this for 30 years I’m lucky enough to say there have been many. A lot of my highlights involve wildlife, such as tracking bears in the Pacific Rainforest in Canada, or diving with sharks off the Cocos Islands. But I’m also lucky enough to have clients entrust me and my team to organise their very special occasions – such as birthday celebrations, honeymoons, family holidays – and seeing their enjoyment during those moments is something that sticks with me.
We organised a birthday celebration for a client in Kenya, and one night the guests all slept outside (under mosquito nets). We then surprised them with a local choir visiting at sunrise – I’ll never forget the looks of confusion turning to wonder on their faces as they were woken up to the sounds of the most beautiful African songs.
