Guest Bio
Fernando Diez is the Marketing Director at Quasar Expeditions, a family-owned company specializing in luxury adventure travel experiences in the Galápagos Islands and Patagonia. With a passion for travel ignited by his first trip to the Galápagos in 1986, Fernando has dedicated his career to promoting sustainable and immersive journeys. His expertise in marketing and commitment to responsible tourism have positioned Quasar Expeditions as a leader in the industry, offering authentic and exclusive travel experiences.
Show Summary
In this episode, Fernando Diez shares his journey from a passionate traveler to Marketing Director at Quasar Expeditions. He discusses the evolution of luxury adventure travel, the importance of sustainability, and the role of effective marketing in reaching discerning travelers. Fernando provides insights into Quasar’s commitment to delivering personalized experiences, the challenges of operating in remote destinations, and the strategies employed to maintain high standards of service. Listeners will gain an understanding of the intricacies involved in marketing luxury travel experiences and the significance of preserving the natural environments that make these journeys possible.
Key Takeaways
- ✓ Luxury Adventure Travel – Crafting exclusive and immersive experiences in the Galápagos and Patagonia.
- ✓ Sustainable Tourism – Implementing practices that protect natural environments and benefit local communities.
- ✓ Effective Marketing Strategies – Leveraging digital platforms and storytelling to reach target audiences.
- ✓ Operational Challenges – Navigating the complexities of providing high-end services in remote locations.
- ✓ Customer-Centric Approach – Ensuring personalized and memorable experiences for each traveler.
What You’ll Find on Quasar Expeditions’ Platform
- ✓ Galápagos Cruises – Luxury yacht expeditions offering intimate wildlife encounters.
- ✓ Patagonia Overland Safaris – Guided adventures through the stunning landscapes of Patagonia.
- ✓ Custom Itineraries – Tailored travel plans to suit individual preferences and interests.
- ✓ Sustainability Initiatives – Information on conservation efforts and eco-friendly practices.
- ✓ Traveler Resources – Comprehensive guides and tips for planning your adventure.
👉 Visit Quasar Expeditions’ Official Website to explore their offerings and learn more about Fernando Diez’s contributions to luxury adventure travel.
Learn more about Quasar Expeditions and connect with Fernando at:
https://www.quasarex.com/galapagos
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Podcast Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated on recording, and has not been edited by a human. It may contain lots of mistakes, crazy words, and stuff that makes no sense. The host and the guest are not responsible for the accuracy of the transcript.
Jason Elkins (04:52.676)
Welcome back everybody to another episode of the Big World Made Small podcast for the adventure traveler. Today we are fortunate to have Fernando Diez here with us. He is the marketing director for Quasar Expeditions in Ecuador. And I know they do some other stuff kind of around the fringes of Ecuador, but Fernando, so happy to have you here on the show. Welcome.
Fernando Diez (05:15.186)
Thanks Jason, happy to be here.
Jason Elkins (05:18.044)
Yeah, so our listeners usually want to know more about the person than the place. I think that’s my idea in my head anyway. So let’s dig a little bit into Fernando, who are you? Let’s go back as far as we need to go back to help our listeners kind of understand how you ended up doing what you’re doing and why you’re on this call with me today.
Fernando Diez (05:38.618)
No, I’m happy to share that. So I come from a family that has always been involved in travel. It was actually, and my mother tells this story, both my parents are the founders of the company, but she says the reason she got into travel was, you know, she heard from this biology teacher.
in high school when she was 16 about this magical place that belonged to her country, to Ecuador, that was the Galapagos Islands, but that really it was sort of off limits for tourism. You know, the Galapagos National Park had just recently been established. There were the trails, the guides that you see today, the formal operations, those were non -existent. But the teacher told her that there was a navy
ship that was actually delivering supplies out to the islands once every 10 days and that was the way that you could get there. Back then the islands had very few inhabitants and everything had to be brought from the mainland. So don’t ask me how they secured some spaces on that ship together with a group of girls, all girls. Also don’t ask me because I’m a parent now how
My grandparents let a group of five girls go on a Navy Shibat to the Galapagos for 10 days. Who knows what was out there.
But I guess, you know, they had that same adventure spirit that my mother did and so she went out to the islands. There are photos of this by the way on our website, like in the blog. We like to say girl versus wild and so it’s these girls that arrived. Oh, well, first of all, the Navy ship, if you can imagine, they had to share bathrooms. It was so hot in the…
Jason Elkins (07:15.74)
Oh, cool.
Fernando Diez (07:30.166)
the crew quarters that they had to basically be on deck for three day navigation, you know, from Guayaquilat to the Galapagos. And they finally got to this place and the Navy, you know, they weren’t tour operators. They weren’t there to take these tourists to go see the islands. They were there to deliver supplies. So they would offload the group on the on the Pang of the dinghies to the islands, give them a bag of oranges, and I’ll see you in about four or five hours when we have to go to the next island too. And the
And they were just dropped off in this wilderness with no trails, just this amazing wildlife there to welcome them. And my mother says, you know, her first impression was this herd of iguanas like rushing up to her, like almost scaring her. And, you you’re used to these sort of animals having been fearful of humans, but they just immediately went towards her. And
The deal was they had gotten used to like the sailors going there and feeding her, feeding them the oranges. So these iguanas that normally have to sit under a prickly pear cactus for a week, you know, for one to fall off. These tourists are coming with a bag of oranges and…
They fed them the oranges and kind of like a stray dog, they iguanas followed them pretty much wherever they would go. Of course, this is strictly prohibited now in the Galapagos National Park, but back then they had no clue. So you’ll see these photos on our website of these girls going on this terrain that was just completely dangerous. These cliffs and just walking everywhere and the birds were unafraid, the sea lions would approach them and…
She says, you know, that voyage changed her life. Like it really made such a big impact that she said, you know, I have to figure out a way to make Galapagos a permanent part of my life. And when she was about 23 years old, she met my father through her brother. They were college roommates in the, they went to study in the U S and her.
