Travel appears to be one of the few industries where globe-trotting bohemian wanderers can make some serious cash.
Intrepid’s Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester famously started out as backpackers in the 1980s, Flight Centre’s Graham “Skroo” Turner and pal Geoff “Spy” Lomas started Top Deck Travel after buying a second-hand bus for them and their friends and traipsing around Europe on it, and Adam Schwab kicked off Luxury Escapes after deciding to sublet his apartment to backpackers.
The founders of Inside Travel Group, now a thriving B Corp business that turned over $127 million in trip revenue last year, have a similarly unique tale to tell.
Simon King and Alastair Donnelly, both based in the UK, were just 24 when they set up the Asia travel specialist after being inspired by their adventures whilst living in Japan.
Simon King (left) and Alastair Donnelly now.
Here they chat with Travel Weekly about the realities of setting up a business from one of their sister’s bedrooms, scaling Inside Travel Group whilst remaining true to their values, as well as how they see the future of travel.
Q: How old were you when you set up Inside Travel Group, and what did you know about travel at the time?
Simon: We started InsideJapan Tours, which is now part of Inside Travel Group, when we were 24 years old – literally half a lifetime ago! The company was officially incorporated in October 2000. As for what we knew about travel back then, I had done quite a bit of travel in Europe in 1994 on an inter-rail trip with some friends. It involved crossing some borders that were a bit sketchy back then – we were on a shoestring budget and staying in questionable hostels, but it was a lot of fun. When Alastair and I lived in Japan after university, we took time off to explore during holidays. We took the long route back to the UK, travelling through China, experiencing adventures in Shanghai and Beijing, seeing the Great Wall, and taking the Trans-Siberian train through Russia and Mongolia. We did a Small Group Tour called the Beetroot Bus, which was chaotic but fun. The connection with people, the energy, and the experiences were what made it memorable. That trip really inspired us to do something similar in Japan.
Alastair and Simon as young lads.
Q: Why did you want to set up your own travel business?
Alastair: Our founding purpose was to share what we loved most about the places we had lived and travelled with as many people as possible. Rather than days spent touring classic sites, we wanted our customers to buy lunch from vending machines, sample sweet potato ice-cream, drink sake and eat yakitori grilled skewers in traditional Japanese pubs called izakaya… Yes, there’s also some traditional sightseeing – because you can’t miss the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, or the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. But experiencing what’s normal to locals, yet wholly new and culturally insightful to visitors, while connecting with passionate Insider Guides (‘Insiders’), remains at the heart of ITG’s offering. In 2000, this style of travel didn’t have a label. Today it is called ‘experiential tourism’. We call it ‘cultural adventure’ – and this is the spirit that has always run through everything ITG does.
Q: How long did it take before you were profitable?
Alastair: We were profitable from day one. We started out in my sister’s old bedroom in my mother’s house – she kindly gave us a year’s rent-free accommodation before it was time to move on. That kept our costs down to next to nothing. The 2002 World Cup gave us real traction as all eyes turned to Japan.
Q: What were some of the biggest challenges in the early days?
Alastair: The biggest challenge was that we didn’t know much about running a travel business. We had to figure out how to book hotels, organise payments, and deal with credit card services. There were also a lot of regulations in the UK for travel businesses, so getting accredited was a significant task. In 2004, we realised we needed another route into the market. Being a tiny business meant we didn’t have money for advertising, and all inquiries came through natural search, so we needed another avenue. That’s when we started offering self-guided adventures and Japan products to the trade. Joining the AITO association was transformative – it made us feel truly part of the industry.
Exploring Shikoku in the early days.
Simon: One of the most defining challenges we faced was the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. It was a triple disaster – earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis. Back then, we were still InsideJapan Tours, with Japan as our only destination. Our team was shocked by what was happening. I woke up to the news when I was on holiday just before the birth of my daughter. Alastair led the crisis response to get people home. Fortunately, our customers weren’t directly affected, but it was still a very emotional time. In the aftermath, we raised over £30,000 for rescue efforts in the affected areas and encouraged people to return to the area to reinstate their tourism industry.
Q: When did you launch InsideAsia, and why?
Simon: We launched InsideAsia in January 2013 as InsideVietnam (which later became InsideAsia). The 2011 earthquake highlighted the risk of being a single-destination operator, and we saw the benefits of offering more than one country. We also had many customers who visited Japan repeatedly, but for others, Japan might be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so they wanted to visit other places in Asia. So, from there, we set out to conceive this new business.
Alastair on Mt Fuji.
Q: Why did you choose to stay in Bristol rather than London?
