Stoke Travel is not your average travel company.
They give two fingers to the way traditional travel companies operate and do things their way.
And that’s affordable experiences at the world’s wildest and most popular festivals and destinations.
A quick glimpse at their website, and you’ll realise that they don’t take themselves that seriously.
But one thing they have taken seriously is COVID-19.
Passenger and staff safety has; and always will be, their top priority. Closely followed of course by offering epic trips for carefree travellers and unlimited beer & sangria. Yes, you read that right. Free UNLIMITED beer & sangria.
We asked Stoke Travel General Manager, Coco Howard, how they have adapted to COVID-19 regulations, what passengers can expect, and what Stoke Travel has planned for the future.
Stoke Travel’s answer
At Stoke Travel, we are in a unique position since most of our largest events have always taken place outdoors.
Because we are outside, COVID-19 precautions are not causing many negative impacts on our experiences’ enjoyment. We pay close attention to government guidelines and advice from the World Health Organization (WHO), reducing capacities and postponing trips when necessary.
We’re hopeful for the upcoming summer and fall seasons, as Europe is becoming more open and vaccinated!
We are reviewing and following the new precautions put in place by our suppliers for the events we run in secured venues or hosted in accommodations.
For our campgrounds opening in September, we are waiting on the updated guidelines post-summer to make all our hygiene and safety procedures meet and exceed the standards.
On our campsites, we are doing free solo upgrades for guests travelling alone, so there is no risk of sharing a tent with a stranger!
Stoke Travel’s answer
The last thing we want is for anything to get in the way of our guests dreaming, planning and booking their trip, which is why we’ve implemented €1 risk-free deposits and an extremely flexible cancellation policy!
We are working very closely with our suppliers to ensure we can get the most flexible contract terms to pass that flexibility onto our guests.
Being in a position to be able to offer full credits or full refunds to our guests in case of cancellation makes our customer service and sales team’s jobs more exciting.
We’ve noticed many positive changes coming out of the tourism industry, as we’ve all had to pivot to make sure everyone is comfortable and confident booking. At the onset of COVID-19, many travellers were left with airline tickets and vacation packages that they could not refund.
As an industry, we need to battle against the frustration and trauma that our market is still feeling. I know a lot of the companies still standing are up and excited for the challenge.
I have a feeling the industry standard for terms will be more favourable toward customers moving forward!
Stoke Travel’s answer
We are very fortunate to be able to keep a lean team and use the downtime productively. We were able to pull two significant projects off the back burner and hit the ground running with them, and we were able to add two additional new brands into the fold!
Soon, we’ll be launching the Stoke App, the travel buddy with benefits!
We’re partnering with only the events, festivals and trips that young travellers need, creating a perfectly curated marketplace. Tips, hacks, reviews and rewards so when young travellers are ready and able to travel again, they will get the best experience possible!
Our other project is Abroad Europe, launching this summer, just in time for the Fall study abroad semester. Abroad Europe is a community-based passion project between study abroad students from previous years and some of Europe’s most exciting and established youth travel companies.
We’ll be throwing the most memorable weekends in Europe!! Stay tuned for more information.
We’ve added “Yes-Trips!”, the dominant Erasmus students travel and events company, they organise unique trips for students and student organisations!
And finally, we’re teaming with a brilliant engineer to create BreezED, a passion project, combining the tranquillity of being in a relaxed environment with the excitement of learning something new from an inspiring expert. Imagine discovering and studying gastronomy and wine while sailing along the French Riviera!
Stoke Travel’s answer
At the beginning of the year, we expected small and private group travel to be the only packages travellers would be comfortable booking.
We stacked our line-up with extra Croatia Sailing trips and private boat cruises in Barcelona. Both have been selling very well.
However, we were surprised to see that people are still itching for our more significant festivals. Even with the official Oktoberfest cancelled in Munich, our Stoketoberfest numbers are on track with our biggest year.
Capacity concerns may keep our numbers lower, but I have no doubts this will be the best party to come out of 2021!
