Features April 19, 2023

Customizing Your Business to Fit Your Customers’ Needs, One Unforgettable Trip at a Time, According to Angely Dub, Founder of Access Travel

Now that the travel industry has made a comeback, Access Travel Founder Angely Dub shares how businesses can cater to the needs of a modern-day jet setter.

With over 100 countries explored and a 12-year travel agency to her name, Angely Dub is the very definition of living a life well-traveled. A multi-hyphenated woman in her own right, Angely is an entrepreneur, traveler, podcast speaker, and influencer. But beyond that, she is foremost known as the founder and face of Access Travel, a premium travel company that offers curated trips to far-flung places and key destinations around the world.

To date, the company not only boasts of a diverse portfolio of destinations that they themselves have visited, but also a large loyal customer base, and millions in profit. And what’s even more noteworthy to point out is that Access Travel started when Angely was just 19 years old—just a year after graduating from university, no less!

“I think I just knew from the very beginning I did not want to work for anyone and everything just aligned,” Angely begins in her exclusive interview with The Business Manual. “I am not going to sugarcoat it, but I will say that I am not extraordinary. People can do greater things.”

“Aside from what I’ve done in my life, they can do a lot of things,” she continues. “But what I’m really good at it, [is knowing] how to make use of all the opportunities presented to me.”

From successfully amassing a loyal customer base to building a capable team, growing her company, traveling across the world, and more, Angely shares how she was able to redefine the travel industry—the Access Travel way. This is her story.

A modern jet-setter herself, Angely Dub—the Founder of Access Travel—has built her business around curating memorable trips for a niche market of people who enjoy traveling just as much as she does.

Where it All Began

For as long as she could remember, Angely has been living a fast-paced life. “Everything started when I was 16,” she narrates. “Tiny steps that turned into leaps. A decade after all that hard work, I finally explored and conquered all 7 continents of the world with Access Travel.”

But before all that, her beginnings could be traced to the opportunities that her mother has given her while growing up. “My mom gave me the opportunity to go to a very good school,” the entrepreneur explains. “She gave me a very good education, which gave me the opportunity to connect with a lot of people, [start] traveling at the age of 15, travel to the US at 16, [and] do an internship at 17. Not everybody gets that opportunity.”

“My dad died at the age of 13,” she reveals. “I think that gave me the drive to just be good at everything I do. Up to now, I carry that pressure on my shoulders. I [didn’t] want to be average. I’m only going to live a very short life on the planet. And I want to make sure that when it’s the end of my life, I will be very proud of everything I’ve done.”

And this was the philosophy she built Access Travel on—a legacy of wanting to be remembered. Of being memorable and special. “In this journey of my life, I want people to remember me as someone who gave them a really good feeling through travel. I want to give every person the next best experience as much as possible.”

Addressing a Pain Point Through Access Travel

After graduating from university, Angely had her life planned out—and that meant starting a business of her own. According to the business-minded woman leader, the company’s origins didn’t come with an accurate reason. “I feel like the moment I started to travel—that was a turning point for Access Travel and a big breakthrough point. Everybody started to follow us where I was going.”

“And then I started to lead my own expeditions,” she laughs. “[But] before everything, I was like other agencies—selling their products, like group tours. Then when I started to create our own life-changing [trips], that’s when I realized, ‘Oh my god, there’s a niche market for what I want to do.’”

Not one to let an opportunity pass her by, Angely also recounts the pain point she saw in the travel industry that she wanted to address through Access Travel. “I saw that people in most companies were not offering really well-crafted experiences. Everybody was focusing on group tours, making people sit on the bus [and] go follow a guy for eight hours with a flag.”

“Everybody’s promoting 15 days, eight countries [with] 50 to 60 people in the bus and I was like, ‘I don’t want to take these kinds of vacations. I don’t want to be under stress,'” she grimaces.

“So we found a solution for that. You can create your trip. You can customize your trip,” she declares. “With Access Travel, I sell [the] experience of a whole lifetime, which means I will be with you from the moment you send us an email until the day you go home.”

