Meet Mark Allvey | Co-founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mark Allvey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When we launched Untold Story three years ago we did so because we could see the significant shift that was taking place from the consumption of luxury goods to the consumption of luxury experiences. We didn’t feel this was being addressed fully in the luxury travel space so the business was set up to create life-enhancing, some-times life changing, vacations where we could create a much deeper connection for our clients with the places they travel to

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
If anybody had told me I was going to start a business six months before a global pandemic I would’ve thought them crazy. But that’s exactly what myself and my business partner Chris did. The business was running successfully for six months and then Covid hit. We could’ve given up at that point as clients travel plans began to evaporate! But we held our nerve as we had an unwavering belief that experiential travel would be something that set us apart from the competition. More recently as the world started to open up again we could see that our belief was paying off in fact after two years of revaluation and self assessment adventure and bucket list travel has become front and centre of peoples requirements. I think our X factor is what we call our storytellers: Our black book of connectors and influences that we have all over the world that can make things happen. This might be access to a historic building otherwise impossible to access it might be opening the Vatican museum before the public or a storyteller who can create an amazing experience for you whether that’s gliding over the French Alps or having a private swim with sperm whales in the Dominica or maybe even a heated tent on a glacier in Iceland with a DJ & chef for a party under the Northern Lights which is something we did for a 40th birthday not so long ago. Or just simply be showing you a beautiful place that has seldom been seen by others.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
As we approach the winter season one of my favourite winter destinations is Finnish Lapland. Your plane descends towards Rovaniemi Airport, and you get your first glimpse of the winter wonderland below. Catch your first breath of the cold, clean air as you are welcomed by your personal host. The Arctic Tree Hotel is a must for two or three nights. We would start by putting on snowshoes and toboggans for an introduction to the region and a wonderful guide who would take us into the wilderness and show us the Northern Lights. The next day warmly wrapped in blankets we would head through the snowy landscape to the magical home of reindeer and after a wonderful reindeer ride through the woods we would be greeted by the herder to enjoy a delicious lunch cooked on an open Fire and listen to fascinating stories about life in Lapland. Of course no trip to Lapland would be complete without a morning snowmobiling and getting completely lost deep in the wilderness where few have been. In the evening we would visit the Snow Hotel which is made of snow and ice and carved each year into a different appearance – followed by an amazing dinner. And then we would head to the Northern Lights Ranch where the purist air in the world can be breathed! Here we would enjoy cross country skiing, dogsledding and horse trekking. We would spend the final evening in a private glass igloo with a wonderful view of the rugged landscape and the northern sky with an alfresco dinner. I think this would be certainly a trip to remember!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Prior to launching Untold Story I spent many years working with luxury hotels around the world. I spent 5 years with One&Only Resorts and my then boss VP Sales & Marketing was Helen McCabe-Young, she probably doesn’t know it but I had great admiration for her and learnt so much. She was smart, strategic, extremely articulate, confident, without being arrogant, and was respected by all. Each day I work to achieve all those qualities. ‘Scaling Up’ by James King was also a book I found very useful in the early days

Website: www.untoldstorytravel.com

Instagram: untoldstory_travel

Linkedin: Untold Story Travel