Stepping into Jacada Travel’s office in the heart of Central is like walking into the well-curated living room of an intrepid globetrotter. Streamlined sofas surround a warm, wooden coffee table with Turkish rugs underfoot, while travel tomes beckon from where they’re stacked on the bookshelves. A large flatscreen TV doesn’t detract from the interiors thanks to a clever sliding screen. The earthy palette serves as a backdrop for the colourful souvenirs – antique maps and stunning travel photography liven up the walls, as do furnishings and handicrafts brought back by the company’s team of well-travelled consultants.
My favourites are the Sergio Rodrigues-inspired safari chairs,” says Jacada Travel’s founder, Alex Malcolm, who first fell in love with the design while staying at a lodge in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands region. After living in Brazil for three years, Alex was inspired to start his own luxury travel agency in London specialising in South America, later offering expeditions to Africa, Asia and Antarctica. They’ll be offering new routes throughout Europe this year. Their tailored holiday experiences and dedicated services are swiftly gaining traction; Jacada Travel opened its second office in Hong Kong last year and will soon open a third location in Cape Town.
The space was once home to an architecture studio with dark interiors, so ID Design was tapped to inject a light and airy feeling to the travel consultancy’s Hong Kong headquarters. On one side of the office, designer Candace Campos decided to create a workspace with connected desks to facilitate teamwork; on the other, she set up a welcoming sitting area and well-stocked pantry to entertain guests. Adding flavour to the space are tokens from far-flung locales, from the Icelandic reindeer pelt draped over a rattan armchair to the wood-carved sculptures from Tanzania and Ecuadorean woven textiles atop the stylish sideboard. If you can come here to relax and have a cup of tea or a glass of wine, then we can understand you better,” says Alex. And if we can understand you, then we can have everything tailor made to what you like.” Being surrounded by such exotic keepsakes and engaging people, one will surely be inspired to dream and plan for the next adventure.
Q&A with Alex Malcolm
Favourite travel destination:
Argentina is such a varied country. You’ve got Buenos Aires, which is a huge city with a good mix of Latin and European influences, and then you can go down south into Patagonia and stay at different estancia ranches to get a bit of the great outdoors.
When did you begin travelling?
I started travelling from a young age. My parents had a restaurant and they were always really interested in food, which was unusual at the time in the UK because the food revolution hadn’t started then. We travelled around France and Italy, and visited small ‘mom and pop’ restaurants in the countryside.
How did you come up with the idea for Jacada Travel?
While living in Brazil, I loved showing people around and getting them under the skin of the places in quite a short amount of time. I thought that I would love to set up something myself and bring people to South America, so I went back to the UK and started the company.
Regional travel tip:
Bhutan has really defined seasons. For some reason, people don’t go in February, even though it’s warm and beautiful during the day. Quite often, I was the only person in the hotel.
What inspired the lounge-like look of your office space?
In Hong Kong, there’s a huge value placed on face-to-face interaction so we invite people to come over to talk and put their doubts to bed. I wanted to create a space that reflected the experience of travelling with us – one that’s beautiful, convenient, luxurious and gets people in the mood to travel. The idea is for it to feel like a house of a well-travelled friend where you come for advice.
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