11 Dec Bespoke Travel Agency: Interview with Julia Kozlov of Luxury Horizons

To say that we here at Luxury Branded have a soft spot for exquisite travel packages would be an understatement; in fact, we absolutely adore them! But for those times when you really want to spare no expense and plan a trip that truly delivers everything you want, it’s helpful to go a step above your run-of-the-mill travel agent and speak to people who specialize in bespoke luxury vacations in particular.

Enter Luxury Horizons, an elite travel agency that puts together unique travel packages based upon your individual tastes and desires, with a keen eye for the little details that help make a holiday special. We were fortunate enough to sit down with Luxury Horizons Managing Partner Julia Kozlov to find out what makes her company special, and how they do it all so well…

Luxury Branded: Tell us about your brand and a bit about the people behind Luxury Horizons.

Julia Kozlov: First off, Luxury Horizons is truly different! What we offer is for the discerning traveler who wants to enjoy Canada and experience things out of the norm of usual travel. Essentially, we are ‘Canadian Dream Makers!’ We specialize in bespoke luxury travel experiences right across Canada – this great and vast country of ours.

Through our strategic partners and exclusive relationships, we are able to arrange the best Canada has to offer – from ultra exclusive accommodations, luxury transportation, tours, guides, personalized services, celebrity experiences, VIP access to private events and more.

Our passion is Canada, but doing it with a luxurious twist is our specialty.

LB: Given that it’s the skiing season and not counting your current packages, where’s a good heli skiing destination beyond the usual hotspots out here in the west?

JK: I would say that the Columbia Mountains is probably the most pristine Heli Skiing destination in Canada and has some of the best snow conditions in the world. Revelstoke Heli Skiing comes as a close second choice for us as the property is one of the best in Canada and so is the terrain for Heli Skiing.

LB: You’ve been around for 7 years now. How has the landscape of the luxury travel industry changed in that time out here in British Columbia?

JK: I would say that luxury travel has become more in demand and more of a preferred way for guests to experience a resort if they have the money to spend. Guests have also now become more creative with their needs. Thus we have had to adapt to this with our bespoke travel planning service. Trips within Western Canada are also becoming more dynamic, with guests often wanting to experience Vancouver, Whistler and Banff all within one experience. We believe the reason for this is the continuous popularity of Western Canada’s reputation as one of the more livable places in the world as well as the fact that we are the home to North America’s #1 Ski Resort – Whistler Blackcomb.

LB: I personally found you folks through your Hockey experience packages and loved what I saw. What has the reception been like and will we see more sports oriented experiences from you in the future?

JK: Who wouldn’t want to watch NHL hockey live from a Private VIP Box, attend the official post game press conference, access the players’ dressing room and even park in the players’ parking garage? This is truly a VIP experience! As you can imagine, the response has been overwhelming and demand will unfortunately exceed supply. Given the response, we have something new up our sleeves that we are working to release in the Spring of 2014. Stay tuned!

LB: As for your bespoke travel experiences, what more can a client expect by getting a completely custom experience?

JK: Clients of Luxury Horizons can expect the unexpected! Our intention is to provide certain touches and experiences that they would otherwise not be able to find by booking elsewhere. From a hotel General Manager coming to personally meet and greet you upon check-in to parking in the same private parking garage as your favorite NHL star all the way to a personal Celebrity experience, we strive to be truly different! Depending on the trip, our clients can also expect to be transported in style – from personal helicopters for Heli-Skiing to driving luxurious, high-performance automobiles. We furnish our guests with the ability to have their own personal ski or resort guide with them to escort them or their party. As well, we have a full range of concierge services available to ensure our added touch is delivered – fancy a private dinner by a world class chef on top of one of the peaks at Whistler Blackcomb?

LB: Are you finding a lot of locals are customers these days, or are they mainly tourists form abroad wanting to see the best of what we have to offer?

JK: The majority of our guests have always been outbound primarily from the U.S, U.K, Australia and Latin America. However, we do regularly get a good number of locals looking to travel to nearby resorts as well, especially for skiing during the winter season.

LB: Tell us how people can reach you online and socially.

JK: We absolutely love inspiring and conversing with folks who have travelled to Canada. Thus, anyone is welcome to connect with us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr. We love using all 5 of these platforms in different ways – all for the purpose of highlighting the best of Canada. One thing we started doing recently to celebrate Canadian travel and converse with the online community in a unique way is by featuring photos taken by others that highlight that best of travel in Canada. The response has been great and fun as well!