Not a single “expensive” extreme tour was canceled after the disaster of the “Titan”, the death of the bathyscaphe not only did not scare away the super-rich from unusual trips, but the demand even increased. The founder of the travel company Brown and Hudson, which also specializes in extreme tours for VIP tourists, told Insider about this. Moreover, the company at one time also offered joint tours with OceanGate – the same dive as the “Titanic”.
“Tragedies sometimes spark interest in other extreme travel destinations,” company founder Philip Brown said. He also stated that inquiries about this tragedy were received from tourists, but there was no refusal, on the contrary, there was a “noticeable increase” in interest in membership of the company at a high level, with some clients starting new discussions about projects, albeit on the ground.
As he added, his company cooperated with OceanGate, the organizer of the tragic trip, while making the offered version of the tour “wider and longer”, with additional training. But since 2017, three of the company’s clients had made plans to go to Titan, but all pulled out at the last minute, mostly due to scheduling issues. By the way, some considered such a tour as an investment, hoping to sell their place in the future. “The people who are on the waiting list for the Titanic are the same people who are considering going into deep space,” Brown said. According to him, the prices, relatively speaking, are similar.
Also, the head of the company of extreme tours for the super-rich assured that for his clients, the desire to travel with adventures and take risks is “a completely normal phenomenon, and accidents will not stop it.” According to him, the average cost of extreme tours is 130,000 dollars, plus advance payments and taxes. Customers are mainly from North America, but many are also from Brazil, China, India, and the UK. “They include investment bankers, tech workers in Palo Alto, and people who will go to Davos or a conference in Sun Valley,” Brown said. They like to “tickle their nerves” with various types of extreme – this includes heli-skiing – that is, freeride on pristine mountain slopes, a trip to Antarctica and other polar regions, and mountain tourism. And other types of extremes — for example, the company is currently planning an off-road bicycle trip to the north of Syria for a group of 12 American investment bankers.
“Expeditions and extreme sports have become status symbols among the world’s richest people. When you’re rich enough, you’re not interested in another luxury car or the latest iPhone,” Brown said. According to him, the usual luxury of “luxury” tours is also “boring”. “If you go to a nice hotel with a great view, the day you walk in you get a rush of dopamine, but three days later the view can suddenly become less exciting,” he explained. At the same time, extreme tours attract attention, and allow you to “win a race, do something first, or tell a cool story to your family or friends,” said Brown.