Contiki global CEO on appealing to millenial travellers

SINGAPORE — He has skydived more than 1,000 times in places such as northern Spain “with the water on one side and the mountains of the Pyrenees on another”; and he enjoys motorbiking along the roads of Kilimanjaro.

But for Casper Urhammer, nothing thrills like the merging of his twin loves of travel and technology.

After stints in California and co-founding Groupon Denmark, Urhammer took on the job of Contiki’s global chief executive officer last November. “The travel world is very much interested in millennial travellers. We at Contiki have been talking to these 18- to 35-year-olds for 53 years — a long time. Our travellers are digital natives and we need to be at the forefront of technology and trends,” explained Urhammer.

To that end, the brand is also revamping its website, which will be ready early next year to become more “emotionally led”. That means incorporating more content to make it more fun and relevant. And for the Dane, that means more time on the road to find out what users want.

“I travel 250 days in a year, I think I’ve become an expert at spotting which will be the shortest queue at an airport,” he said.

Q: Why would young travellers still want to go on guided tours when it has become easier to travel on their own?

A: We educate travellers. When you’re in your mid-20s and you haven’t travelled as much, you like to be independent, but you also want to be in safe hands. You can be very independent on Contiki tours. We have eight different travel types and you can find something that’s relevant and makes sense to you. While on those trips, you also have free time to explore. But what we see in Contiki is that whenever we have a free night, our travellers want to stay within their group because they’ve formed a friendship and have fun together. It’s more appealing than seeing the Moulin Rouge on their own. We also have the benefits of scale to take our travellers through the Moulin Rouge without the need to queue.

Q: What are some offerings from Contiki travellers can look forward to?

A: We have a new itinerary for Iceland to see the Northern Lights for 2016 which we think will be very interesting for travellers. There’s a lot of interest too in the Balkans and we will have a number of new itineraries for that.

Q: Since you travel so much for work, how do you keep your trips as efficient as possible?

A: I live on efficiency and I’m a very impatient traveller. I think I read a situation well most of the time to optimise my travel such as choosing which security line to queue in. For example, I see how many pieces of luggage each traveller (in the queue) before me carries. I know which airport to fly through — I like to go through Middle Eastern airports for long haul as the transfers tend to be faster and I also fly with British Airways for the shortest layovers. Within Europe, I just fly budget because it’s so easy and efficient.

Q: You’re based in Geneva, where many go to for work: What are some places where travellers can experience another side to the city?

A: Geneva is like a little European village mixed with New York City. You’re also one hour away from the best skiing in the world in the Alps. You can drive to a lot of cities like Vienna very easily. I like Hotel d’Angleterre along Lake Geneva — it has a great restaurant and bar — plus it has a beautiful view. And there’s nothing like going onto a boat on the lake and having a cold bottle of Rose on a hot summer day. SERENE LIM