What does it take to build a travel business from nothing?
How Two Backpackers Built A Travel Empire
In this powerful episode of The Business Growth Podcast, recorded live at Sky Studios, Alastair Donnelly and Simon King, co-founders of Inside Travel Group, share how they went from teaching English in Japan to leading an £80 million global company employing nearly 300 people and sending tens of thousands of travellers around the world each year.
This isn’t a story of overnight success. It’s a story of grit, friendship, purpose, and doing whatever it takes to survive.
Alistair and Simon open up about:
- The moment a life-changing trip inspired their business idea
- Building a company from a spare bedroom with no experience or money
- Surviving financial crashes, inefficiencies, and a pandemic that almost wiped them out
- Finding the right systems, advisors, and people to create sustainable growth
- How purpose and profit can coexist when you truly care about people
“Business is about people. You have to care about them - your customers, your team, your suppliers, your community. If you really care about people, success will follow.”