Fernando Diez (09:32.754)
Her brother’s best friend was my father. So he introduced her to my mother. They married some years later. My father was big on machines and cars. He really loved that. He actually had a car dealership in Ecuador. And my mother says, you have to go to this place called Galapagos.
it’s really magical and my father went there and it blew his mind as well. And so now there were two people who looking to make Galapagos a permanent part of their lives and the natural entrepreneur that my father was he found a way to get you know the first sort of like high -end yacht operation in the Galapagos and that’s how Quasar started.
Jason Elkins (10:04.028)
That’s cool. Hey, Fernando, I’m curious.
Jason Elkins (10:15.356)
very cool. What was your mom doing from the time she went as a teenager? Yeah, from the time your mom went as a teenager on the Navy ship until she met your dad and they… Oh yeah, okay, absolutely. From the time your mom went on the Navy ship out to the island and then came back and then met your dad.
Fernando Diez (10:18.738)
It’s harder than you were saying.
Fernando Diez (10:27.474)
Sorry, there’s a little bit of a delay, go ahead.
Yup.
Jason Elkins (10:39.98)
several years later. What was she doing during that time? Was she going to school? Was she getting started in tourism stuff or what was happening during that time?
Fernando Diez (10:52.338)
Yeah, so not much. My family and well, many families came from like this very traditional background. It wasn’t common for women to go study abroad in Ecuador. So my mother, she finished high school. She actually did like one year of St. Mary’s in the United States to learn English, but then came back and was really just studying in Ecuador locally. So, but…
biology, the sciences, like she was always fascinated with that. But she basically, you know, got through her education and shortly after that’s when she met my father. So she stayed studying in Ecuador while my father was also studying, but he was studying abroad in the US.
Jason Elkins (11:40.188)
Okay, so then they both went together and then that’s when it sounds like things really got started because they were both fascinated by the Galapagos. So how did they take that into what they ultimately created?
Fernando Diez (11:51.658)
Yeah, exactly. So they, you know, there was, my father had been walking the streets of Puerto Yorra and it’s not the Puerto Yorra you know today with 25 ,000 inhabitants. It was like more like 250 or something along those lines and he asked if there was, you know, somebody, you know, who
was interested in creating a tourism operation that was local and they’re like, there’s this crazy Argentine tourist that has been asking the same thing. And they met and he was like the first business partner that they had. He became extremely good friends with my family. He would come every year. He brought us like our first dog from all the way from Argentina. He was at my wedding when I got married. So a fantastic guy. And that’s how they started the company.
And Quasar, you know, my parents when…
The first time they did an actual cruise around the islands, there was a cruise company back then, but the accommodations were very basic. There was like no air conditioning. Galapagos can get really hot. Bathrooms were shared for a group of guests. So they said there has to be a more comfortable way to see the islands. And that’s how they introduced the first yachts to the Galapagos, high -end yachts. One was for eight guests and the other one was for 12.
And that’s how Quasar started. And ever since, you know, we’ve always adhered to this small group philosophy that, you know, nature is better explored in small groups away from the crowds with this intimacy, you know, with this contact with your natural guides and a group of like -minded travelers. And that’s what we’ve been doing since. And so just to go back a little bit and tell you how I got in the business.
Fernando Diez (13:44.338)
Naturally, you know, Quasar started in 1986. I was born in 82. So I was really, you know, by the time I was three, I would remember, you know, the ships would go to the mainland for dry dock.
And then we would sail for three days on the ships back to the island. So I was always like on a boat. We were always in the Galapagos and the Galapagos sort of became my second home. And that was the case for, you know, the next 14, 15 years. Then I graduated, went into college and my parents always gave us the freedom and the choice to do whatever we wanted. But…
It is no coincidence that myself and my two brothers, we naturally gravitated back to working in the company and making the Galapagos a permanent part of our lives as well.
And here we are. I’ve been working at the company for 18 years. The same, you know, my younger brother for 16, my older brother for 19, different roles within the company. We all study different things, all of us on the business side of things. But yeah, you know, we’re a second generation now taking command of this great thing that my parents built. They are…
you know, standing in the sidelines with their wisdom and their knowledge, but they’re not involved in the day -to -day stuff because, you know, for anybody listening who runs an actual tourism operation in a remote destination, it’s hard. And it’s hard today with, you know, five or six daily flights from the mainland to the Galapagos. When my parents started, it was one a week.
Jason Elkins (15:20.604)
Yeah.
Fernando Diez (15:30.738)
Um, so you can imagine like getting spare parts, finding crew, finding guides. Um, at that time you could actually bring people from abroad to guide. And my parents brought guides from major national parks in the United States to guide in Galapagos. And they helped train the locals. And Wazer can, can say, you know, we were part of like the first formal school of guides in the Galapagos and many of the great guides that you find today, especially the ones that have been around for.
many years started in Quasar and we’re happy for that that we got to play a part in that.
