Today we’d like to introduce you to Sekou Saunders.
Sekou, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m the founder of The Destination Club. I started the company at the end of 2014. Before starting this company, I worked in sales, music festivals as an associate producer, and an experiential marketing tour manager for brands. So when starting this company, it was perfect because I was able to use things I’ve learned in all of my previous jobs/careers. Working on the festivals was my favorite. More than anything, it was the moments during the festival when you look around and get to see so many people having a great time and knowing you helped create that. So with The Destination Club, I’m able to create something that people can enjoy, experience, and remembered for a very long time.
I always loved traveling and seeing new places. But for the most part, every time I went out of the country, I would stay in an all-inclusive hotel. They would always be nice, but it came to a point that I was always bored by day 3 and if it wasn’t for the staff and food they served, I wouldn’t even know where I was. I would just know I was in a nice resort on the beach… I never got a chance to really see and experience the country I visited. But then I was invited to Sydney Australia by a friend who was from there and had great relationships. It was a completely different experience, and that trip was amazing. She had everything planned before I got there. I didn’t have to think about anything. She knew the best places to go and had contacts at most of them, so everything went super smooth. Whenever we got somewhere, they were expecting us. It was like she had friends everywhere. I really got to experience Sydney, Australia in a way I’ve never experienced a country before. After that trip, when I got back home, I started thinking, “this is how people should travel.” Get away from being secluded in the all-inclusive resorts and get out and see the country with someone who really knows it, and has the right relationships to show you an amazing time.
So I started The Destination Club. A club for people around the same age and mindset to get together and see the world. And if you rather do solo trips or just with your group of friends, we offer private trips as well.
Before we offer a trip somewhere, we go scout it first. Meaning we travel to the destination and spend a few weeks or more there, scouting the country, seeing the culture, trying the excursions, going to restaurants, checking out the nightlife, and making relationships. Everything we have to do in order to find out if this is the right place to bring the club. Will people love it here?? If the answer is yes, we move forward and start the planning process. We take out all the thought that goes into you doing this alone. From the moment you land, we take care of everything. Our trips come with a full itinerary, all transportation, and a host that’s with you all the time. More than half of the people that come on a trip come back on another one in the same year. So we only add two new destinations a year to give everyone a chance to make it to every destination.
I love what I do and what’s been created. The feeling of seeing people that just met laughing together. Or their faces when they’re blown away by the experience they had that day. Even the aftermath, a couple of weeks later when I receive that thank you again text or email. Our group trips now average about 20 people per trip. We go to a different country, at least every other month. And it’s always a great time. Our number one goal is to make sure we exceed all expectations.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not at all. When starting off, it was a slow process. After my first trip, I depended a lot on word of mouth. A lot of people I knew that I expected to come on trips didn’t. Later on (like a year or two later) I would get messages saying ok, “now I believe you. I had to make sure this was real first”. I remember the second trip I did only had a turn out of 4 people, and one of them was my best friend. And the trip after, didn’t have that much more. It was embarrassing and had my doubts if I should continue. But I knew what I was doing was needed, and my vision for this company was clear. I saw what it could be. My first year, I held all of my trips in the Dominican Republic. I did about four trips that year. On the first trip, in the second year of the company , I decided to hire a videographer to come out and shoot the trip. I also upgraded from hotels to luxury villas, and I met a bartender in Tampa that said she was going to come and bring some friends. The trip was amazing, and after getting the edited video, it took the company in the right direction. It was like a breath of fresh air and a weight off of my shoulders. It felt real now. Emails started coming in asking when our next trip was shortly after I added a new location and started getting repeat business.
For the next two years, I didn’t have a home. I lived out of Airbnbs, traveling to different countries to scout. When I ran out of money, I would come back to America, work on a project for 2 months, and take that money to put back into the company. I was basically isolated for two years, but I know it would be worth it. And it wasn’t all bad. Even though I was living in places that I didn’t understand the language, I was still living in beautiful places for a fraction of the cost of living in America so it could have been worse.
It takes an investment to scout locations as well. Flights, hotels, activities, moving money to network and build relationships. So you have to do a couple of trips just to get the money back it took to scout and plan the trip. When I started, a lot of my business was from people who I knew so of course, they ask for discounts. And at this point I’m just trying to get out of the whole I dug. But I guess it’s expected, so I didn’t mind. As long as they had a good time, I knew they would spread the word, and things would grow.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Destination Club story. Tell us more about the business.
The Destination Club is a travel club. We are traveling to different destinations around the world every at least every other month as a group. We also do private trips for groups of people that want to travel alone or celebrate something, and even book/provide itineraries for solo travelers.
The idea is to get away from the all-inclusive resorts and actually get out and experience the country we’re traveling to. Before launching a trip, I travel to the country first and spend about 3 to 4 weeks there scouting it out and making sure its a good place to travel to. We do all the work for you in advance. Find hotels/villas options, talk to locals to see what has to be done or seen when visiting, find great places to eat, test out different excursions, research the culture and see what’s different about this place, find the best nightlife locations and make relationship everywhere. We plan our trips with the idea that we want people to have a full trip — a nice vacation, with new experiences, and fun. We like to add options and have something for people that want to relax and on the opposite end for people that like to party. Either way, everyone will have a great time. Nothing is done or planned from behind a computer. We really put in the work and get the first-hand experience to make sure we can sign off on everything we offer, and it’s awesome. Our trips come with a full itinerary and all transportation, so we take all the work off of your plate. I always go back out to the destination a few days to a week before our trip to see if I need to make last minute changes that will make the trip even better.
I pride myself on people having a great time. When the trip is over, I want to walk away thinking we’ve surpassed every expectation.
I host every trip myself to make sure everyone has a great time.
Another great thing about The Destination Club is you get to meet a lot of great people thats around the same age and has the same love for traveling. If you don’t have anyone to travel with, we welcome solo travelers to join as well. After the first day, they made new friends and are no longer traveling alone. We make traveling safe, fun, and full of amazing experiences
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I can’t say luck has been involved. Nothing has been easy. Everything has turned into what is it by sticking to the plan, working hard, and giving everyone the best vacation possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thedestinationclub.com
- Phone: 718-664-8006
- Email: info@thedestinationclub.com
- Instagram: @thedestinationclub
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