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As demand quickens, the luxury travel market has had to think beyond the realm of infinity pools and foie gras, and they have had to breaden their scope and seek out staff who can make things happen. Enter the ‘fixer’. Since the luxury market has made known its preference for authenticity, bespoke travel companies such as Black Tomato have been nurturing dexterous, switched-on gurus on the ground.
“Fixers are hard to find,” says Black Tomato’s Tom Marchant. “They are from all walks of life. Whether it’s a guy who owns a record store in Rio, who knows the club scene, or a fashion designer in Helsinki with an edge on the art world. They won’t necessarily look at logistics, but they’re the ones we turn to when we want something completely inaccessible. They’ll make the right calls and pull the right strings – open up sides of the city that can’t be done.”
Black Tomato has a matrix of uber-fixers around the world whose credentials range from sportsmen to members of state. Whether it’s a trusted Bedouin chieftain or a gastronome in Tokyo, these wild cards carry a cache that no five-star hotel can match. Black Tomato’s standing army of fixers have done the impossible – they’ve closed the Sistine Chapel for a private candle-lit Mass. They also provide whimsical, often wacky experiences, like whisking customers off to play in a local football tournament on a beach in Belize for some entirely local fun. They are part of a body politic; they facilitate adventure and provide a direct plunge to the pulse of a culture. It’s these experts that are becoming indispensable to the luxury market.
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