Perfecting tailored travel with Tom Marchant from Black Tomato

0:12Tom Marchant:Hello and welcome to The Monocle Weekly. I'm Fernando Augusto Pacheco and today I speak with the co-founder of a luxury travel company based in London and New York, Black Tomato. It was a pleasure talking with Tom Marchant about travel trends for 2026 and what destinations are on the rise.

0:36The Monocle Weekly Hosts:black tomato is a luxury travel company we specialize in creating really immersive unique travel experiences around the world for a very curious audience i think what what roots us in our approach is we're very much about the pursuit of feelings through travel we see travel as a very ultimately emotive subject and so when we started the company it was based around an insight of people might not know where they want to go, but quite often you know how you want to feel. And that's still very much the way we think about the world. Where can I go that's going to give me the feelings I'm seeking?

1:07Tom Marchant:And I think people are getting tired of just looking at things on social media, those little lists that maybe don't add too much. So I think your job is becoming more relevant than ever. I generally think people are looking for that and not just in the luxury sector.

1:21The Monocle Weekly Hosts:I totally agree. It's almost an irony. I think social media is great for many ways, but sometimes it's the paradox of choice. You know, you see so many things, but it's quite hard to tell what that's going to mean to you. And sometimes it can feel overwhelming. So our job as experts in understanding the world, understanding our clients, is to dig out these experiences, these opportunities for people to really connect with places, get under the skin of places and, you know, leave with memories that stay forever. And to sift through that noise and be a bit of a port in the storm of everything out there, that's what we do.

1:54The Monocle Weekly Hosts:And thankfully, that's why people come to us and rely on us to help them navigate this wonderful, but at times quite chaotic world we have.

2:01Tom Marchant:Yeah, very chaotic. And first of all, I just want to ask, so you're based both in London and New York, where Tomato is a company, so your clients are mainly British and American.

2:11The Monocle Weekly Hosts:Yes, British and American. So as my accent will reveal, I'm British by origin, but over the course of the business's history, we've grown a lot in both territories, and we have teams of people working for us on both sides of the Atlantic. and yeah a lot of you know many many thousands of people traveling with us each year to all corners of the globe a lot coming out of the united states and the uk and other territories

2:31Tom Marchant:as well since when you start you know basically working with travel in general do you feel that people's expectations about travel have changed i mean i do read a lot of you know people are looking as you said maybe it's the pursuit of feelings right something a little bit more deep

2:47The Monocle Weekly Hosts:perhaps i think so i think the insight i shared when we started i think at that time it felt quite different but largely it was reflected on how we felt about the world at that time so 20 years ago travel was it was very perfunctory in terms of how it was presented you know people would be shown lists of hotels activities destinations things you can do but no one's really telling you how you're going to feel and i think for a long time it travel had sort of fallen down that route and probably by doing that a lot of people weren't really probably asking the questions of themselves what do i really want to get from this trip it was more following a routine or a template that had been established.

3:22The Monocle Weekly Hosts:But we have seen, fortunately, over the years, as people have travelled more, people become aware of what they can do. And I think the industry has also just embraced this idea of, you know, it's an overused word now, but experiences. And so people are asking more questions, thinking more deeply. And also it's the job for us to put on those threads within people's minds about how they might want to travel. Because sometimes they don't actually have the questions. and it's us asking questions of them to really understand what you want to get from a trip because there's nothing worse than the regret you might have after taking a trip and then coming back to work and thinking, well, I've got months before I go away and I didn't quite get the most out of that.

4:02The Monocle Weekly Hosts:So yeah, people's minds are opening, which I think is great. Their curiosity continues to dial up. Ultimately, we are a business rooted in curiosity and that's a value that all our customers share. So yeah, I think it's changed from the listicles and list of things to do and tick off to how is this really going to connect with me on a deeper level.

4:23Tom Marchant:And how does it work? You know, I've looked at your website and your clients and countries. You basically cover quite a large part of the world. So if I go there and say, listen, I want to do a safari or whatever. So tell us about you. What parts of the world do you cover in Black Tomato?