Jason Elkins (16:07.452)
That’s very cool. I have a few questions and one I want to ask right off the bat before I forget, because it just came up for me, is where did the name Quasar Expeditions come from?
Fernando Diez (16:20.08)
That’s a great question. So originally it was called Quasar Nautica and it was Quasar Nautica when we only had the ships in Galapagos. But later we expanded to services in mainland Ecuador and then in Peru and in…
Chile and Argentina and we decided to change the Nautica part to expeditions. But quasar for people who like astronomy, they are dying stars that basically exploded millions of years ago. But those explosions emitted a massive amount of light. So they are some of the brightest objects in the sky. And sailors back in the day before, you know, the modern navigation equipment, they would use these bright stars to navigate, which
quasars and that’s how the name came about.
Jason Elkins (17:10.62)
Okay, that’s that’s pretty cool. And then as far as I’m curious what has changed I mean a lot has changed obviously When your parents started did they actually go out with investors and purchase boats lease boats How did that look like how did that look like then and and now what do you you know? What’s kind of what does that business model look like for you now?
Fernando Diez (17:30.642)
Yeah.
Fernando Diez (17:36.814)
Exactly. Well, oddly enough it has completely transitioned. They bought brand new boats. Brand new yachts with like latest state -of -the -art technology. I can remember my parents when they talk about those days finding
you know crew, captains that would could manage that that type of equipment was really difficult. So the boats are completely new. However today Quasar is known for having the sort of like restored vintage yachts in the islands and this is something that first of all was born out of my father’s sort of love for classic cars. One of our yachts is actually from 19 originally from 1928.
It was fought in World War II at the Battle of Dunkirk. It was then owned by Grace Kelly, so it has an amazing history and it’s been completely rebuilt, like from top to bottom. In all lessons, it’s a brand new ship, but when my parents, their vision was to, in this type of design that I can honestly say classic ships have more, for some reason they integrated,
the passengers more with the surroundings. So a lot more open spaces, 360 walk around decks. And it seems to me that like the modern yachts that are in Galapagos today, try to keep people behind smoke glass where you want to be in Galapagos, you know, is in contact with the elements. It’s, you know, right on the equator. Weather is amazing year round. So these sort of classic lines and classic designs is what Quasar is known for today. And we’re also at the same time,
salvaging a lot of steel, for example, recycling steel by refitting these boats that would otherwise normally just go to waste. And that is actually a big problem in the…
Fernando Diez (19:36.912)
shipping industry and also in the yachting business that a lot of ships just the steel goes old and then it’s just basically useless. And at Quasar you know we try to restore these ships and also hopefully they come with some sort of history. Old ships my father says were much better built. One of our yachts was from Kemper and Nicholson which is like the Rolls Royce of yacht builders. When we took the Grace that’s the name of the 1928
yacht when we took her out of the water it had a couple of bolts from 1928 still in the hull and that’s how well these ships were built.
And then a new one we’re introducing is also from Benetti Yachts in Italy. And so it’s these renowned shipyards that build boats really well with thicker steel. And we try to restore that and give people also this sort of like charm, romance, and sense of elegance in Galapagos that I think few cruise providers there offer.
Jason Elkins (20:39.26)
That’s very, very cool. And these boats, I I’m sure it fluctuates, but how many cabins, how many guests are you able to take on these boats?
Fernando Diez (20:48.946)
So.
The Grace, the smallest, is 16 guests, actually in nine cabins. Then we have the Conservation, which is for 18 guests in 10 cabins. And then we have the Evolution, which is for 32 guests in 16 cabins. In Galapagos, they are on the smaller of the scale. The largest ships in Galapagos are about 100 guests. And that might seem small, perhaps, to somebody who likes cruising.
or is familiar with the cruising industry but in Galapagos the 100 passenger guests are the equivalent of the 1000, 2000, 3000 passengers like in other destinations. These islands have very fragile visitor sites where you might have just a handful of sea lions you know to play with when you’re snorkeling so disembarking with 16 other guests versus with 100 makes a big difference. So yeah.
Jason Elkins (21:45.212)
I can imagine. Is there regulations, park rules that limit the number of passengers that can be on a ship or is the limiting factor the number of passengers that can get off in a certain place on a certain day or a certain time? What’s the limit or why is there not a cruise ship with 2 ,000 people there? I mean, I’m happy there isn’t, but I’m just curious what you can share with us.
Fernando Diez (22:05.65)
Right, so it’s both. Yeah.
It’s both. So the permits to operate a Galapagos, a ship in Galapagos are called Patentes and they are today they’re issued only for 16 guests. So that’s why the Evolution is 32 guests. It’s two 16 guest Patentes combined.
then you have some 48 passenger ships so you do the math right and then they allowed to a point to combine permits where the maximum was 100 and that’s not a multiple of 16 but that’s the largest hit so i believe there are five 100 passenger ships today in Galapagos but the bulk of the yachts operating today is on the 16 passenger that that’s the the size and if you ask me that is
Jason Elkins (22:59.332)
Sew it.
Fernando Diez (23:01.99)
the ideal way to get to Galapagos because there are actually different regulations applied depending on the size of your ship. Some of the visitor sites as you said Jason, they are limited to only 32 people at a time on that visitor site. So our yacht evolution is the largest ship that is allowed to disembark. It’s all the passengers at one time and so when you go on a 100 passenger ship you’ve got to take turns. Some people are doing snorkeling and that leads to logistical problems that to me
me impact the itinerary and the experience that you can offer guests just because of the way the regulations work.
