Derek Moore and Martin Anslow.
"Together, we have some 60 years’ experience working in travel. Between us we have led tours across Asia, Latin America and Africa, dived in some of the remoter places on our planet, planned and led expeditions across the Sahara, flown helicopter tours, and founded, run, and sold, travel companies and travel exhibitions. All this as part of a lifetime of experiences, adventure and fun during which we have each lived, worked and explored in over 100 countries, building up a network of contacts worldwide. And now, with both of us having sold our respective businesses we each have the time available to work with a few carefully chosen clients each year, to design colour and context into the content of your travels. We each have our own story".
“These guys have such an original approach. It’s just you and them, sitting together and talking together, and you’re dipping into their fund of ideas, tapping into their years of such extensive travel. Then suddenly you have an itinerary full of little touches they came up with out of left field.”
Jo Paterson
Derek Moore
I started my working life as a teacher, for a couple of years, but the urge to travel soon took over. So for some 13 years I worked as a Tour Leader, running tours all over the world – Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australasia, South and Central America. Working in, or visiting, over 120 countries taught me where it is rewarding to travel to and what is worth seeing there.
When it was time to settle down, I co-founded Explore!, now one of the world’s leading adventure travel companies, and for two decades was Operations Director, planning the details of, and operating, small group tours to over 100 countries. These years taught me the importance of attention to detail when planning and operating any travel experience.
We sold Explore! after 20 years, and since then my time has been split between two roles. I am currently the Chairman of AITO (the Association of Independent Tour Operators) and I also devote time to presenting seminars and training courses for Tourist Boards on how tour operators plan and organise tours. Both roles are really a passing on of expertise gained over some 40 years in the travel business.
Along the way I was lucky enough to pick up two awards: King Juan Carlos of Spain presented me with the Order of Isabella Catolica for services to Spanish Tourism, and I received a Lifetime Contribution to Adventure Travel award from the Adventure Travel Conference.
Alongside the above roles, I have also increasingly been persuaded by friends to put together interesting trips and events for them (see ‘Travel Ideas’); this I have done just for the sheer fun of using my knowledge of how to design and plan travel. Those same friends have frequently asked why not offer such a service to the wider world, hence my teaming up with Martin to form D and M Travel Design.
We are looking for just a small number of discerning clients each year, and I hope that each of them will have as much enjoyment experiencing what we design for them as I will have in handling their private travel planning.
Martin Anslow
I started out trying to do something sensible, studying furniture and product design. I even got a regular job, working in exhibitions for a while.
But eventually passion won out over practicality. My passion for travel led me to spend five years travelling the world. Winters were spent skiing in Verbier, whilst summers were spent exploring Europe, Asia, Central and South America and Africa.
After that it seemed logical to create a business based around my love of travel and thus I developed the idea of creating exhibitions which would cover niche areas of travel that interested me.
I started The Adventure Travel Show in 1996 then, with Condé Nast, started a Luxury Travel Show in 2005. In 2009 came the Cruise Show (featuring small vessels in intriguing places) and finally, in 2014, I started the Family Travel Show because I found it difficult to sort out my own family travel plans.
Then it seemed time to start the next adventure, so in 2016 I sold my exhibition business. Despite this, I have remained involved in travel. Friends constantly ask me for ideas and itineraries for their own trips, so it seemed natural to develop this into a business, hence my collaboration with Derek to form D & M Travel Design.
Over the years, as well as visiting more than 100 countries, I picked up a number of skills among them qualifying as a Dive Master and a helicopter pilot www.wildhelicopters.com and found a few new interests: historic motor racing, classic cars and the conservation of historic buildings, including my own listed home.
Historic building conservation is also at the heart of my family business, the Listed Property Owners’ Club www.lpoc.co.uk, which advisors and supports the owners of the 500,000 listed buildings in the UK. As well as being editor-in-chief of the Club, I am also actively involved in lobbying government through our APPG supported by 52 MP's which is campaigning for the reduction of VAT on approved repairs and a simplified planning process.
I also launched Architectural Traveller magazine, www.architecturaltraveller.com which has brought my great passions of travel, architecture and conservation to life.
D and M Travel Design is a trading name of Lightline Pilgrimages Ltd, holder of ATOL number 9693.