4:38The Monocle Weekly Hosts:Well, we are global. We're global to the extent that we will take people to places that we know. I think, you know, sometimes it's easy for a lot of people to say, oh i go everywhere but for us delivering the kind of experience we want to deliver we really need to know that place so that means we have teams of fantastic travel experts who've lived and you know spent time and continue to spend time in these destinations they really live and breathe them but also we have the most amazing network of partners on the ground in places all around the world and the way we've got to know these places and continue to get to know these places is just extensive extensive research and testing you know places evolve the whole time i think we have an expression that you know the world might have been discovered but it hasn't been fully explored because places shift so for us it's encouraging people to put trust in us you know this is what we do 24 7 365 days of the year but we really take time to before even thinking about a place you really understand the guest and the client what matters to you not just when you travel but when you're at home what are the things what are non-negotiables what are the things you may be been wanting to do for a long time but put off all these questions that then allows you to start connecting and creating the most you know magical experiences that really fit that person i like the

5:51Tom Marchant:fact you mentioned that no negotiables do you have a no negotiable i know it's a tricky question yeah i can tell you mine to start help i am not a morning person so everything that says you have to wake up 5 a.m to do this and that i and i know that i'm cutting a lot of things out of my life But that's a non-negotiable for me.

6:08The Monocle Weekly Hosts:I love the fact you have that because I think, particularly when it's holiday vacation time, you don't want to be compromised on this special time. And so, well, for me, my non-negotiables sort of evolve. I have young children now. So one of them will be around length of times and transfers or journeys because one person's journey across a tundra for six hours can be amazing. But if you've got two young screaming kids, you know you're going to want to be out of there so it's very much so a lot of it's reflected through my children i think for me my non-negotiable when i'm researching is i have to find ways to connect with local people in the culture i love hotels we work with many hotels around the world great partners but i can never take a trip where i just stay within the walls of the hotel or that resort if i go somewhere and i feel i haven't felt a connection with the place i kind of have that itchy feeling of i don't i feel a bit sort of unsettled so yeah it's coming back where i felt have built a connection with the place.

7:04Tom Marchant:That's a fantastic one. I agree. That's my other non-negotiable. Let's talk about destinations here because honestly, in the world we live in, they go up and down for purely political reasons or for whatever incidents. Are you seeing more interest in particular countries or regions in 2026, especially from your company?

7:23The Monocle Weekly Hosts:Yeah, I think you sum it up very well. The world is in a state of flux. Places, for multitudes of reasons, become popular and fade away. Some are big external factors. it might be geopolitical. I mean, if we're looking at this year, places that are, I'm always loathe to say emerging because I'm sure lots of your listeners will know these places, but I think places that we have a keen eye on. We do a lot into Central America, Panama particularly, just has the most incredible properties and experiences there, that combination of kind of both the Latin and Caribbean coasts in one place. We've been working in that area for a long time, but the quality of experience has really, really increased and improved and it's been fantastic.

7:59The Monocle Weekly Hosts:Last year, and I still hope this year will continue to be, a growing popular place is Greenland, which I know is very topical given what's being discussed out there. But Iceland, its near neighbour, has been a cornerstone of our company since we started. I must have been there myself 20, 25 times. I almost feel Icelandic. And Greenland is this incredibly wild, raw and elemental place that almost has this final frontier feel to it. and we've been working over there developing experience with our partners for a long time and last year we've been well for a number of years been taking people but we've really seen that growing interest now people are still keen to go i'm not sure whether people are putting plans on hold i very much hope they're not i can't recommend that highly enough another area that i'm a huge fan of is the southern end of of chile i say chile because that's uh chile for the brits chile for the american audience um i'm a huge fan of south america um growing up i always wanted to explore Chile.