Jason Elkins (23:38.972)
So with a ship at 32, you can just pull up regardless of what the other ships or operators are doing. You can pull up and you know you can take all your 32 on shore at the same time or do they try and create space between the different arrivals and what is, I’m just curious.
Fernando Diez (23:57.298)
Yeah, so everybody disembarks at the same time, but like the evolution has three naturalist guides, one for every 10 or 11 people. And so the groups are broken up that way. So they are very small groups. One group maybe starts a little bit earlier and then the other group just follows, you know, 10 minutes and you never actually.
you know, cross paths with the other group unless there’s like this magical wildlife encounter happening there where, you know, inevitably the first group stays stuck looking at that and then the second group joins. But, you know, having 30 other people with you is never a crowd. You’re not trying to look over the shoulder of, you know, hundreds of passengers. So that’s not an issue. But yes, they’re broken up. And on the Grays, we have two guides for 16 passengers, so only eight people per
Jason Elkins (24:35.74)
Yeah.
Fernando Diez (24:47.452)
guide that ratio we feel is extremely important to give people that first of all that one -on -one contact with their guide who’s the source of knowledge the expert the friend the the person in charge of your safety so that kind of like when you go to maybe private versus public school or something like that the size of your classes and the attention you know the teacher can provide it’s it’s similar and so we always try to make the groups as small as possible.
Jason Elkins (25:15.324)
That’s very, very cool. I appreciate the information about the Galapagos. I know before I pushed the record button, we discussed that we weren’t, it wasn’t gonna be all about like a travel guide to the Galapagos. And I think we’ve touched just enough on that to kind of give people that haven’t been an idea of what it’s, a little bit what it’s like. I mean, we haven’t talked about the really important stuff, the wildlife, all that. But I’m curious, cause you hinted earlier, you said, you know,
It’s hard work running a business like this and people don’t always realize that because when they’re there and they see you and they see your crew and they see your staff and they’re like, wow, this is amazing. You guys get to do this every day and must be a dream job. And it is in so many ways. And you and I both know that there’s the side, the kind of the behind the curtain type of stuff that people don’t see. They don’t realize how much goes into it. So I would love for you to share with us if you’ve got a few things that
kind of come to mind. Like what are a few of those things that people just have no idea if they’re not there working on your team. Like they just have no idea and that might even surprise them about what it’s like to work in this business.
Fernando Diez (26:25.752)
Yeah, exactly. So one is the logistics involved in getting stuff over to the Galapagos. So the perishables, they fly normally with the guests, you know, in the same plane in the cargo area. So like vegetables, meat and things like that, that’s going to be, you know, taken on board your ship for the week that normally flies with you. But the non -perishables normally go by boat, three -day navigation,
issues sometimes happen that boat can sometimes break down and you know what do you do if you’re you know out of you know whatever it is that you need so the logistics of getting stuff to the island is complicated then the other thing is this is like a hotel you know these ships where the big difference is let’s say in a hotel you have
major Wi -Fi problems, you call the company and the next morning or even that evening, depending how important the problem is, the technician is there to solve the issue. We run into problems and the boat is five days from port with no way to get somebody there. And so…
The crew, they have to be masters at everything. They have to, like, you can’t imagine the cabin boys, they know how to fix engines and juggle and cook and they need to be ready to cover for whoever needs covering it. So it’s a very, very specially trained crew that works extremely hard.
But then at the same time, if you can imagine Jason like these crew members are on six weeks on and then two weeks off. All right. And so you can imagine being with the same group for six weeks in these, you know, these are small ships, you know, relatively tight crew quarters, your family or it becomes like a real soap opera there. Like.
Fernando Diez (28:28.434)
reality show. It can, you know, real quick, it can, you know, issues can spiral really quickly and just get out of hand. And so you can’t believe the amount of work that goes.
that is happening from our HR team. Like the work that they have to do to make sure that every person gets along like really well, that we put team together where the personalities, we do personality assessments to anybody who’s on the ship. We know exactly what they are. We talk to their family members. We know what buttons not to push and we make sure like all the crew members know this so that they get along really well. And I have to say in our ships, it feels like home and the people that visit, they,
what they tell us but to get to that point we’ve had to go through a lot of crew members and sometimes you know one either takes a job elsewhere or they retire or something we bring somebody new along and then issues start to happen so there’s a whole HR thing happening behind the scenes that is extremely complicated and then finally it’s about setting the right… sorry go ahead…
Jason Elkins (29:34.3)
You know, that’s, obviously.
Jason Elkins (29:39.484)
Yeah, I was gonna say, obviously, part of it is selecting the right people. But even when you select the right people with the right personality styles, or if you use admirers’ breaks, or any sort of personality assessment, you get the right, you think, okay, these are the right people. But even then, there’s sometimes things you get to do or need to do to kind of help them get through that six -week period. And I’m imagining, do you guys all have huddles or group meditations or like?
You fly out of somebody to do massages once a while or I mean, what do you do to keep, once you select the right people, what have you implemented to try and make sure that they make it through that six weeks and then the next six weeks and the next six weeks for, because you operate all year, right? Year round. Is that right? Yeah, yeah. So your crew is, they’re spending more time on the ship than a Navy person would typically over the course of a year. Yeah.
Fernando Diez (30:22.586)
Yeah.
