Cookson Adventures: Pioneering Some of the Very Best Travel Experiences on the Planet
By
4 months ago
Trips for the adventurous at heart
Cookson Adventures is an entry in our Great British Brands 2024 book.
Cookson Adventures: Great British Brand 2024
‘When I founded Cookson Adventures, the drive for me was curiosity. I had this thirst to explore and experience different cultures. Then there was this burning passion to share that. I wanted more people to see this incredibly diverse planet. So often, people have such a tiny window into what they can see. It’s about expanding that window.
The principle of the company is authenticity. With the expansion of technology, authenticity can be the victim. We’re proud that we have filmed and photographed our adventures for 15 years so the team can bring this to clients to give them ideas. Anyone can buy stock footage and use AI to manufacture something, but we have the real stuff.
I think AI is a tool to be used responsibly. Quite often we build remote camps for people or pop-up experiences that obviously don’t exist yet. We can use AI to give people a mood board of ideas we are planning. But we only use AI to promote things within our sphere of expertise or influence.
Looking forward, we’re really excited about Greenland, which is on the frontier of climate change. We are hoping to build a custom floating camp there. Papua New Guinea is very much on our radar as well. We’re also heavily into conservation, which we marry into our trips. We share this earth and have a responsibility to look after it. So, it’s good to gently educate people. Then there’s transformative wellness, which we are introducing as nature is a key part of this.
We try to do things beyond the ordinary. It’s not necessarily finding new geographical areas – its ways of reinventing. I think we’ve always done a really great job in keeping ahead of the curve. We want to keep on constantly innovating and pushing those boundaries.’
Henry Cookson, founder
Five Proudest Moments
- Pioneering ground-breaking yacht expeditions in some of the world’s most remote destinations where few – if any – have been before and mapping the seabed with sonar technology. We gave this new data to scientists, governments and global projects, like Seabed 2030.
- Our team of marine scientists discovering a new species of killer whale on a client’s yacht trip to Antarctica.
- Organising one of Kenya’s largest rhino translocations, working alongside government authorities and top conservationists.
- Creating one-of-a-kind bespoke camps, including a world-first ‘floating’ aurora camp on a frozen glacial lake in Iceland and the first luxury tented camps in Socotra, an island off Yemen.
- In 2024, celebrating 15 years of creating extraordinary journeys and pushing boundaries in the luxury travel space.
What I’ve Learnt…
- To step back and allow my team to fly. It gives people the space to grow into their capabilities.
- To strike the perfect level in terms of appreciating people’s limits. Some people may want hardcore experiences, others something gentler.
- That people want to learn about conservation. We don’t need to bring the subject in through the back door.
COOKSON ADVENTURES
2 Clearwater Terrace
London W11 4XL
+44 (0)20 7736 0452
