Hyper-personalised travel experiences that money can buy
Some examples planned by Scott Dunn Private
A surprise treat
A Western family was travelling on a journey across Asia by train. On a routine check-in, the teenagers jokingly told their relationship manager that they wouldn’t mind having some of their favourite fast food, knowing it would be out of the question given that they were travelling between cities. But surprise, surprise – there was a special delivery of piping hot fried chicken and the kids’ favourite soda at the next stop of their train journey.
Ancient Egypt with experts
For one history student enraptured with ancient Egypt, a grand tour was organised. An entire pyramid structure was made private for a sunrise breakfast for the student’s family. They were then joined by a top archaeologist, who shared tales about the structure in which they sat. Later, the family was escorted on a personal tour by the team that discovered the famed Wahtye tomb in Saqqara, who also gave them a private showing of mummified creatures and artefacts.
The group then went to the Great Sphinx of Giza for a private tour with renowned archaeologist, Dr Zahi Hawass, who was involved in the excavation of the site. Dr Hawass, who also led numerous studies into scans of the mummy of King Tutankhamun and researched near-mythical figures such as Hatshepsut and Nefertiti, revealed details of the excavation project and other secrets of ancient Egypt.
The journey concluded with dinner with Dr Mark Lehner, an American archaeologist who created one of the only known scale maps of the Giza Sphinx.
Old Hollywood glamour
A pair of honeymooners began their journey at the plush Beverly Hills Hotel, followed by expert-guided, behind-the-scenes tours of Universal Studios and Warner Brothers. At the film lots, they got to see sets and meet the people behind popular productions. The highlight of their trip was specially arranged access for the couple to attend a film premiere at the world-famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. There, they got the chance to mingle with stars on the red carpet and hang out with them backstage at the closed-door after party.
A stylish, inter-generational trip
A grandfather, his son and grandson shared several interests; these were referenced in the planning of their trip through their ancestral country, Italy.
In Milan, the men skipped past a by-invitation-only, months-long waiting list to meet bespoke tailoring master Gaetano Aloisio, who personally fitted them for artisanal suits. At night, the football-mad trio had a surprise dinner at the two-Michelin-starred family restaurant Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia, with Italian football legend and former Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero.
Another surprise arrived the next morning outside their art deco style Baglioni hotel. Amid crowds of onlookers, there were three generations of Ferraris lined up: a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso – one of only 350 ever built – for granddad; an iconic 1986 Ferrari Testarossa for his son; and a stylish 2015 Ferrari 488 Spider for his grandson. The trio then took a road trip through the Italian Alps and by the lakes of Northern Italy.
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