Scott Dunn has marked its first move into Asia with its acquisition of Singapore-based tailor-made travel specialist, Country Holidays.
In a press conference held this week, Scott Dunn CEO Simon Russell was clear about the company’s intent to make its presence known more dominantly in Asia. This meant finding a local partner that not only offered access to new target markets, but also finding one that shared the same company ethos of “quality, expertise, and service”.
Scott Dunn began as a luxury ski chalet company in 1986, with the founding principle of “nothing is too much trouble”. Fast forward to now and it is an international brand, currently dominant in the UK and North America.
Country Holidays, on the other hand, was founded in 1994 in Singapore and grew to become a leading bespoke private travel business in Asia, with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Dubai.
In this new agreement, Country Holidays will be rebranded as Scott Dunn and the existing Scott Dunn Singapore and Country Holidays teams will be merged over the next year. Chang Theng Hwee (founder of Country Holidays) will be appointed the position of Scott Dunn CEO, Asia.
During the announcement of the acquisition, Chang stated, “I am proud of all we achieved in the last 23 years but this move will now accelerate our growth, with all the benefits that come from being part of a leading global organisation.”
Scott Dunn CEO, Simon Russell & Country Holidays founder, Chang Theng Hwee at the press conference in Singapore
With a combined product offering, the two companies hope to form a symbiotic relationship. Country Holidays’ guests will be able to access Scott Dunn’s European and North American portfolio, while Scott Dunn guests can enjoy Country Holidays’ Asia offerings.
Beyond the physical product offering of the type of holidays offered, under the single brand, Country Holidays can also use Scott Dunn’s 24-hour telephone based services and technology platforms.
The intended end result of the acquisition is for Scott Dunn to become the “largest luxury outbound travel operation in Asia”, said Russell. “There are enormous opportunities… outbound tourism is growing at a faster rate in Asia than in the UK, Europe and the USA. There’s a huge appetite for personalised travel experiences… personal brands are being defined by the places they visit. [Travellers] are favouring spending more of their money on these types of travel experiences… and this is definitely fuelling a real boom in luxury travel and we feel we’ve place ourselves at the heart of that.”
While Scott Dunn was unable to disclose the cost of the acquisition, Russell did remark that it is seen as a long-term investment. “We are a business that is over seven times the size it was seven years ago, so we want to keep growing.”
The aim is to grow by as much as 40-50% with Scott Dunn’s global expansion. It will use its growing international presence to reduce dependency on the UK market and prioritise new markets that have clearly demonstrated faster paces of growth. In the next five to ten years, Russell projects a third of revenues to come from each market – the UK, USA and Asia respectively.
The mausoleum of Al Khazneh (Jordan), a destination offered by Scott Dunn
Understanding that it cannot solely rely on a straightforward corporate acquisition to guarantee its growth in the region, Scott Dunn has also leaned into its social media channels in an attempt to “future proof the brand” by engaging with future customers now.
Russell commented that the company’s core market tends to be older, more affluent travellers. Nevertheless, while the “millennial generation” is perhaps not yet successful enough to use the product, they do tend to interact with businesses like Scott Dunn through various online channels.
On the same point, Graham Horner (CMO, Scott Dunn) remarked that millennials and Gen-Z “may not be their guests at the minute, but they will be in future.” Thus, investing in social media platforms to build a following amongst a younger demographic could lay the foundations for its future consumer base.
Facebook has proven to be the leading channel for its UK market, however Instagram has won over Asia. “Travel is inherently instagrammable,” said Horner. There is a demand and appetite for brands to post steady but consistent streams of inspirational content that simultaneously depicts the brands voice.
“More is more” when it comes to social media, said Horner, and Scott Dunn plans to embrace its channels to the fullest to capture and build its nascent customer base.