Alastair: Bristol is my hometown, and I hold a great deal of fondness for it. It also offers a great family-friendly lifestyle. Back in the 2000s and 2010s, Bristol was an affordable place to live compared to London, and it had everything you’d want from a city – vibrant arts, culture and music scenes. We wanted to be in a city where people wanted to live, but also where the cost of living wasn’t as high as in London. A smaller city allowed us to be more visible, too. People know our office because of the travel images on the sides of the building.
Simon: I agree. We love living in Bristol. Everything is a short cycle away, and it’s a great place to work and live. As the business grew, we were able to move to appealing offices in central locations, which helped us attract staff.
Q: Why did you decide to become a B Corp, and was it worth it?
Simon: We’ve always believed business should have a positive impact. After the 2011 earthquake, we showed that by fundraising and helping the affected areas in Japan. We’ve always believed in looking after our team, destinations, and local communities. When we were introduced to the B Corp model, we recognised it as a framework that could bring together our values around community, sustainability, and being environmentally friendly. It helped codify our goals and give us a way to improve our business practices.
Alastair: Our business is complex, with offices now on four continents and thousands of suppliers. We’ve always believed in doing business the right way – treating people decently and supporting suppliers. As we grew, it became difficult to keep track of all the policies, so the B Corp framework provided a great structure. It made us a better business and helped us focus on doing things right.
Meeting the locals.
Q: Why do you think B Corp adoption is relatively low in the travel industry?
Simon: I think it’s gathering pace. While the travel industry has been slow to embrace it, it is starting to gain momentum with the help of larger companies moving in this direction. The B Corp community has grown in travel, and companies are helping each other improve. There’s a perception that travel, with its carbon footprint, can’t be part of the solution, but I think travel can absolutely be a force for good.
Q: How has becoming a B Corp impacted your profitability?
Alastair: Since becoming a B Corp, we’ve certainly seen improvements in profitability. Ultimately, becoming B Corp Certified has made us a better business. It has definitely supported our recruitment efforts. Today, we know younger generations want to work for companies that align with their values, so that plays a big part. It’s also strengthened supplier relationships and created opportunities for strategic partnerships, all of which benefits the bottom line.
Q: You’ve recently raised £40 million from investors. What do you think is key to showing investors that you can generate profit while remaining sustainable?
Simon: That’s a big question! One of our lead investors, Piper, follow the mantra “better and different”. In travel, it can be harder to differentiate, but we’ve focused on customer obsession. Demonstrating that we put the customer at the centre of everything – meaning delivering excellent experiences consistently, is key. We’ve also focused on specialism. Travel is an emotional, life-affirming purchase, and people want to book with specialists. Specialisation, combined with our customer-centric approach, is what investors are looking for.
Inside Travel Group staff.
Q: What do you see as the future of travel, and how do you see Inside Travel Group leading the way?
Alastair: The travel industry must put sustainability and positive impact at the heart of everything, or else the places people love travelling to will be degraded.
At Inside Travel Group, we want to ensure that we combine everything great about travel – meeting people from different cultures, developing new perspectives, experiencing different ways of life, seeing the world in all its beauty and mind-blowing diversity, creating shared memories that last a lifetime – while delivering positive environmental and economic impact within the destinations we visit.
We have seen that, done right, travel can create meaningful local employment and add economic value, while also protecting valuable cultural and natural heritage. And, by rooting travel in cultural experience and community, visitors can have a genuinely immersive, meaningful and hugely enjoyable trip. This is the virtuous circle we are striving to help deliver. Responsible Travel is complex. It involves carbon monitoring and reduction; it’s about education; it’s about building products that are valuable to local communities; it’s about giving money to crucial conservation projects; and it’s about continually holding ourselves to the most rigorous standards.
Getting hands-on experience in Japan.
From an operational perspective, we are seeing the industry split in the two directions of automation and high-touch service. Whilst automation will improve efficiency, people will always value human interaction – the real-life experiences that machines can’t provide. Our customer feedback emphasises how much people value customer care, and with the rise of AI, we believe the future of travel will be about people-to-people contact – something that cannot be replaced. A machine can’t have an audience with a geisha or go down the Cu Chi Tunnels and have those awe-inspiring experiences. It can’t really seek to understand you.
There will be more supply chain integration over time, and while hotels and transfers might become more of a commodity, people are never a commodity. So inevitably, it will be more and more about people.
Inside Travel Group is on a significant growth path, and we are excited to offer new and exciting itineraries in 2025 and beyond. Just recently, we have launched a new South
Korea Small Group Tour called ‘Soul of Korea’. South Korea is rapidly becoming one of Asia’s ‘hottest new destinations’, and this tour gives travellers the opportunity to uncover both the iconic landmarks and lesser-known districts in Seoul and beyond, all while being guided by insightful Insiders who have made Korea their home. Travelling with us means experiencing culture with a local lens and tapping into a side of the country you wouldn’t normally see as a visitor. Travellers can find more information here.