This also addresses a prevalent issue of canceled trips when the quota isn’t met. “Normally in the Philippines, tours get canceled when there are not enough people for the group to run. We don’t do that as much as possible. Like right now, I’m in South America with clients,” she goes on to add. “On this trip, we were supposed to have 12 people, but we only had four adults and one child. But it’s a promise I made to the clients—that I will travel with them, so even if it’s just one person, I will go with them.”

Remaining true to her promise and guaranteeing a good experience for her clients against all odds. This is what Angely prides herself on. “We only do that if we’re really likely not [to] get anybody and I will explain to them personally why we’re canceling it.”

“[The] opportunities we’re giving to [our] customers is customization. And we are launching our very, very fast e-commerce website to where you can just add to cart anywhere you want to go,” Angely explains in an exclusive interview with The Business Manual.

On Catering to a Niche Market

Providing a curated travel experience meant being more discerning with the customers they accept. And Angely knew this from the get-go. If anything, this became the company’s image—as one that caters to a niche market. “From the very beginning, I was very clear with my message,” Angely declares. “I don’t want to cater to everyone because that’s just not my market. I want to cater to people who understand what I’m selling.”

“I’m not here to be relevant to everybody,” she elaborates. “I’m just here to maintain sustainable long-term relationships because I want to be part of the stories [that families share] about Iceland every time they eat their dinner. That’s the pain point we are solving and the opportunities we’re giving to [our] customers—customization.”

“I’m not against people catering to everybody, but it’s just not for us,” the entrepreneur adds, plain and simple.

While Access Travel’s market is more niche than most travel agencies, celebrities have availed of the company’s services. But even so, Angely maintains a standard of equality nonetheless. “I don’t treat them as celebrities. Everybody in my eyes is the same. [Whether] you’re a celebrity [or] non-celebrity, for me, you’re my client. I will give you the same service. There is no special treatment in Access Travel.”

“I don’t want to make Access Travel about celebrities because I don’t want to give the illusion to people that we are just about them,” she continues. “They are normal clients. They inquire by email or by Whatsapp, they pay and they travel—that’s it.”

“That’s why sometimes, it becomes the reason why people think [that] we are a good company. No. We are a good company because I worked on it. We are a good company because my people work in it. We are a [good] company because of how we deliver the service—not because of the celebrities.”

While she doesn’t discount the help they’ve given to the brand, Angely still credits the foundation of every good business for her success: hard work, consistency, and an overall good customer experience. “Believe it or not, we convert more clients when people see me traveling because I represent my business. Nobody can represent my business better than I and my colleagues.”

What Sets Access Travel Apart

Curated trips are one thing, but in order to truly be memorable, this meant going beyond popular locations. “We are maintaining [our loyal clients] and we are welcoming new clients who always remember [that] with Access Travel, we are not just in Hong Kong or Singapore. We are in South America. We are in Greenland. We are in Bhutan. We are in Antarctica.”

“We are not just Japan [and] Korea,” Angely continues. “Those are [our] secondary products. Our first products are not for everyone. So that’s why the revenge travel thing is still not for us because we are [a] very mindful business and I want to retain it like that.”

And it all goes back to the very ethos of Access Travel—of Angely representing the brand by only building a trip based solely on what she herself has visited and approved. In fact, she and her team even accompany her clients to make sure that they have the best experience, every step of the way. “What sets us apart is [that] I go everywhere,” she explains. We have an online portfolio display there. We know what we’re doing. We know we are experts in this and I work very hard on that.”

“You know my Instagram acrostic talk is very personal,” she adds. “That’s my content. I shot the content of Access Travel my whole life. So I still do that. And that’s something [that] sets us apart.”

While it may not seem like a sustainable business model for other companies, as it involves more expenses and the occasional losses that the company must absorb, it has become a non-negotiable for Access Travel. “For me, it is because this is the business model that I have—that you get what you see. You will get exactly what you see on my Instagram,” she says simply.

