Inside Travel Group has always plotted a purposeful path, and now the B Corp is invested in sustainable tourism growth in Asia and, perhaps, even further beyond down the track. Co-Founder Simon King spoke to Karryon about how integrity goes a long way to build both trust and amazing travel experiences.
Picture this. It’s 2000. Google doesn’t exist. The internet is brand new. There’s no easy way to research, search and book travel online. And forget boutique stays. Travellers had to call or send a fax to book anything beyond the big hotel chains.
“People were not going to phone around or fax, so we did it for them,” King said. “It was very much about getting access to the building blocks of a trip.”
The Inside Travel Group Co-Founder has witnessed the radical change in the travel landscape firsthand after launching the tour company with Alaistair Donnelly in 2000.
“Now, it’s much easier to book online, so now it’s about the service that wraps around the product and getting the service and support right for the customer,” he said.
“I think that’s the biggest change: from travel as a commodity to travel as a service. Travel has become more accessible – and that’s a good thing – as well as the awareness of travel’s impact in both a positive and negative way.”
King is in Australia, visiting the company’s Brisbane head office for the first time since 2017. He’s meeting team members he has only ever engaged with via video.
In 25 years, Inside Travel Group has expanded from two to 40 team members, and two brands – InsideJapan and Inside Asia – as visitor numbers to Japan also grew exponentially from five million inbound tourists in 2000 to 43 million last year.
“In hindsight, Japan was a really good country for us to choose, because we’ve been able to ride that wave,” he said. Japan holds deep significance for both King and Donnelly, who taught English in Toyota City for three years as part of Oxford University’s reciprocal agreement (similar to the Japan Exchange & Teaching (JET) Programme).
Inside Travel Group’s Japan dispersal strategy has also been successful in actively promoting under-visited regions and sending travellers to more than 200 destinations in 2025.
It’s one of several initiatives that includes Inside Travel’s ‘Every Trip Offset’ pledge and its Giving Back Fund with five per cent of profits going towards local community projects, such as Camp Quality in Australia.
King said the specialist global tour company’s purposeful travel journey occurred organically.
“We set up the business, basically because we wanted to share the experiences we loved in Japan, so naturally we want to do the right thing by our destinations,” he said.
“Alastair and I have always believed that business should be about more than the bottom line, it should have a positive impact in society.
“Becoming a B Corp gave us the framework for how to be a better business. We’re a travel business, and then we’re a medium-sized business, and through both lenses, we can have a positive impact,” he said.
In 2024, a £20 million (around AUD$39 million) investment round highlighted what King calls the “ITG formula” driving sustainable growth through “customer obsession, specialism and business for good”.
“We’ve focused on what we call ‘cultural adventure’, which is sightseeing, cultural experiences and a slice of local life, an evolution of our original ‘get beneath the surface’ ethos,” he said.
“I think as long as you keep that core focus, you can grow both passenger numbers and the destinations.
“Going through the investment process really makes you look at the proposition you are selling to investors and sharpens how you think about your business.
“So, we came up with the ITG formula – we want to distinguish ourselves as a medium-sized operator but still having that true specialism in InsideJapan and InsideAsia and possibly other ‘Inside’ brands in the future.”
It’s a formula that not only attracts like-minded people to work for Inside Travel but also bridges the gap between what travellers want and what actually drives them to book.
“The sustainability credential is not number one on people’s agenda,” King said.
“People want to be reassured they’re booking with a company that has integrity. A holiday is such a big emotional purchase that they want to be assured that you’re going to get it right for them, and that you’re going to do a good job.
“There’s a lot of things we do in terms of sustainability – the under-visited destinations, for example – that have a positive impact within a cool experience and are probably only realised when people do the trip, rather than when they’re choosing the travel company.
“We are a collection of travel enthusiasts, and I think that brings respect for different cultures and destinations and a desire to have a positive impact in those places. It’s a real win-win because it attracts staff as well,” King said.
For more info, visit insidetravelgroup.com
