Now, Sri Lanka, Peru, Italy, Nepal Linked With Tanzania, Indonesia, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Morocco, Brazil, Japan, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Canada, and Austria See Tourism Boost as The Inspired Unemployed Launch ARRIVAL Travel Brand: Explore More Here

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Because, for most of us, the essence of travel is found in the serendipitous — an alleyway café in Hoi An, a powder-covered run in Niseko or a dance beneath the lights of Rio’s carnival. Now two unlikely travel disruptors — Jack Steele and Matt Ford, also known as The Inspired Unemployed — have taken that philosophy and given it form: ARRIVAL, a curated global travel brand, offering immersive journeys curated for the experience-seeking traveler.

Covering 15 countries including Sri Lanka, Peru, Italy, Nepal, Tanzania, Indonesia, Vietnam, Morocco, Brazil, Costa Rica, Kyrgystan, Canada, Austria, Iceland, Japan, ARRIVAL is challenging the global approach to adventure travel. The launch does far more than bring a new player into the travel game; it represents the broader trend towards how young and middle-market travelers are looking to travel in a post pandemic world—with desires for authenticity, wellness, cultural integration, and physical thrill.

From Social Media Stars to Travel Concierges

Ford and Steele are used to attention on the global stage. With their wit, down-to-earth nature and quintessential Aussie charm, the duo developed a following on social media and amassed an audience of millions by sharing sketches and candid snippets. But beneath the chuckles was an even deeper love of what is called vagabonding in travel circles — which is to say seeing the world on foot, from surfboard, on mountain slope or winding road.

ARRIVAL grew out of a casual 2023 planning session for a friend’s birthday trip. Steele was often the appointed trip coordinator among his group of friends, and he longed for an all-in-one tool that could manage group preferences, logistics and the curation of an adventure. That thought has since become a full company, with more than 50 curated trips already live and dozens more in the works.

With industry vet Quentin Nolan (from travel site MountainWatch and Snow Machine festival) at the helm and Trent Ellen — a corporate blueblood who has spent time at Luxury Escapes and TripADeal — as executive ARRIVAL arrives to the market with more than influencer moxie, there’s some real travel industry cred.

Tailored Adventures: More Than a Booking Site, a Movement

Central to ARRIVAL’s mission is a commitment to providing more than just vacations. Every itinerary is built around connection — to nature, to people and to the self. The packages, with prices from $999 AUD and upwards of $6,000 AUD, offer a huge range of themes such as surf & yoga retreats, cultural heritage trails, snow sports, mountain treks, motorbike adventures, and spiritual escapes.

The Sri Lanka Tuk Tuk Challenge for example offers a unique opportunity to travel through traditional villages, tea plantations and remote beaches all from behind the wheel of a tuk tuk. Trekkers in Peru can take the path through the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu and the Amazon Rainforest. Italy is also represented in a couple of ways: via an Amalfi Coast yacht and climbing trip or a rugged hike across the Dolomites. From nearby meditation retreats in Indonesia to the Icelandic vanlife circuit through glaciers and volcanoes, the ARRIVAL catalog runs the gamut of the modern traveler’s passions.

National tourism bodies from destinations such as Nepal, Italy and Sri Lanka are receiving record level of enquiries for curated and small group experiences and the launch of ARRIVAL has been cited as a factor which has driven greater booking activity in the second quarter of 2025.

Wellness and sustainability at the heart of it all

ARRIVAL is not to be mistaken for luxuryploitation or bottom-feeder tourism. Rather, the experiences attempt to fill a mindful center point, where comfort, exploration and ethical travel come together. Many of the adventures take the form of partnerships with local operators, community-driven experiences — like nature-based healing retreats led by indigenous guides or women-led cooking and craft workshops.

This is very much in line with the objectives defined in numerous national tourism policies. For instance, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism of Tanzania has recently underscored the value of eco-friendly adventure tourism, while the Tourism Board of Nepal still gives top priority to the development of low-impact, community strengthening treks. They’re values that come through in ARRIVAL’s decisions to run events via hosts in each 2018 venue, utilise pre-existing sustainable trail infrastructure and prioritise cultural integrity over commercialisation.

Travel as Identity: The Advent of the In-Your-Face Itinerary

What makes ARRIVAL so distinctive, however, is that it taps into a generation that sees travel less as escape than as identity. With under-40, global voyagers now placing “experiences over possessions,” ARRIVAL’s hybrid of storytelling, destination discovery and group bonding taps a rising constituency for emotional depth in leisure.

Whether it’s hiking the machame route to the summit of Kilimanjaro, riding motorcycles on the mountain passes of Kyrgyzstan, or dancing under the stars at Japan’s Snow Machine festival, these adventures are created not only for Instagram – but for the memory books.

A surge in outbound inquiries for adventure travel, with travelers 25 to 45 leading the way, getting in touch with overseas adventure travel specialists, particularly for multi-activity trips that combine wellness and culture, was reported in the latest industry report of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Tourism Economy Ripple: From Your Town to the World

ARRIVAL’s debut arrives at a critical moment for the rebound of global tourism. A number of destinations — particularly those once dependent on mass package tours — are trying to diversify offerings and appeal to young, mindful travelers. Arrival, for example, is a curated travel company that focuses on regional stories and off-grid beauty and has brought new life into destinations, such as Sri Lanka, which have seen tourism stagnate in recent years as a result of economic hardship.

Likewise, the government-funded Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism in Peru, recently underlined the need to promote not only Machu Picchu but Cusco, Sacred Valley and Amazonia through lesser-known operators and niche experiences — objectives ARRIVAL’s itineraries are rooted in.

Even Italy’s countryside, eclipsed by its larger cities, could gain. The Dolomites, Amalfi’s hidden trails and cultural pockets in Tuscany are also being given some limelight through ARRIVAL’s independent guide and boutique lodge partnerships.

Economic Democratization Through Experience Platforms

More than adventure and storytelling, ARRIVAL introduces a new, democratized method for travel curation. In an era when traveling can require assembling a hodgepodge of platforms, apps and travel sites, ARRIVAL provides complete packages, customizable add-ons and optional flight coordination—all in just a few taps.

It also generates income for small travel companies. By curating bookable offers through its local partners (many of whom never had high visibility to an international audience) ARRIVAL is building the bridge between global demand and local suppliers.

A few tourism ministries — from Vietnam to Morocco — are looking at this model as a way to draw a younger, digital-native set of travelers while cycling tourism dollars back into regional economies.

Final Human Reflection

At a launch party in Byron Bay, Jack Steele was all grins, with a smile as wide as the Pacific horizon, surrounded by surfboards and friends. “For us, this is not just building a travel brand,” he said. “It’s all about empowering people to live their best stories.”

And that’s exactly what ARRIVAL is promising: Not just movement, but meaning. In a world that has lost touch and too often become transactional and impersonal, ARRIVAL puts the personal back into hospitality. Watching the sun rise over the Andes, or following Buddhist chants in Nepal, an experience such as this reminds travelers that they are not just passing through the world but also part of it.