About Us
A few reasons to consider using Steppes Travel...
The birth of Steppes Travel
In the spring of 1989, sitting on a rough bench in the foothills of the Altai mountains in southern Russia, listening to folk songs playing on a guitar, I sat looking at some of the most beautiful mountain scenery I had seen anywhere in the world, hundreds of miles from civilisation. It was at that moment I realised that there were people out there, like me, who would also like to visit these remote areas of the world.
People who had neither the time, nor knowledge, to organise it themselves. People who appreciated their comforts, but who would nevertheless forsake all, to visit some remote hut in the mountains without a decent bathroom because it was worth it, because it was an adventure. People who shunned group travel and who wanted to explore the world and return home enriched and with a feeling of having escaped their norm, if only for a while.
And so Steppes was born and has flourished, taking our clients to the more exotic regions of the world, showing them the main sites and then taking them off the beaten track to lesser known but equally interesting places not overrun with tourists. Additionally though, we have widened our appeal and, as you will see below, we also sell more luxurious forms of holiday such as river cruises and beach resorts.
A highly knowledgeable team of experts
We now have 38 people in the office, many of whom have been with the company over 10 years, giving us what, we believe, is the most knowledgeable team of specialist travel experts in the UK. Furthermore, they travel every year to the region they specialise in, which ensures they are fully up to date with new hotels, lodges and ideas. Within the travel industry several of our staff are recognised as the defining experts in their field.
An enviable level of repeat and referral business
3,000 people travel with us each year, of whom two thirds are either repeat clients or friends of clients. I believe this indicates that we are getting it right for them and I hope we can do the same for you.
24-Hour Emergency Service
We do not believe in answer machines, so 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, your call will be answered by a person who can connect you to one of our team in the case of an emergency.
Financial Protection
Steppes Travel is a fully bonded tour operator (ATOL 6945) that complies with the Civil Aviation Authority bonding, ensuring that your booking is fully protected.
Experiential Travel
But we want to deliver more than just a holiday. We want to enable you to meet and interact with the local population, understand their culture and return home enlightened. This requires us to be more than just a sales team. We need to have read the history books, travelled extensively through the area and empathised with the culture so that the itinerary we prepare for you fulfils those objectives.
A diverse portfolio covering (almost) all your holiday requirements
While we don’t sell mainstream Europe, the USA, Taiwan, South Korea and we don’t ski, we handle pretty much everything else. This includes expeditionary voyages (Arctic, Antarctic, South America, Mediterranean), river cruises (Amazon, Ganges, Irrawaddy, Rhine), tailor made epic journeys (through Sudan and Ethiopia, along the Silk Road or across Russia), cultural tours, safaris, dog sledding, family holidays, school trips, fully staffed private villas and the occasional beach resort. Additionally, we have a wildlife department who work extensively with the world’s leading research centres to provide unprecedented access to species such as gorillas, pandas, elephants, tigers and orangutans.
Tailor Made Travel
While we recognise that some people, for a variety of reasons, prefer to travel in groups, the vast majority of our business is tailor made travel. This can be for one person, a couple, a group of friends through to organising a party for 400. We are not beholden to hotels or airlines and will simply choose the ones which we think are the best and which reflect the way in which you like to travel.
Small group archaeological and wildlife tours
Alternatively, we also understand that some of our clients do prefer to travel in small groups, so we have created a number of escorted tours handled by our sister company The Traveller, using the talents of recognised writers, historians and experts from the diverse worlds of archaeology and textiles, to make your trip truly inspirational.
The environmental impact of hotels and lodges
While your comfort and satisfaction remain our prime concern, increasingly we are carefully considering which hotels and lodges to use based on their environmental policy. Bland statements advertising the amount of money diverted back into a region are not sufficient and on every trip made by our staff we are looking for evidence of partnerships with the local community, the disposal of rubbish and their impact on the environment. We urge you to do the same.
Air Travel
We are well aware of the controversy and arguments surrounding the environmental impact of flying. But consider this argument. If, at the flick of a switch, we could ground all flights tomorrow, the great game reserves of Africa would probably disappear within 5 years. Tigers, gorillas and orangutans would become extinct and countries such as Nepal, who rely on tourism, would suffer. Long haul flying delivers tourists to destinations who desperately need the money. Instead of banning flying we should recognise the problem and manage the damage more effectively. As a company we do not adhere to the carbon offset schemes that abound, but are more inclined to support charities such as The World Land Trust or Rainforest Concern who empower local populations to buy land that would otherwise go to logging or mining.
We hope we reflect the way you like to travel
Most importantly we remain a private company, not constrained by what or how we sell. This allows us to deliver a highly personal level of service and an itinerary that understands the way you like to travel. Above all, it gives us superb buying skills and agent loyalty often resulting in room upgrades, but more importantly, highly competitive prices for the type of travel we offer. With such a wide choice of travel companies offering their services, it is often difficult to choose one from another. I maintain that the relationship you create with your travel company is like a wine merchant. Just as two wine merchants can offer similar bottles at varying prices that apparently boast the same vintage and quality, it is not until the wine is tasted that the subtle nuances are revealed.
The detail that distinguishes two holidays is just as subtle and cannot be fully appreciated from an itinerary alone. It is a combination of the expertise of the people looking after you, the choices they can offer and arrange for you, their local knowledge and the way they react if something needs re-arranging that affect the price and the experience of the holiday itself. Furthermore we know that our guides are the best, our drivers hold a licence and the cars you travel in are reliable and insured. So the art is to find a travel company whose standards meet your aspirations and reflect the style in which you like to travel, just as you would use a wine merchant whose taste matches your own. Reliability, expertise and personal service have been our watchwords for the last 22 years, which is why the majority of our business every year comes from clients who have travelled with us before.
We very much look forward to your travel enquiries in 2011.
Yours sincerely
Nicholas A G Laing
PS – and yes, we have been lucky enough to receive various awards over the years from the likes of The Guardian, Tatler and Condé Nast Traveller. But being British we don’t shout about it. Maybe we should?