On a journey with ...
… Mr Michael Nachbaur from High Life Reisen. He has put his heart and soul behind his company since 1998. His team of now 30 employees ensures carefree holidays of the highest quality. Destinations such as the Mediterranean island of Elba, Istria, Formentera, or group tours with travel guides are not to be missed. He tells us how he overcame the pandemic period with High Life Reisen and what he himself pays attention to on holiday.
// Mr Nachbaur, what is the situation like in your travel agency after this long Corona year?
Mr Nachbaur: Many employees are still on reduced working hours. Customers are still largely holding back on bookings due to the current travel restrictions. We're all waiting for the EU and other countries to agree on a uniform travel regulation in the coming days and weeks and for the quarantine obligation to be lifted for many destinations and for returning guests. At the moment (mid-April) we assume that it can start in June; the first countries are showing positive signs and every day there's a bit more commercial optimism. Today, our travel experts were busy with non-stop customer consultations. I hope that things will progress quickly in the next few weeks and that we'll soon be able to adjust our opening hours again due to the increasing interest.
// Could you have imagined that something like this would happen?
Mr Nachbaur: No, the probability of a pandemic was never on my radar. In the past, even a 15% drop in sales would have been a disaster. We had this drop in 2016, for example, after our airline partner InterSky had to shut down operations. Otherwise, we have experienced constant growth since our founding in 1998. The fact that we've now had to live with a 90 % drop in revenue for more than a year is unprecedented and probably no one in the industry would have imagined this in their worst nightmares.
// Do you have wanderlust? Or was there an opportunity for you to travel, despite Corona?
Mr Nachbaur: Of course I have wanderlust. The business trips, trade fair visits and private trips that I had to cancel or postpone due to Corona can no longer be counted on just 2 hands. From July to October, however, I took the opportunity and went to Sardinia several times (also on business, of course), as well as to Greece. It's the same for all of us in the team - travelling is our passion and we can't wait to feel sand between our toes again.
// Is there a journey you would definitely like to take in your lifetime?
Mr Nachbaur: Yes - there are a few things. We took a trip with a motorhome in Western Canada from Calgary to Vancouver 11 years ago as a couple, and now we definitely want to do it again with the kids. Everything was planned for summer 2020, including the most beautiful campgrounds.
// What brought you and High Life Reisen together?
Mr Nachbaur: I founded High Life Reisen in the kids' room in 1998. When I worked for Rheintalflug for a few months after my school leaving exams, I realised how high the demand for package tours from the regional airport of St. Gallen Altenrhein was. This was the ideal time to set up my own business. I was supported by my whole family; for example, through my father Erich's group tours with up to 300 participants per trip. My sister Nadja also changed from Rheintalflug to our company and helped build up the business, and my mother also made a big contribution. Today we have more than 30 employees and book about 30,000 travellers, when there's no pandemic.
// Which destinations are amongst your favourites? Do you have any tips for us?
Mr Nachbaur: Definitely Sardinia, but I've never been able to decide on the north or the south. The island has 1,850 km of coastline, so I would book 2 weeks and do both. In between, an overnight stay in the mountains at Giovanna's Hotel Su Gologone. The hotel is more art gallery than hotel, and the food is excellent. Otherwise, I'm a fan of Oman as a destination; I've been there a few times with my family, preferably in the winter months from October to March. I also get carried away and dream about the Maldives and eagerly follow the hotel openings of many new resorts.
„For me, the perfect trip starts with the consultation. It is the most valuable time and I get a lot of feedback here from insiders who have already visited the destination in person.“
// What does a perfect trip include for you?
Mr Nachbaur: This replaces time-consuming internet research where I have to deal with endless details. An all-round carefree package, preferably flying non-stop rather than changing planes, and even better departing from a local airport than being stuck in a traffic jam for 2 hours on the way to a big hub. Furthermore, to make the journey as pleasant as possible, whether it's a pre-booked lounge at the airport, the pre-booked airport parking space or the room with a sea view in a privileged location, in a hotel directly on the beach with excellent service and a restaurant with terrace and sea view, with warm and attentive hosts.
// Which travel experience has influenced you the most?
Mr Nachbaur: I have very fond memories of many travel experiences. Whether it's a paragliding flight over the Musandam Mountains in Oman or a wonderful day trip in Sardinia with a rented, licence-free inflatable rubber motorboat to the wonderful islands of the Maddalena archipelago, with a picnic basket filled with fine red wine, salami and mozzarella salad in my luggage.
// Does travelling bring the family together even more?
Mr Nachbaur: Absolutely. We talk a lot in the family circle about moments we've experienced together on the many trips, and the children often remember even better than we parents do - it comes right down to details of what was eaten in which restaurant years ago. And what's very important is that we parents have a lot of time for the kids during the holidays. You can feel the difference between arriving at the destination and returning home - a great holiday bonds the whole family and shows the children foreign cultures, languages and the beauties of the different destinations.
// Do you have any specific tips for sustainable travel?
Mr Nachbaur: In this field, a lot will happen in the next few years. After Corona, this topic will certainly be even more in focus than before. Some of our contract hotels stand out for their sustainable measures, including the disposable-plastic-free hotel chain "Iberostar" or the "Six Senses" group which produce their own drinking water using desalination plants, thus avoiding the production and disposal of millions of glass and plastic bottles. We also check compliance with individual criteria when partnering hotels and mention particularly sustainably managed hotels in our brochures.
Thank you very much for the interview!