8:57The Monocle Weekly Hosts:I was just fascinated by the contrast between the Atacama in the north and then the wine regions in the centre and then getting down into southern Patagonia. And down in the south in the southern Patagonia National Park, there is the most incredible area which has an Explorer Hotel. It just opened a couple of years ago. It was Doug Tompkins, the founder of North Face and Esprit. It was his lodge where he had been building out a conservation area to protect the indigenous flora and fauna and environment and i've been down there and it's it's like no other place in the world and slowly people begin to visit it but it's like being dropped onto another planet and patagonia itself is great but if you go up into argentina it might be yeah there's a few more people around this place in the middle of nowhere and if you if you seek isolation or freedom or just a proper sense of disconnection around a landscape that will blow your mind daily that's a great place to look at.

9:50Tom Marchant:You mentioned isolation. I was looking at your website. Of course, it's divided if you want something for family, honeymoon, but there's the solo holidays as well. I'm fascinated by it because I think sometimes that's what people need in their lives as well, right? I personally, I prefer to travel either in smaller groups or with a partner, not with a big group of friends, to be honest, but solo, I've never actually done it.

10:12The Monocle Weekly Hosts:It's interesting. I like both. Quite often, I think travel is a, not all the time, but sometimes travel is the antidote to your day-to-day and and you're looking you know if you travel like maybe you want to do something different but and what we see quite often solo travelers is you might be living a an incredibly hectic work social life at home and what that means is you rarely get time with your own thoughts and that might scare some people but i just think time alone to think to not be distracted both by connecting other people as much as i like the culture in places i think You need to, like I said, culture is non-negotiable, but you can still have that hit in isolation.

10:50The Monocle Weekly Hosts:And I think we see the solo travellers, people who want to take themselves away, be with their own thoughts, but also to then sometimes push themselves. So you might be travelling solo, not in a wilderness, but in a new destination. And the sort of anticipation and the slight, you know, at times anxiety of, well, I'm going to have to push myself to do something. It brings parts of you out that perhaps you're not doing at home because you're very comfortable. so there's a lot of reasons to be said for it and I always try and fit in a couple of trips a year where I just go on my own somewhere because it makes you a bit braver if you're in a busting place to go out and connect with people but also to go to wildernesses like Iceland particularly where I might go hiking on my own and just 48 hours of relative silence and your own thoughts I think is a pretty good tonic for the soul

11:37Tom Marchant:What about your personal travel plan for the year? I mean, is there any place that you haven't visited that perhaps you would like to go this year? Yeah. I'm sure you've visited many places.

11:47The Monocle Weekly Hosts:It's always a tough one because I'm very fortunate in the position I'm in that part of what we do is to explore the world so we can introduce it to our clients. I think you probably sense it from when I talk about Chile. One type of travel I love is the great expanses.

12:01Tom Marchant:You're like a winter holiday.

12:02The Monocle Weekly Hosts:Yeah, well, my mother's from Finland, so one thinks it's sort of in the roots. But we take a lot of people to Mongolia, but I've never been. and I was I met someone recently whose family are from a particular very very remote part of Mongolia deep in the steppe and where there's a sacred valley that they only have access to and you go up there and you spend days riding on horseback you know setting up camps and it's it's not often that I'm almost like blown away by hearing experience because I'm around this the whole time and it's a great position to be in but to hear all that quite often I'm like okay it sounds good maybe but this has left me with my jaw on the floor and every client we ever take out to mongolia whatever they're doing there comes back with that wow i didn't think i'd be moved as much as i was the culture is so respectful it's so unique but the landscapes take your breath away so i'm trying at the moment negotiating with business and family plans to see if i can get

12:58Tom Marchant:out into the mongolian step i hear they have a great music scene i'm actually i really want to go to mongolia so another question of course we are here in europe and the summer here in europe it's always like a reason, you know, some people are against tourists coming to town, whatever. Do you see the growth of kind of traveling the off-peak seasons, you know? Because I see that in Europe. Even my dad's saying, listen, I don't want to go to Italy or Spain in July, you know, beautiful places, of course. But I see there's a lot of kind of travelers that are changing their behaviors already.

