Today we’d like to introduce you to Travis Lewis.
Hi Travis, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
My friends and I are frequent visitors to the beautiful island of Jamaica, to the tune of 6- 8 times a year. Like any visitor to the island, visions of beautiful beaches, all-you-can-drink Pina Coladas & reggae music filled our heads every single time we touch down.
The problem was that no matter how near or far, transportation was always the issue. Flight from Florida would be short, destination on the island breathtaking, but to get there was always painstaking. Honestly, the vehicles provided by current transportation companies on the island are all dated, to say the least. It just didn’t match the magic that the island had to offer.
So one day when heading back to the airport from Ocho Rios, my business partner and I decided to change that. We got into the transportation business, and brought luxury! We decided to fill that void by putting Luxury vehicles on the island with high-quality service.
We entered the market during the pandemic, so it was a blessing and a curse. On one hand, because the tourism industry was at a standstill, it allowed us to explore the island and see places with limited people around.
We discovered hidden gems not really visited by the general public or those visiting from a cruise ship. On the other hand, business was really slow. We literally crawled and paced the tourism industry, not really generating the business that we hoped to. Eventually, those relationships that we fostered started paying off. We started getting booked by some of today’s biggest stars!
Our first, can’t really say his name but you can hear him screaming “we are the best!” Other celebrities included one of UFC’s champions (The Nigerian Nightmare), an Olympic Track star, and a slew of others within a year’s time. Eventually, word of Luxury Star Travels got around Jamaica and here in the USA that we are the company to-go-to when it comes to transportation needs.
With any business, changes come, some for the good and some for the bad. In our case for the good. A lot of our patrons would view our social media and see the many hidden gems we would visit and feature, and eventually, that led to us expanding our service line to a Full-Service Concierge.
In this new role, we are able to locate villas, plan daily activities, and show people a side of Jamaica that they normally wouldn’t see. We became an unofficial ambassador of the island if you will. Since then, we have become a member of the tourism board and secured contracts for festivals around the island this summer.
Let’s just say, everything is looking Irie!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth road? Not all of Jamaica is smooth.
There are challenges navigating a company that’s overseas. Oversight has not been too difficult because I do have a great operational director there, but fostering the relationships are. The business culture of Jamaica is more face-to-face than over the phone.
There’s nothing like them seeing your passion and integrity when speaking about business. Jamaicans have a lot of pride in everything that they do, and it’s very hard to convey that over the phone all the time. It’s also costly to keep going back and forth for meetings. The last few trips to the island have not been vacations, but business trips.
On my last trip, I spent 15 hours every day for 5 days in the truck visiting different business owners in different, often remote, parts of the island. It can be challenging to accomplish all that I anticipate with each trip, but I do my best to maximize my time there.
We’ve been impressed with Luxury Star Travels, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What sets us apart from others is that we don’t substitute Luxury. We specialize in tailoring clients’ transportation needs. If my clients want their rides to include special requests, we provide that. We put our clients in dream homes filled with a staff that caters to their needs.
Dream homes that border the Caribbean sea or scenic waterfalls. We show clients parts of the island and the beauty that it holds that you are not going to find waiting in line with 200 other travelers. We give our clients a sense of peace of mind and security in a foreign land.
What I am most proud of brand-wise is that we haven’t caved to lowering our standards. We haven’t just become a ride to and from the airport. We are the first point of contact that travelers to the island have. So it is important that we set the standard every single time.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
The calm app helps me to meditate and to take in my surroundings. I do pay attention to a lot of Jamaica’s digital news, which helps me to keep the pulse of the island.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.luxurystartravels.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/luxurystartravels?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luxurystartravels/
Image Credits
Living better films and Spiffyxo
