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12.05.2024 - 09:41 / forbes.com
Self-guided adventure travel is having its moment right now and there are many reasons for its rise in popularity. No one knows this better than Neil Lapping, founder of Macs Adventure, which offers more than 500 self-guided hiking and biking adventures in more than 40 destinations worldwide.
Lapping was inspired to start the company in 2003 while hiking in Scotland. He saw a bus pull into the small town of Ullapool and watched the passengers get off, take photos, interact with no one, and then get back on the bus. He thought there was a better way to experience a country as rich in nature, history, and culture as Scotland.
“So, with no money and no idea, I founded Macs Adventure to offer guided hiking and biking trips in Scotland,” Lapping recalled in an email interview. He now employs 200 people and sends over 40,000 people a year on a Macs Adventure trip.
“Although we’ve been doing this for over 20 years, the last three years have seen this momentum accelerate hugely, and it feels like a tipping point for self-guided,” Lapping reports. In 2023, their biggest-selling trips were the Tour du Mont Blanc, West Highland Way, Camino Frances, The Cotswold Way, Coast to Coast, Great Glen Way, Best of the Bernese Oberland, Cycle Sicily’s South, and Walking Portofino & Cinque Terre.
Here are 8 reasons you should consider a self-guided adventure.
It’s a More Immersive Way to Travel.
Travelers are looking for personalized, authentic, and immersive experiences,” Lapping maintains With traditional adventure travel, you usually join a group of strangers.
“Americans today are looking for personal discovery, to celebrate major milestones, or for personal and spiritual growth,” he says. “All these are more meaningful when traveling alone or with friends and family, not a group of strangers who might not share your priorities and values.”
They Handle the Logistics
Lapping recalls that in his first year in business, in 2003, a German woman approached him.
“She was a keen hiker and didn’t want a guided trip, but she did want a perfectly planned itinerary, carefully chosen lodging, her luggage moved daily, and local support. I said, ‘Yes, sure, we can help with that.’” She was their first self-guided traveler and the model for the business.
“We plan the trip itineraries, connect you to the right trip, take care of all the lodging, transfers, baggage booking, logistics, and payments, answer any pre-trip queries, and guide you every step of the way with our mobile app mapping and directions,” Lapping says. Should you need any support on the trip, we are here to help 24/7.”
As an example, Lapping cites their Tour Du Mont Blanc in Comfort. One of Europe’s most popular hiking routes, Macs researches all aspects of the
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