Fernando Diez (30:27.046)
All year, year round, exactly. So yeah, sometimes…
Fernando Diez (30:36.05)
Yeah, yeah and more time with other crew members and like with their own families. It’s a tough job, it pays well but it’s a tough job and it’s not a job for everybody. So sometimes the solution when issues arise is to just when the ship is anchored, jump off the ship and swim as far as you can and try to come back completely exhausted so that…
So exercise is a big deal. Everybody is encouraged to do a lot of exercise on these ships. So when the guests are visiting the islands, normally the crew is swimming or kayaking or just wasting some of that energy. And then the second thing that is extremely important is the captain. The leadership in a ship has to be impeccable.
Jason Elkins (31:00.4)
burn off the energy.
Fernando Diez (31:26.386)
And it is thanks to the captain that you’re able to create these teams because it’s like, you know, there’s a leader that is able to understand people, that is able to feel people, that is able to get people to open up. Some of these crew members that we have come from very tough backgrounds and they are naturally, you know, maybe retracted and they don’t like to communicate about, like, the feelings or maybe they don’t like to be confrontational about issues, but you need conflict.
healthy conflict sometimes, you know, needs to get resolved because it’s going to happen otherwise, you know, they just won’t open their mouth and then week five, one week before disembarking, they blow up and you know, what the heck happened. And so that’s all thanks to the captains. They do an extremely good job of…
you know, getting a feel of these crew members telling the HR team when somebody’s not fitting in to try that. And sometimes it’s not even an issue of like letting go of that person. Sometimes it’s an issue of just changing that person to the other ship. The Evolution with 32 guests, it has twice the crew. The environment is a little bit more…
Relax in that sense, you know, it’s not as tight as on the Grays that has half the crew members. So some people do better on the Grays, some do on the Evolution, but it’s about testing and making sure the teams work really well until you get a team that works like a clock. And if you look at the online reviews that we have,
how many times people mention the crew, their dedication, like the smiles. Can you imagine doing this every single week, you know, for the whole year? Well, of course your week’s off, but it’s like the same thing over and over and over. And the people are probably asking them the exact same questions all the time. And they greet them with a smile and the crew is wonderful. It’s part of the experience for Quasar, that’s for sure.
Jason Elkins (33:12.572)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Elkins (33:20.508)
Do you remember there was a movie called Groundhog Day? It was pretty popular in the US for a while, yeah.
Fernando Diez (33:24.818)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (33:26.78)
I, my, my ex -wife and I managed a resort in Belize and we’d do weekly turnovers every Saturday. We’d take the guests back so they could catch their flight and pick up the next group of guests. And, and every Sunday was just like every Sunday and every Monday, the menu was the same. And we used to just joke, okay, it’s Groundhog Day, but it wasn’t for our guests. And that’s where you got to remember that. It’s like, okay, it feels like Groundhog Day for us. For them, they’ve been working two years to save up for this trip. They, you know,
They’re using their vacation time. They’ve never been to Belize. They’ve never been fly fishing for bonefish or scuba diving and they you know on a coral reef or something so you really have to it’s you really got to work to try and remember okay this is their first time having a traditional Belizean chicken dinner on Sunday. So you sit down you’re like oh my god isn’t this amazing yeah this is the traditional data you know you don’t say oh yeah we had this last Sunday we’ll have it next Sunday and
Fernando Diez (34:16.594)
Exactly.
Jason Elkins (34:25.564)
So I can relate to that.
Fernando Diez (34:26.386)
Yeah, and that example is sorry, Jason, one that I think brings this home is we decided at one point, we wake people up every morning with a song on the PA system that is very light, so it’s very relaxed. And it’s, you know, here comes the sun from the Beatles. Seven days that you’re on the cruise, it’s kind of like seven different interpretations of it.
And for guests, it’s wonderful because every time they hear that song after they travel with Quasar, it reminds them of Galapagos. By like week four, when we implemented, the crew was going insane. Like they are told us. So in the first dry dock, we divided the PA system and now the crew doesn’t hear the music in the mornings and they get to keep their sanity. So it was like Groundhog Day to them, literally.
Jason Elkins (34:55.516)
That’s cool.
Jason Elkins (35:07.612)
They don’t have to hear it.
Jason Elkins (35:15.292)
That’s pretty cool. We came up with an idea. It unfortunately, it was near the end of our stay there. We did an eight month stint on and we actually got it.
We had a wedding ceremony between my wife and I the last night we were on the resort so we had all the guests were there and all the staff were there and it was it was a big party it was so much fun for everybody and you know the the guests were shoving hundred -dollar bills in my pocket and I was like oh this is cool whatever and then I was like man we could have done this every week we could have done this every week for eight months and all the guests when I went home oh we went on this amazing trip while we were there the the management couple they got married it was it was the highlight.
Fernando Diez (35:38.802)
Hehehehehe
Fernando Diez (35:53.394)
Hahaha.
Jason Elkins (35:53.87)
of the week anyway that probably wouldn’t work too long but because we would get repeat guests you know kind of messed that up but any anyway I’m curious about the captain because I really don’t know much about yachting other or boats other than obviously the captain’s the captain he’s responsible for I would think pretty much everything on the boat Mike and it sounds like he’s also responsible in this case for a lot of
Fernando Diez (35:59.398)
Ha ha ha.
Jason Elkins (36:22.926)
management, not just the boat, not just the people that run the boat, but pretty much everybody on board it sounds like. And then the second part of that question is does the captain engage with and interact with the guests as well or is that or do you have more of a kind of activities person that handles that?
