Walpole: You have owned NoteWorthy for over 12 years now. What has been your single proudest achievement in that time?
Nicola Butler: I am incredibly proud that NoteWorthy has grown ten-fold since I took over in 2012, and that we’ve earned our place as one of the most trusted names in bespoke luxury travel. We have, in effect, grown the business twice; first in the years following my taking the helm, and then again in the wake of the pandemic. Despite that period of deep uncertainty, we rebounded quickly and ultimately doubled our business again.
I’m also especially proud of the work we did during that challenging time to support the wider industry, in particular the ‘London Is Open’ campaign, which I spearheaded to shine a spotlight on London and all it has to offer. Genuine collaboration and the nurturing of relationships have always been at the heart of what we do, and never were they more important than in that moment. It’s in that same spirit that we’ll be bringing together 150 US travel advisors next April to mark 40 years of NoteWorthy.
What has been the most significant change in behaviour for your UHNW customers?
We've noticed a huge shift in family travel. Previously, our youngest guests were around 14 years old; today, we’re seeing families with very young children travelling together in multi-generational groups. This shift has required us to adapt our operations and train our team differently, especially around accommodating infants and young family members.
Attention spans have changed too. Because everything is instantaneous nowadays, people don’t have the brain capacity to take on as much information as they used to – we’re bombarded with so much information. The guides have taken this on board in how they deliver their visits to sites. For example, our Westminster tour used to be so much longer. Now we typically give three solid facts and keep it to a shorter time frame.
What was important to them now that was not important to them 12 years ago?
The younger guest wants more leisure time with short, sharp, fun peaks of interest. They expect information to be delivered quickly and articulated briefly. This combined with the shorter attention spans mean we’re curating shorter tours nowadays, between two to four hours.
And social media means more photo stops than there were 12 years ago. We always weave plenty of these into our itineraries as capturing the journey is so important to guests nowadays, particularly the younger demographic. Current favourites include the staircase at Raffles London at The OWO, and the chocolate covered strawberries at Borough Market.
What’s a current challenge to the travel industry and how are you overcoming that at NoteWorthy?
One of the biggest challenges is the pace at which guests’ expectations are evolving. The luxury traveller of today wants hyper-personalisation, insider access and seamless service. Fortunately these are all things that NoteWorthy has delivered for almost four decades. What has changed is the growing demand for spontaneity and freedom within an itinerary, and so we must balance structure with flexibility.
We meet this demand at NoteWorthy by investing heavily in our people and our relationships. Our experience designers and guides are trained to anticipate needs intuitively and to adjust plans effortlessly without ever compromising depth or quality. Our long-standing partnerships mean we can pivot quicky and be agile, offering meaningful access that really sets us apart. Securing access to the Louvre before opening hours on a Tuesday morning for a client with only two hours’ notice is testament to this.
