Mat Eccles is our marathon running Englishman in Colorado. Mat has a huge passion for Japan and his American home in and wanted to share a bit about IJTUSA. So, here he is!
Back in 2010 InsideJapan Tours decided to spread its wings across the Pond and open a US Branch. At that time I was already living in beautiful Colorado, having left London in mid 2009 after enjoying four years working for an Asia specialist tour operator.
Colorado style
Often people I meet assume the US office would be based on either coast, but Colorado works perfectly. Not only does it fit with the overall ethos of the company as a whole, but being located in Mountain Time ensures that we can chat to clients all over the continent with ease.
Boulder
As with most things, even the most grand of plans start small, and so for a little under a year the office was based in my home, where I toiled alone spreading the word of IJT and building our already substantial base of North American (and a few Central and South American) clientèle. Being able to communicate with clients in a similar time zone is invaluable, and I was also able to attend various industry events and even appear on local radio espousing the many great things about an IJT vacation.
IJTUSAHQ
By early 2011 business was chugging along well, and, with an eye to expanding staff, we took a small office in downtown Boulder. For those who are unfamiliar with Boulder, it is a fantastic college town with a stunning mountain backdrop, great restaurants and bars, a wide variety of street performers and the penchant for attracting the slightly odd! In these respects it is not dissimilar to Bristol, where the UK Head Office is located. Just after the Boulder office was established, the tragedy of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan. All thoughts of expansion were put on hold whilst we adjusted to the significantly altered Japan tourism landscape post March 11th.
IJT Crew
As we begin 2013 I am happy to report that, through the collective hard work of many, 2012 was a pretty successful year for IJT USA, and we now have a staff of three! Amy joined in June and Hagino in December. We have expanded into the neighbouring office suite, and now have an area for staff downtime, as well as a meeting place for local clients who want to pop in to say hello and chat all things Japan. The new space also allows us to expand our team which we expect to do in 2013, and continue to design the best, most interesting and fulfilling customized vacations to Japan.