Fernando Diez (36:47.634)
Sorry, Jason, you broke up at the very end. Can you just repeat the second question?
Jason Elkins (36:52.366)
Yeah, the second part of it is, is the captain engaging with the guests on a regular basis? I mean, I’m sure you have people that work with the guests full -time constantly, but like, is the captain getting engaged with the guests as well? And if so, does that add to the complication? You gotta find somebody who’s a great boat captain, great people person, great manager, all that stuff. So I imagine that might be a challenge as well.
Fernando Diez (37:22.194)
Yes, yes, they have to be multifaceted. They got to put their, you know, pleasing the guest face and then being, you know, the strict captain to get the crew in line when necessary. But well, the first thing, the first requirement to be captain in the Galapagos, you got to be certified by the Ecuadorian Navy.
So I have to admit that is a challenge because, you know, in a third world country where often the Navy does not have the resources that they need, the training of the captain is limited. So we actually invest in additional training for captains. Then obviously there’s this.
the soft skills part, which you can’t really train. Some of these people are born leaders and some lead in one way and others lead in another. Some lead by fear, others by example. We try to go with the latter. But it is tough. It is tough. And these guys have to just be very sensitive as to how they deal with the crew. And there’s also, it’s important to note that like on a ship,
It’s really divided into two. There’s the hotel side of the business where you have, you know, the cruise director and the cabin boys and the bartenders and the restaurant staff. And those are the people that are, you know, facing the guests and they’re there for the guest experience. And then you have people who are equally important, but are not seen all the time.
that are, you know, like the engineer, the pilot, the people who drive the Pangas, and they’re making sure the operation runs like seamlessly and that the boat functions and everything. And so sometimes balancing these two out, because without one, you’ll have a terrible trip, without the other, you’ll have a terrible trip as well. So they have to balance that out. And sometimes there is a little bit of a struggle of power, like between the cruise director and the captain, but always by law.
Fernando Diez (39:21.254)
in regulations anywhere in the world, the captain is the highest authority of the ship. And so the captains have to know that, but they also have to know that whatever they do or the decisions they make, they can’t impact the guest experience because in the end we need happy guests. Otherwise we’ll run the business aground. And so…
The to going to the final questions that you asked Jason, they do interact with the guests and a lot we on our ships. We have an open bridge policy. You just need to knock and they let you in the bridge at any time of day. And so, you know, people are there interacting with the captain. They’re having fun with the captain. Sometimes the captain goes snorkeling with the guests. And, you know, of course, somebody is taking care of the ship. Sometimes, you know, the captain.
something to the captain there’s a captain’s table and you know a couple of times during the week the captain sits with the guests so there’s a lot of interaction there people have a lot of fun with the captains and a lot of our guests are actually ship lovers and they have ships themselves so that’s like the only person they want to talk to is the captain we definitely make sure they have opportunities to do that.
Jason Elkins (40:30.396)
Which makes it even more significant when you’ve got a smaller boat. When you’ve got 32 guests, the captain can sit down at a table with every guest over the course of the week, most likely, and have that engagement where, I’ve always thought I’ve never been on a really big cruise ship, to be honest with you. I’ve honestly never really had a desire to go on a big one. But I’ve been on the small ones. And yeah, I think if you’re on a cruise ship with a thousand people, or…
Fernando Diez (40:36.114)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (40:59.568)
You can’t just walk up on the bridge and have a nice little chat with the captain. So it sounds sounds pretty cool. All right, so those that was the Basically the answer to the question of what’s behind the scenes that people don’t realize that it’s so difficult and that was very Around the business itself But I also I know that some people with a work in tourism are super super passionate about it and it can create challenges in their personal relationships and they’re You know, sometimes it’s hard to find somebody that wants to
Fernando Diez (41:04.178)
Exactly.
Jason Elkins (41:29.294)
to partner up with somebody that’s that’s working in the tourism business so I’m just curious if you can shed some insight onto you know I know you’re married and you have three kids right yeah so like how does your choice of work impact your family probably let’s touch both on both sides the pros and the cons
Fernando Diez (41:40.324)
Yeah.
Fernando Diez (41:51.73)
That’s a fantastic question because I lived this from all angles, you know, being the son of two people involved in the business where I saw that dynamic and it worked quite well because they were both involved. So they both would often travel together and things like that. I remember, you know, staying at my cousin’s, my uncle and aunt’s house and my grandparents’ house quite a bit as my parents would go out to market.
the trade shows all over the world or they had to go to Galapagos or they had to go meet some travel agent somewhere. But it was part of the entertainment for us. We also got to spend some time living with our cousins and with their grandparents. And it was only like maybe the longest trip was like 15 days a couple of times per year. So it wasn’t too bad. No trauma out of that, for sure. But…
Jason Elkins (42:47.196)
Okay.
Fernando Diez (42:49.586)
Now that I’m living this as, you know, my wife does not work in the travel industry. I do travel a lot. I, you know, I remember I was in, I went to Marrakesh for a trade show and I was at, I climbed up Mount Tupacal and as I was there at the summit, I thought, you know, this is literally a day in the office because I was hiking up with travel agents and we were talking business and selling trips and, and it’s, it’s hard sometimes for like a partner to comprehend.
Jason Elkins (43:13.212)
Mm -hmm.
