Sporting encounters of a luxurious kind

While watching the English Premier League (EPL) this season, would you set off to a fantasy trip to the UK with your favourite football player? If your answer is in the affirmative, Premier Explore, the UK-based start-up, has just the thing you want. The company which was founded in January 2014 by Peter Watts and Isaac Cumberbatch, started its operations in India in 2014, after realising that the number of football fanatics in the country is rising. 

The British tour operator offers luxurious hospitality experiences for the sporty lot. Along with football, the rest of the trip includes first-class travel arrangements, luxury accommodation, fine dining, concert passes and much more.  Since the experience of the trip is completely customised and tailor-made, the prices of every package vary from client to client.

According to the company, on an average, an entry level flight inclusive package based on twin-sharing would start from £2,500 per person, which includes visa, economy flights, all transfers, four-nights luxury accommodation, EPL experience and a sightseeing excursion.

An entry level flight and visa exclusive package would cost £2,000 per person including the same services. “We want to create packages that match the exact requirements and budget of the client. This indicates that prices could be cheaper if they only require three or four star hotel,” says Peter Watts.

With the aim of bringing Indian football and sports fans closer to the whole EPL experience and providing them with an experience of watching these matches live and even getting the opportunity to meet their favourite player or get signed merchandise, Premier Explore further plans to offer luxurious packages for Wimbledon, the FIFA World Cup, Formula 1, Cricket World Cup and many more events. Says Watts, “It’s about Indian tourists travelling to the UK at the moment. We are targeting just the Indian market as of now.” 

“Our luxurious high-end packages are designed especially for the youth. While our leisure services are for families and friends, we also include corporate travellers,” says Watts. Some of the luxurious services provided by the company include visit to the four football clubs — Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea in the UK, a private jet to visit other cities outside the capital to cities such as Manchester, Liverpool or Newcastle. It also includes self-drive vintage car experiences, meet and greet session with English Premier League players and a private helicopter sightseeing tour. “We mainly do package deals only. The private player meet and greets starts from £5000,” he says.  

Further, the booking of a package involves filling an enquiry form after which clients are contacted by the company’s representative, who plans itineraries as per individual requirements and preferences and sends a suitable quote for it. Once the quote is agreed upon, the services are fine-tuned to meet individual tastes.

Having serviced around 125 clients as yet, the company has opened its first office in Kolkata. “We are looking at Mumbai as the next location of our office,” mentions Watts. However, with an aim of adding other sports events to their portfolio, the company wants to establish the same concept in other countries such as the UAE, Singapore and Malaysia as it expands.