2006 Exploratory Brochure - Horizon & Co.

WE ARE PASSIONATE IN OUR BELIEF THAT HORIZON IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRAVELCOMPANY. WHILE SOME OF THESE DIFFERENCES ARE TANGIBLE, MANY OF THEM ARE NOT,BUT WE HAVE COME TO REALIZE THAT THE COMPANIES WHO FLOURISH ARE THE ONESBASED ON VALUES THAT REMAIN CONSTANT OVER TIME. OUR MOST ENDURING VALUEIS A COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE, EXPRESSED THROUGH THE PROFESSIONALISMOF OUR STAFF, THE SOPHISTICATION OF OUR PLANNING AND OPERATIONS, AND THEValuesCONSTANT CREATIVITY OF OUR TRIPS.INTEGRITYWe believe in the old fashioned virtues of saying what youmean and standing behind your word. As more newcomersenter the travel business, the rhetoric and the promises seem to havelost touch with reality. While we can’t prove that our promises are morereal than anyone else’s, we can point to an uninterrupted history ofover 43 years in the business and one of the highest repeatrates in the industry, and we believe that this speaks for itself. Wealso care about the spirit of the law and not the letter, and thus weinterpret our policies generously in light of the relevant facts ratherthan hiding behind empty words. We admit that we are wrong whenwe make a mistake and we take responsibility for our actions whenwe are accountable, and we try to do so with the minimum of fussand a modicum of graciousness.INNOVATIONWe approach travel as a form of theatre that aspires to bridge thegap between traveller’s imagination and the destination’s reality. Ourresearchers strive to impose narrative structure on the convoluted andmultiple histories of a region, our trip planners provide the mise-ensceneand the local character actors, and our guides seek to providethe spark of creativity that transports the traveller from the status ofobserver to that of participant. Our ambition is always the same– to create a moment of pure magic by uniting the audienceand the actors in the suspension of disbelief, creating theillusion that what is carefully choreographed and stagedis actually perfectly spontaneous and real. The end result isan enduring memory, an unforgettable moment of authenticallyexperienced life.SOPHISTICATIONWe believe that sophistication in travel is a combination of substanceand style, an elusive blend of savoir faire and worldliness, a triumphof authentic experience over artificial expense. It is about smartchoices rather than obvious choices, it is about calibrating luxury tothe circumstances rather than imposing rigid definitions out of context,it is about nuanced discernment rather than personal pretension. Weattempt to weave an element of sophistication in everythingwe do, from the choices of where and how to travel to maintainingthe balance between price and value, from the seamless anticipationof every need to the mastery over minute details, from the zest fordiscovery of new experiences to the joy of sharing them with ourtravellers.SERVICEWe believe that great service is about listening to both thespoken and unspoken needs of our travellers and thendoing everything possible to exceed them. Our sales teamworks directly with our travellers to understand their desires and matchthem to our journeys. Our planning team parses the details to ensurethat every eventuality is anticipated. Our guides have few peers whenit comes to caring for the needs of our travellers, navigating thechallenges of international travel, and nurturing the sort of camaraderiethat can last a lifetime. We also believe that treating individualswith respect is the highest form of compliment. Even if theyare wrong, the opinions of our travellers are never dismissed. Ratherthan enforcing a master-servant relationship, we allow our guides tobehave as the equals of our travellers.