Fernando Diez (43:19.54)
that but it’s the nature of the business and the thing is my wife met me while I was in this industry she always knew I travel she knows the passion that I had she’s actually come with me some to some trade shows I’m trying to see maybe you know when the kids are a little bit older if she actually wants to join the business because it would be a lot easier but it can create a lot of stress especially if the other person does not
understand or accept the fact that it’s a business that has a lot of fun components to it, a lot of traveling, a lot of meeting great people and going all over the world. We go to, for example, that trade show, Pure, that we go to, it’s always in Marrakech, but then we go to another one, the Adventure Travel World Summit, and that one’s in a different city in the world all the time. It’s been in Alaska and Puerto Varas, Chile,
Lugano, Switzerland, you name it, that place is off. Yeah.
Jason Elkins (44:19.932)
I went to one in Namibia, ATTA Summit in Namibia, several. That was actually one of the last trips that I took when I was still married. So yeah, okay. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah.
Fernando Diez (44:30.45)
Yeah, so exactly. You know, you know what that’s about, you know, and obviously you come back home and he’s like, how was it? And you try to downplay it, right? It’s like, oh yeah, it was okay. You had an amazing time, you know, hiking and kayaking.
Jason Elkins (44:38.396)
Mm -hmm.
Jason Elkins (44:42.012)
And if they’ve got, if they’re with kids or their jobs that aren’t maybe quite as glamorous and so they’re taking on the extra load while you’re gone and you come back and they might be thinking, oh, I’m so happy you’re back because I need help. And you’re like, I’m tired, I’m exhausted. I’ve been traveling nonstop every day, you know, and the sympathy, there’s not a lot of sympathy.
Fernando Diez (44:45.81)
Oh
Fernando Diez (44:52.484)
Oh yeah.
Fernando Diez (45:00.658)
Yeah, no, no, exactly. I land, the moment I land, the three kids are dumped on my care and I’m on dad duty like full time for the next like week and a half. That is revenge.
Jason Elkins (45:12.54)
Which is interesting, because if you had…
taking a trip to the Midwest United States to install air conditioning units in houses for three weeks straight. And you came home, your spouse would be like, oh man, I bet you’re exhausted. And wow, I really appreciate what you do for our family. And it’s great that you’re willing to go work so hard. But if you’re in Marrakesh or Namibia or whatever, it’s hard to feel appreciative of what you’re doing for the family when it looks like you’re doing it for yourself. Yeah, so OK. All right.
Fernando Diez (45:27.41)
Yeah, some compassion.
Fernando Diez (45:34.288)
Yeah, no. No.
Fernando Diez (45:44.976)
Exactly and I don’t post a lot personally on social media but if I would, oh my god, I would pay twice if she saw the places where I was hanging out. But it’s the nature of the business, right? And that’s why you actually do see a lot of husband and wife or partner relationships that are in the travel business and they travel together and that’s why also…
Jason Elkins (45:45.822)
you
Jason Elkins (45:50.94)
That makes it worse, yeah.
Jason Elkins (45:58.274)
Yeah.
Fernando Diez (46:14.086)
you know, for sometimes, you know, couples that are in this industry, just to not have kids because that really affects it. Like before I had kids, I was, I was traveling a ton. And I remember when my first daughter was born, I had to cut that by like a third, but that means cutting promotion like by a third, the context. Now with Zoom after COVID, that has changed a bit. You’re, you’re…
You don’t have to travel as much to make the relationships that you used to have to travel before, but still.
you need to travel in this business and sometimes it can take a toll on marriages and relationships. I know for me, when it gets really busy in the year, which is normally like Q3, that’s when most of the trade shows take place. I’m gone for quite a bit. And so I know it’s like a stressful time for my wife with young kids especially. So yeah, there’s a…
Jason Elkins (47:13.66)
Yep. And with the kids, what do you envision? There’s a parallel, right? Your parents, and you said you and your two brothers are still in the business. And now you’ve got three kids, just like your parents had. What is your, like, what are you willing to share with us? Are you envisioning them staying in the business? I mean, I’m sure you’re going to say they can do whatever they want to do. I just want them to be happy. But like, what do you think about that?
Fernando Diez (47:25.392)
Yep.
Fernando Diez (47:40.066)
Yeah, well on the contrary, one of the things we decided like with my two brothers is you know the the next generation will have you know twice or three times like the number of people wanting from the family to work in the business. We realized like I have to admit I came to Quasar
too young for the responsibility that was put on me in the position. Obviously my parents had invested in sending me to college in the US and I was, you know, I had a lot of, I would say I don’t experience with like theory, but not much with practice, right? And so,
we decided that we would not do that to our kids. Like if they want to come work in the business, they will have to have worked at least 10 years outside of the business. And then they apply and they go into a selection process, you know, competing with all the other applicants.
And that’s what the nature of the business can be like. Otherwise, you know, there is an issue with succession with family businesses when the generations get too big. And then there are issues with the family members and, you know.
maybe my older brother has the oldest children, if they go in, there might not be space for my children to work. And so that’s a tricky thing. And that’s why we decided to make this part of the policy of the company. And they have to work elsewhere. And if they want to come back and apply, happy for them to do so. I would love for them to be in this industry, because I think it’s very gratifying. It’s.
Fernando Diez (49:22.45)
I never see sad people in these trade shows when we go there. Everybody’s having a fantastic time.
Jason Elkins (49:28.092)
But they could still work in the industry. Just doesn’t necessarily mean they, you know, maybe they don’t work for Quasar, but they can go off and be a naturalist guide for one of the competitors if they want to do. And actually, they probably have an advantage to getting the job with your last name, I’m just saying. You know, so they can go do it, work their way up because we…
Fernando Diez (49:33.188)
Exactly.
