Not your typical trip
Inside the Katy company that plans exotic vacations for Oprah, Jay-Z & LarryFitzgerald
One of the hot trips offered by Ker & Downey is a luxury trek to Machu Picchu.
President David Marek has become involved in philanthropy efforts in his yearswith Ker & Downey. Here he's at an orphanage in Uganda.
Vice President David Jones on safari in Sanbona Game Reserve in South Africa.
Flip open the August issue of Travel + Leisure and you'll find Ker & Downey on the magazine's annual World's Best Awards list. The Katy-based company has consistently ranked among the top safari operators, and fall in at No. 4 in the world this year.
But David Marek and David Jones, Ker & Downey's president and vice president, don't want to be typecast as a company that organizes large-scale group excursions into the outback. The travel agency has much, more more to offer than the typical safari tour.
The company relocated from Africa to the Houston area in 1978, when the owner of Gulf States Toyota purchased the Botswana branch of Ker, Downey and Selby. Marek and others purchased the company in 1996. Over the years, the company has gradually increased its service area and gained a reputation for high-end travel.
Marek and Jones describe the vacations as "experiential" and "individualized," tailored by consultants who mold each traveler's interests into a one-of-a-kind trip.
As Jones explained, the company has expanded travel to 56 countries, including "pretty much almost everywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, and we have branched into bespoke, unique, experiential Europe."
"We try to make the difficult look easy," Marek said. That's why the company has a steady clientele of moneyed customers and celebrity names (think Oprah Winfrey, (NFL star) Larry Fitzgerald and Jay-Z).
Marek and Jones describe the vacations as "experiential" and "individualized," tailored by consultants who mold each traveler's interests into a one-of-a-kind trip.
And those consultants aren't just bluffing.
Part of Ker & Downey's secret is its young, vibrant employees from various backgrounds, each with a passion for travel. All are required to travel annually, honing knowledge in a specific country or region and experiencing it themselves. Jones claims that those consultants don't read prompts from a computer screen. They speak from personal experience.
An experience like no other
Fancy a capoeira performance in Brazil? They'll bring it to you. Want to be exposed to the natives of Papua New Guinea? They can arrange that, even offering a ceremonial welcome from the chief himself.
Like elephants? They'll get you on the ground with conservators and trackers, so that you can see the mammals yourself, up-close-and-personal. Or, if you're a little more daring, join up with predator researchers.
Don't expect to be stuck behind sluggish tourists on the Inca Trail, sharing public restrooms and sweating in a sleeping bag. You'll be hiking along a more secluded trail, with local guides, and spending each night in a luxury lodge with spas and gourmet cuisine. A more "genuine" experience of hiking the Andes, they call it.
"Nobody in the world does what we do," Jones said.
Though Ker & Downey lists suggested travel destinations and activities on its website, the company doesn't fit the mold for brochure-oriented "itinerary travel." That is the driving force behind Bespoke, the company's quarterly magazine that covers the latest and greatest destinations, highlighting experience ideas and featuring properties. But everything they do is ultimately customized.
Since 2005, Marek has made philanthropy a personal passion and a cornerstone of the company's practices, donating mosquito nets to Ugandans, providing clothing for Africans in need and more.
The company is also in the early stages of a partnership with the Houston Zoo, which will link Ker & Downey clients with wildlife conservation researchers in specific countries.
"Nobody in the world does what we do," Jones said.
