Since mid-2019, we have been working with the senior leadership team of Villa Hotels & Resorts, one of the longest-standing owner-operators in the Maldives.

With the second generation of its founding family now at the helm, Luxury Branding was selected as the group’s partner to chart and drive its transition from a volume-based strategy to one centred on value creation in the luxury space.

Recently, Luxury Branding was engaged by the Villa team to design and lead a five-day ‘Discovery Expedition’, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa. Its purpose to inspire 30 leaders from the company towards a brand-led transformation from ‘Good to Great’. 

The repositioned and refreshed Villa Resorts brand will launch officially in November 2022, coinciding with the unveiling of two of its new resort concepts. In preparation for the launch, the senior management team embarked on an intensive immersion into the thriving hospitality scene in a city that The Telegraph described in March 2022 as the “greatest city in the world to visit right now”. Villa Vamos, as the expedition was branded, exposed Villa’s leaders to a huge range of innovative and exciting experiences, talent and design.

Luxury Branding was responsible for the detailed curation and facilitation of a five-day tour of Cape Town’s inner city, surrounding winelands and coastal areas. During the course of the week, the lucky group visited more than 50 industry partners, entrepreneurs and outlets. Carefully selecting venues with Villa’s new resort concepts front of mind, we explored the art of simplification and specialisation, and shared our best guidance for how to recognise inspiration and transform it into an idea suitable for the relaunched brand.  

In addition to showcasing a variety of talent, themes and trends on the ground, focus was placed on re-energising the team’s efforts and ensuring that lessons lived on long after returning to the Maldives. In addition to a set of specially-designed collateral and gifts that were dropped in attendees’ rooms each evening, we enlisted the talents of the wonderful editor and travel journalist Michelle Snaddon and photographer Roy Potterill to capture the entirety of the trip.

To wrap up the visit, we created a website that showcases their words and imagery, keeping the learnings and memories of Villa Vamos alive long after the expedition itself.