Fernando Diez (49:43.134)
Exactly.
100 % exactly 100 % and you know the advice
Jason Elkins (49:56.732)
Go ahead.
Fernando Diez (49:59.282)
Sorry you were saying there was a little bit of a delay, Jason.
Jason Elkins (50:01.148)
Oh yeah, I was gonna mention, you know, you hear of like multi -generational businesses, family businesses, where it’s like the first one gets it started, the second one maybe takes it to the next level, and then the third one bankrupts it.
Right? And you know, you just kind of hear about that stuff and what you mentioned, the family size expands, you know? If you have three kids, if your brothers have three, it’s like, yeah, it gets complicated. And then you’ve got the scenario, which I’m sure some of the people that worked for you and you kind of stepped into leadership roles were like…
Okay, yeah, it’s the owner’s kid now. He’s my boss. I’ve been doing this for you know I I worked at Orvis. It’s a family -owned company love the company but at one point my direct boss was the son of
the CEO of the company and I was 15 years older than he and you know it was like yeah it’s kind of like hmm interesting. He did a great job if he’s listening to this Simon great job and but yeah I can see where that that does create some interesting challenges especially you want to keep the business going and and be successful as well so.
Jason Elkins (51:20.816)
I we’ve got, I’m gonna go back in and cut out like little quiet spots like that. Edit, edit, edit.
Fernando Diez (51:27.506)
Sorry, I lost you for a bit.
Jason Elkins (51:30.428)
No, that’s okay. I’m gonna go back and clean it up a little bit anyway later. So I’m gonna say the word edit, edit, edit a few times so I can find the spot. Okay. I think we ended that thought, completed that thought. So Fernando, I feel like we could do many, many conversations about many different things with you. You’ve got a unique and interesting experience in the tourism business, the adventure travel business. But for this conversation,
Fernando Diez (51:38.834)
Okay.
Jason Elkins (51:59.804)
Is there anything that I should have asked you, forgot to ask you, or anything in particular that you want to make sure that our guests, our listeners here, know about either you, the family, Quasar Expeditions, anything else that you want to add before we wrap up?
Fernando Diez (52:26.994)
Yeah, well, you know, whoever is listening here, whether you love to travel or you’re a travel professional, there are many ways to…
actually enjoy or make travel a part of your life as travel professionals. It might seem very glamorous in our end, but hopefully, you know, through this chat with you, Jason, people have realized that it’s not so pretty all the time behind the scenes. But, you know, in the end, we’re at least us at Quasar Expeditions, we do this to make people happy, you know, to show them a place like the Galapagos that honestly, you know, excuse me, would not be here.
if it wasn’t for tourism. There’s a lot of debate that the Galapagos needs to be protected and tourism needs to be banned, but in the end, it is because of the awareness that tourism brings to the destination and to the issues in Galapagos that these wildlife areas are protected. And so we are firm believers that this sustainable and responsible tourism is the way to preserve these places. And…
I encourage everybody, if you just love to travel, just think where you’re investing your dollars, do your research as well. You have responsibility to find out with the companies that you’re booking with what they’re doing for the environment, for the community, for the local economies. You have that responsibility, I think, to just make sure your dollar goes a longer way. And then on our end,
as travel professionals, you know, everybody listening. There’s too much green washing going on. You know, people saying they are sustainable because, you know, they donate a few dollars to the carbon fund and they’re not even tracking, you know, what the carbon fund is doing with that. They are just saying they’re offsetting CO2 when really there could be a lot more important issues like with the communities, with the locals, with the wildlife and just, you know, be responsible. But at the same time, I do realize that we need to
Fernando Diez (54:30.004)
businesses and profit comes first so as soon as you are profitable then you know think about ways you can contribute part of that profit to the destination you know for better results for the preservation of the destination so yeah I think that message something you know everybody should pay attention to.
Jason Elkins (54:46.812)
We’re good. Yeah, I’m happy you brought that up. And anybody listening to this, I mean, I think those of us that work in the business, sometimes we hear stories like, okay, people say they want green, but they don’t.
reflect that in how they spend their dollars. They support conservation, but when it comes down to spending their dollars for conservation, there sometimes can be a disconnect or there’s, some of us have stories that there’s a little bit of a disconnect. So I’m happy that you brought that up. Cause if it is important to you, if you want places like the Galapagos to be around, we all gotta contribute a little bit. So I’m happy you brought that up.
Fernando Diez (55:23.986)
Thank you.
Jason Elkins (55:28.316)
Fernando, thank you so much. Wonderful, wonderful story, wonderful conversation. I appreciate the whole thing. So thank you so much for being here and I look forward to it. I’m just up the road here in Columbia right now. So here in the next couple of months, I may make it down there and I’d love to sit down and have a coffee with you in person. But in the meantime, thanks for being here today. I appreciate it. All right, thanks, Fernando.
Fernando Diez (55:47.346)
Oh, fantastic. Let just yeah, just let me know. I don’t know what part of Colombia you’re in. Be sure to eat bandeja paisa. Thanks for having me, Jason. It’s been wonderful chatting.
Jason Elkins (55:56.604)
Oh yeah, I’m in Medellin, so I’ve eaten pretty much every day. I think I’m eating Bandai Opaizo. Good stuff. Fernando, thank you so much. I’ll chat with you soon. Have a great day.
Fernando Diez (56:08.178)
Okay. Bye, cheers.
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