Strictly Business: Cartology Travel founder Justin Huxter

I got into travel… due to my mum having a hotel in the wine region of South Africa, so growing up I was exposed to the industry a lot. Later, I went to university and got a corporate job. In 2015 my mum sold her hotel and the company I was working for was also being sold. I saw it as an opportunity to leave the corporate world and pursue my passion.

I started the business… in 2016. My mum has worked in hospitality and travel her whole career and is incredibly knowledgeable and well connected. We had always spoken about doing something together, and I knew we could bring complementary skills and resources to the business. My wife also joined us in 2019, so we’re a real family-run agency.

I’ve grown the business through… the independent agent model. Since the pandemic, we’ve taken the time to build that up and have grown to 20 agents globally, including 11 in the UK. Our goal is to have around 25 high-performing agents rather than become a large company with hundreds of independent agents. We’ve focused on recruiting people who come from outside the travel industry, but have the right networks. We can teach them the day-to-day operations, but having that client base is the most critical factor in terms of growing our business.

The area of the business growing the most is… new destinations that haven’t typically been on clients’ radars such as southeast Asia and South America. We also do a lot of Africa bookings.

The suppliers I have the strongest relationship with are… big hotel brands such as Four Seasons, Shangri-La and Belmond. We do a lot of hotel-only bookings, so we spend a lot of time building relationships with key hotel partners. We also work with many DMCs as they help us to build our own knowledge of the destinations.

My proudest career achievement is… seeing the positive perception and reputation of the business growing among our trade partners. At every event, trade show and meeting I’ve attended recently, suppliers have been incredibly enthusiastic about our team and working with them, which is truly the goal.

My biggest industry bugbear is… That a lot of people think travel is just about finding the best deal online. I don’t think they realise the detail, thought, time and effort that goes into planning a trip. It’s not just booking hotels, it’s about creating an experience.