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Hike from beach to golden sand beach with turquoise waters in New Zealand's Abel Tasman National Park; go from France to Italy via Switzerland, touring the Mont Blanc massif; or cycle through olive groves and orchards while tasting Catalonia's locally grown produce. Each of these human-powered multi-day excursions since The Mac adventure is for those who live for the hours they are on the trail or in the saddle. Read: Almost everyone with a 303 or 720 area code.
It's no wonder the Scotland-based adventure travel company chose Colorado for its North American headquarters. “These are the people who share our value system,” Macs founder Neil Lapping says of Denver's profusion of outdoor enthusiasts. “They know that life is about adventures, not things.”
Lapping opened Macs in 2003, determined to bring this philosophy of adventure to the travel market. He had paid his bills as a sailing, windsurfing and waterskiing guide in the Mediterranean before finally following his heart to Scotland. There he cringed at the way people discovered (or didn't) the castles, lochs and highlands of his new home through a greyhound's window. “It doesn’t matter if they’re 18 or 80,” he says. “The bus went by, they all stopped at the same viewpoint, took the same photo and got back on the bus.”
With Macs, he set out to help travelers experience the real Scotland on their own schedule through self-guided tours. Like any traditional adventure tour operator, Macs arranges all the accommodations (its accommodation partners have always been almost exclusively smaller, local operations). However, unlike other operators, Macs offers guests a hiking or biking itinerary (not a guidebook), which allows travelers to start the day and stop for breaks whenever they want (not when you tells them to do it). Mac guests can plan their trip with others, but there isn't the forced group component found in standard adventure travel experiences where everyone becomes best friends – or not – while they spend entire days in a herd.
“It’s a very different experience,” Lapping says of the self-guided trip. Because there's no large group or tour guide managing a language barrier between the guest and the hotel or restaurant staff, “you're forced to interact and manage.” Then (you) have these interactions when the people at the table next to you lean in and say, “Where are you from?” In your group of 15 or 20 people, no one leans in because you are busy with yourselves.
Self-guided trips facilitate an often truer experience of the destination visited, not just a tour operator's view of the highlights. Macs today remain rooted in this self-guiding philosophy, while continuing to improve its offering with updates as a practical tool. mobile app (rather than paper cards) and 24/7 support if a customer needs it. “We're basically allowing people to have their own experiences, in safety and comfort,” says Lapping. “It’s going to be a great journey, and if anything goes wrong, we’re here to support you.”
Success wasn't immediate – “at first it was a complete disaster,” laughs Lapping – but with projections for 2024 indicating that around 40,000 people will take part in one of their 550 different trips across 40 countries , there is no doubt that Macs have arrived. “People want more from their holiday than sitting around, whether on a coach or a cruise,” says Macs growth director Graham Horner. “They want to come away from this trip feeling better and having accomplished something. We offer that feeling of accomplishment.
Denverite Susan Oakes is exactly that type of traveler. Until 2018, she had always planned her own (awesome) traditional vacations, whether it was tackling Cinque Terre with a four- and six-year-old, spending two weeks in Scandinavia, or skiing in the Hakuba valley in Japan. The research process of organizing a point-to-point hiking adventure, i.e. different start and finish points, among the peaks of the Italian Dolomites, however, proved particularly challenging. Between the language barrier, different fares, required shuttles, and predicting how fast or slow his group would move, Oakes says it was incredibly time consuming. When she came across The multiple options for visiting Macs (available at a “very reasonable” price, she says) while searching online, she signed up. “Macs does everything that's important to you,” says Oakes, noting that cycling along Ireland's wild west coast and hiking through the terraced hills of Mallorca, Spain, will mark his fifth and sixth Mac trips since discovering the Italian circuit. “They make all the reservations. They send you the information you need. You just do things at your own pace.
The predominance of people like Oakes, in part, made Colorado a top contender when choosing the location of Mac's North American headquarters in 2017. Colorado is where Mac's customers are . “We saw a huge demographic of people who grew up outdoors,” says Lapping, “and who wanted to do these activities in a different destination but didn't want to do it on a group trip.”
Another key element in their decision-making process: Colorado's reputation as a hub of adventure and a haven for those who pursue it. In other words, Lapping saw a brand transfer opportunity. “If we were based in New York, in New York, customers would say, 'Really? Are these guys truly, authentically people who share our values? ” says Lapping. “It's the same thing if a surf brand was based in California; it definitely helps their brand.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of landing in Denver, however, was the ease of finding the right employees. Lapping admits that Boston and Seattle were initially in the running, but after visiting Colorado, interviewing potential colleagues, and learning that people here “live for experiences, not things” (as evidenced by the bike racks and ski racks that cost more than the cars they hang). off), he knew he had found the right person.
Now, after weathering a global pandemic that ended travel beyond our backyard, Macs are reaping the rewards of that decision. Over the past year, the U.S. customer base has grown by 236%. Their office in Denver's Curtis Park neighborhood has grown from 11 to 40 employees. And despite the overall growth in international travel, which UN Tourism reports will reach pre-pandemic levels this yearexplains part of Mac's success, Lapping says opening a hub in the Mile High City was also integral.
After all, what better market and workforce to sell self-guided adventure trips than people who plan every weekend to explore an outdoor playground? “Colorado people get what we’re trying to build and share our values and passion for outdoor adventure,” Lapping says. “It’s been a great home for us.”