“It’s like I told you virtually prior to going there. It’s not like ‘Okay, I’m gonna Google it. Let me get back to you.’ No, you asked me something I know. I know [it] immediately,” she says proudly.

A Commitment Towards Excellence

Despite living a fast-paced life for more than a decade, this will soon take a pause, as Angely plans to take things easy. But she is not ready to hang it up just yet. “I want to be a businesswoman. I want to expand my business by being on the back end. How can I perfect every experience of the client? There should be no single hiccup on the road. It should be all polished—from the moment we receive the email until they go home.”

“That’s the goal of Access Travel—zero mistakes on every trip of the client,” she declares. “If you are catering to the luxury market, you need to perfect your experience. They need to feel it. It’s a feeling that we are creating. It’s not like you booked a trip and you go.”

“No. It’s a feeling. I want people to be proud when they say ‘Oh, I traveled with Access Travel.’ That’s what I’m trying to create.”

As for the possible onset of competition, Angely is unperturbed. “If other people will try to compete with us, it’s going to take time because together with Access Travel and also building their personal brand, I always make sure that we go together because I represent the brand. That means I also need to carry strong values,” she states.

“We are travel. That’s why it was very important for me to go to the seven continents of the world and 100-plus countries because I represent Access Travel. If I don’t have the credentials for that, [then] I don’t think I should be running this business.”

*Takes One to Know One—Angely prides herself on only recommending destinations that she herself has visited. From start to finish, she makes it her goal to give her clients an unforgettable trip.*

Pivoting From Challenges

All businesses have faced their share of ups and downs, and Access Travel is no exception. In fact, Angely recalls a time during the company’s formative years when “there were a lot of struggles because the person who we trusted to help me with it actually [tricked] us and she left me in the middle of nowhere—alone, at the age of 20.”

Despite zero clients and many taxation problems to be dealt with, Angely was able to eventually overcome that and come out much stronger.

The next notable hurdle? COVID-19.

Like all businesses in the travel industry, the pandemic hit them hard. But the silver lining was that it redefined how people traveled. “People like our clients are now traveling more luxuriously because you realize, ‘What’s the meaning of everything if you can spend your money?’ I really saw the shift in people. They’re traveling more luxuriously now because that’s what we offer at Access Travel,” Angely notes.

And given her niche market and their willingness to spend more for a curated travel experience, this worked in her favor.

If anything, it also made her realize something about how people perceived travel. “The reason why people are still not open to investing in travel is because after you travel, you don’t see the money,” she reveals. “You invested in that. But if you buy material things, you see it. Like if you spend $10,000 on a bag, you can see it every single day. When we travel, you don’t see it. Probably that’s why people are still aiming for the cheapest travel [fares] because they’d rather spend on material things.”

This is what most travel agencies cater to. But Access Travel is built differently. “As a business person, you need to understand you cannot please everyone, just like in your personal life,” Angely advises. “That’s why you need to find your own people. You need to find your own clients. You need to find your own market, and we finally found it.”

“Now we are just polishing our image in society that “Okay, this is who we are. You’re going to pay $2,000 more, but, you will get the best experience and if you don’t want to pay $2,000 more, okay, there’s a bus tour of 60 people. You can join that one. You are another client sorry, but better luck next time.'”

Of Lessons Learned Along the Way

While most of the lessons Angely picked up came from her many years of running Access Travel, she too has picked up a thing or two from dabbling into side hustles of her own—from starting an isaw business called Bulilit Kitchen, which was closed down when she moved to Madrid; a podcast called Life in Progress, which now has 125 episodes; writing a book about her life called Meet the World; and creating a health brand called Happilab, which is still operational to this day.

“It is still ongoing and [while] the business is not 100% good, they just decided to retain it for the people who are working there,” she says of Happilab. “As long as we are not losing money, the business is gonna stay there.”

In hindsight, the entrepreneur admits that “We weren’t the most effective business probably. We [are the kind of] people that did a lot in the last few years. [But] I’ve learned that I cannot put my energy everywhere. I need to put my energy where it grows. I can’t put my energy where the door is closed.”

