'We started with a second-hand minivan – our group tour travel firm is now a £30m business'

Expat Explore's co-founders led their first amateur group trip to Paris in 2005.

One of the UK’s fastest-growing group travel companies started life 20 years ago with a second-hand minivan and a “massive party". South African entrepreneurs Carl Cronje and Jakes Maritz have been driving sales success with bonhomie ever since.

Back in 2005, the business partners had written a letter of registration to the French consulate and received the news that their fledgling travel business could process visas on customers' behalf.

To celebrate, the duo held a launch party at a Canary Wharf bar for the South African expat community in London. Maritz says their first £800 was spent on booze “for this crazy new venture of ours".

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From cheap weekend tours, Expat Explore, has catered for more than 180,000 customers over two decades. Founded in London, it has satellite offices across the world and travels to 50 countries. With revenues of around £200,000 in its first year, it is now a £30m business.

Their travel start-up found success thanks to the pair rolling up their sleeves from the outset. “It all revolves around our core principles to survive the last 20 years,” says Maritz.

“From a two-man outfit, we now have around 450 direct employees. We understand the business and the cogs but we see ourselves as a hospitable company in a welcoming environment. They call us 'the UN of travel' as people say there is a warm, family feeling.”

Cronje first found the travel bug after winning a return ticket with British Airways to his choice of destination in Europe. A student at the time, he headed to Paris and explored the city on foot and on a budget for eight days. Meanwhile, Maritz came to Europe on a student scholarship before both met when they moved to London in the early 2000s.Expat Explore co-founders Jakes Maritz, right, and Carl Cronje met in London.

They saw an appetite for group touring and conceived weekend trips to Paris and Amsterdam, the only barrier being that the expat community needed Schengen short-stay visas at the time.

After the green light from the French consulate, they opened their first office space in Bromley above a friend's shop, spent £500 on a minivan and invited a group of 42 friends on their first DIY trip, a four-day sojourn to Paris. While Cronje had product knowledge and traveller insight, Maritz offered business and operational acumen.

“It wasn’t always factually 100% correct, but it was done with great enthusiasm and character,” Maritz recalls of those first trips. “We were the original tour leaders and, as we remind people, were probably the worst we’ve ever had.

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“But people really bought into it and it was more the experience going to places with people you usually wouldn’t travel with.”

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Expat Explore’s first tour cost £129 – Maritz does recall trips for under £70 – and the founders have since maintained affordable pricing, with international one-country tours starting at £491 and their multiple country offerings from under £750.

After a few years focusing on the UK domestic market, their first scale-up success came via a £200,000 investment into digital before realising they had global appeal from Philippines and Malaysia to Australia and the US.

“That was the pivotal moment and we did that in spite of the name,” admits Maritz.Expat Explore's founders turned their passion into a business that has served over 180,000 people.

The co-founders have considered changing the company name over the years to earn more confidence with the US market, but Maritz says that Expat Explore has built up considerable brand equity to warrant sticking with their original name for now.

Loyal customers also stuck with the brand through COVID, which Maritz admits “wasn’t our first rodeo as we have had a few crises in the past”.

“As founders we are very involved and you could put a face to it,” he adds. “The positive message we put out was that the money was safe. We were transparent that it was a period of restricted cash flow for us.

“We were brutally honest about our situation and the way we dealt with it, our Tripadvisor rating went up while other companies took a little bit of a dive.”

Once travel resumed post-COVID and multi-million pound revenues returned, the two co-founders took stock as they approached their 20th year in business. “It was that point where we said, ‘Are we going to sit back and let it run its course or are we more ambitious?’ says Maritz.

Expat Explore has expanded its portfolio in both the education and travel tech sectors. Last year, they launched TourCademy, a digital training platform that opens the travel industry to aspiring tour leaders globally. The premise is to make travel careers more accessible.Expat Explore have no age restrictions on their group tours to over 50 countries.

Maritz says: “We recruit and train new tour leaders and give people the opportunity to realise it can be an incredibly lucrative career for a few years at the very least. A lot of people make a career of it and it is very demanding.

“Worst case scenario, from a commercial perspective, it wasn’t the most successful venture but it allowed us to attract a lot of good quality and new recruits and the best ones get to stay with us.”

According to Mintel consumer research, around one in 10 UK adults have taken a group touring or adventure holiday in the last five years. Expat Explore’s own research suggests that a holiday with a car and four people on a trip across Europe would cost four times more than booking with Maritz’s company.

Further, while some travel operators enforce age restriction or focus on the higher end of the price spectrum, Expat Explore says its broad demographic and all ages remain a successful model. “That gives us an edge. In theory it’s not supposed to work as I’ve been told by many other operators,” muses Maritz.

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Their group tour vision has not veered off course as the company heads into its 21st year and the South African duo look for global expansion.

“It is a certain demographic, not everyone loves it, but there is a market segment which absolutely buys into this style of travel,” adds Maritz. “We are unique in the operating space.”

Behind the brand: Co-founder Jakes Maritz on…

Customer-first approach

“We have travellers who have toured with us over 20 times. We have a very personal connection with them and we do a lot to acknowledge our return customers. Myself and Carl still get out there, meet people and build relationships.

“Our community page is very familiar and people say we act like a family-based business. When you get an 85-year-old willing to sleep in a different destination every night, it’s fascinating that people have that zest for life still. We love it.”

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