13:29The Monocle Weekly Hosts:They really are. And it's funny because, you know, traditionally, if we go back to when I was talking about when the company started, So, you know, they were very sort of defined seasons to places. And what you see is, well, a number of factors are shifting that. One is, yeah, the sheer kind of numbers and masses of people in certain places at a peak season. It can really detract from the experience you're looking for. You may even visit what a place is going to be like, but you turn up and you're fighting against the crowds. It's not actually that enjoyable. And also, you're not really, you're finding it hard to connect with the local culture because you're surrounded by tourists.

14:01The Monocle Weekly Hosts:So we talk in the travel industry of what we call shoulder seasons or off seasons just outside of those. And actually, with the changing of climate and places getting warmer for longer, often there's certain parts in the place that you might only think you can go into the summer that are now absolutely fantastic in spring and way into late autumn. And I personally like doing that. You know, sometimes people are restricted, of course, by school holidays with families. And I get that. But yeah, we are definitely seeing a shift or rather an increasingly open-mindedness to kind of when it's good to go.

14:30There'll be certain places that you're going to take a risk.

14:33The Monocle Weekly Hosts:if you're going for beach weather and you're going out of season, if you're prepared for some rainy days. But also, if you look at the climate, Europe is getting so hot in the summers now. And we're actually seeing a big trend where people are looking to slightly cooler climbs in Europe over the summer, so more visits to Scandinavia, Swiss Alps. But the great thing is there are so many options, and you can still find those really slightly quieter, properly local, immersive experiences away from the crowds.

15:00Tom Marchant:What's real luxury for you?

15:02The Monocle Weekly Hosts:That's a good question. for me, it's a word that is obviously used a lot and everyone has their own definition. For me, the word that always comes to mind when I think of luxury is thoughtfulness. And I think that matters more than ever because these days we're in such an environment of immediacy, sort of everything's available often, like at the touch of a button, and everything can be done for you. And what matters to me is when something has been created for me where I think that I have really been thought about, whether it be a suit that's been tailored or whether it's a trip that's been crafted just for me and me alone.

15:40The Monocle Weekly Hosts:Now, that doesn't always have to mean therefore it's expensive, but it is becoming increasingly scarce that someone is thinking there is human thought behind this just being delivered for me. And thoughtfulness leads to a deeper connection with something because it's reflected in you. So that's what matters to me at the moment. Thoughtfulness leads to better time spent. I think the word personalisation is used in everything. And you can question, well, how personalized is that? But if I think there's someone somewhere else doing something just for me, that's actually.

16:09Tom Marchant:And finally, Tom, I just want to, how do you see Black Tomato in 2026? Are you optimistic about the world of travel? Clearly, people are traveling more. I mean, we are past the COVID years, I feel, right? But tell us from your own take.

16:23The Monocle Weekly Hosts:I'm really encouraged. Yeah, we are past the COVID. And I think what was interesting when coming out of COVID, everyone wanted to travel again. And I think we took travel for granted before COVID. And then you realize how much you missed what was there. But rather than it being a big spike and dropping, we just see more people wanting to travel. And they had this horrible term I didn't like called revenge travel when you came out of COVID. But we actually see it as what we call recalibrated travel, where people realize that actually that travel is really important to them. Much better. Yeah, they're doing more.

16:50The Monocle Weekly Hosts:And for us, you know, we continue to see strong growth, which has been great. I think we're always focusing on mattering to clients we have. and that's whether it's family travel, big groups of people, couples, but really looking for places and experiences that will matter to people and give them those feelings. So that means great new services coming out, new products, expanding into new parts of the world. But ultimately, just delivering on our purpose. And as a company, that purpose is to inspire people through remarkable travel experiences. And the people I mention in that is both the clients, but as importantly, the communities we take people to.

17:25The Monocle Weekly Hosts:Travel is an amazing tool to regenerate areas, to open minds, foster better understanding. And if we can keep doing that, both for our clients and the communities we work with, then I'll be very happy.

17:38Tom Marchant:Thank you, Tom. For more information, go to blacktomato.com. You can also read an interview with Tom on Monaco's travel annual, The Escapist. I'm Fernando Augusto Pacheco, and this show was edited by Jack Dewars. Thank you for listening.

17:56Thank you.