Providing a curated experience means having to pay a premium and that doesn’t work for everyone. Despite catering to a niche market, Angely shares how happy she is that her clients have understood and have remained loyal ever since.

The Start of Something New

Armed with a masters degree in Customer Experience in Innovation from a university in Madrid, Angely currently resides in Madrid. And this, in her words, “has been one of the best decisions of my life.”

“I’m the kind of person I’ve taken risks. Even [if] I did not have Access Travel [at] that time, I was like ‘You know what, I’m just going to take the risk because I always manage it. I always get through everything,'” Angely says proudly. “So now, I live in Madrid. I am about to file for residency, get a dog, delegate people to do tasks, and we are starting a new business called Explora Ahora.”

Modeled like Access Travel, this new business venture aims to put the Philippines on the world’s radar. “I’m opening the Philippines to the world with a very very good branding and everything,” she enthuses. “I’m so proud of this business because, for the first time, I’m going to apply everything I’ve learned over the last 12 years from my business, my masters, and the people I’ve met [into this project.]”

“So yes so it’s going to be just the Philippines—all the experiences in the Philippines. We are going to cater to the world and bring the Philippines [to them]. That is something I’m really looking forward to. Those are the things that I want to do now that I’ve traveled the world. Now, I just want to work on the back end and just find sustainable happiness.”

And all this was borne from a love for the business of travel. “I am in love with the business—providing experience, not just traveling,” the entrepreneur shares. “When I open Explora Ahora and when I delegate people for Access Travel, I won’t be traveling anymore. No. I want to have a quiet and peaceful life. I’m done living a fast-paced life. I want to be present, like where I am, I want to build my future in the present. If I can’t do that now, I’ll fail my future self.”

“That’s why I’m starting Explora Ahora Pilipinas because that’s where I started,” she continues. “Even [if] I was given the whole world…even [if] I moved to Spain, I will always [go back to my roots] in the Philippines. Explora Ahora will always keep me connected to the Philippines.”

“And that’s just the kind of person I am. I want to give back to the people who helped me and the country that gave me everything. That was the starting point of everything.”

What it Means to be an Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur who does not mince her words, Angely’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs may come across as harsh, but it is a bitter pill that must be swallowed. “Entrepreneurship is not for everyone—everybody sugarcoats it. It’s easy, buy this book, you can become that…No. Remember, opening a business is very easy, I can open it. [But] being an entrepreneur is the hardest part and you don’t learn it on day one.”

“Being an entrepreneur means [that] through good and bad times, you stay,” she states. “When you have no money in your pocket, when you are on the top—like you won a lottery, you stay. [Even during] days where people leave you. Like what happened to me during COVID, all my employees left me. I stayed. I was [even] like, ‘The moment you leave me I’m gonna create my own team.’”

“Entrepreneurship is about showing up. When you don’t want to, you know, smile at everyone when deep inside, you are crashing,” she continues. “Entrepreneurship is [about] building your business—even if you’re crying from the inside. Entrepreneurship is believing in your journey and in yourself. That you’re gonna make it no matter what happens. No matter how many people tell you that you won’t make it. That is entrepreneurship for me.”

Simply put, according to Angely, being an entrepreneur means being present—showing up in the good, bad, and ugly. “If you are not willing to be an entrepreneur—to stay—you’re not gonna last. It’s a very hard journey—just like any other profession. It’s not easy.”

“It’s not just signing checks, and posting stuff on TikTok or Instagram,” she adds. “No. It’s a very lonely and hard journey. You have to learn to support yourself. You have to learn to celebrate yourself when nobody’s out there. You have to learn how to comfort yourself when you fail and fail, and fail, again and again.

“You show up everywhere. Up to now—even [though] we are already so successful in our industry—I show up. I show up even [though] I have the option to send my employees,” she ends. “In short, being an entrepreneur means we are everywhere. No matter what is happening to you, just be there.”