Our Story
Jacada was founded in 2008 by Alex Malcolm, who wanted to show people the side of a country that not everyone gets to see. While working in Brazil, he was lucky enough to travel the country with local friends who took him to places and shared things he would never have experienced on his own. He felt there was a space to create these unique travel experiences with a personal, human touch for others – and flew back to the UK to start his own company. Though we started out just selling trips to Brazil, Jacada now sells trips around the world; and despite our growth, Alex’s vision still remains. Personal is how we began, and that’s how we continue to be.
In 2020, The Jacada brand joined the family of Wilderness, a strong and reputable organisation, which for nearly 40 years has offered luxury travel experiences, composed around the commitment to conserve wilderness and wildlife.
Wilderness has provided the resources for the Jacada brand to continue creating bespoke travel experiences across the planet for discerning, curious travellers like you.
Our ethos
Responsible Travel & Giving Back
Central to everything we do is the desire to effect positive change and enrich the lives of those we encounter along the way. We do this because we feel it’s the right thing to do and because we believe travel is a far more enjoyable and rewarding experience when you know your trip is directly benefiting others. We do what we can to make it easier for you to travel in a way that you know positively contributes to the people and place you visit.
A portion of our revenue will go towards supporting the considerable conservation and rural economic development efforts of Wilderness Safaris who currently help to protect over 2.3 Million hectares of land.
These are just a couple of the ways that we are committed to making the world a better place through travel as well as upholding our commitment to follow a low-impact tourism model. There are other ways we work to make travel uplifting, and you can find out more here.
Our people
Travel designers, concierges & local guides
Our passionate designers and concierges have all lived or worked abroad, and sharing our wealth of firsthand experience is one of our greatest pleasures. We also work with brilliant local guides who truly bring a place to life through their knowledge, stories, expertise and passion. Travelling with Jacada is as much about the people you meet as it is about the places you go to.
We also have a support team of superheroes who work behind the scenes to make sure your trip is seamless, looking after you every step of the way and jumping in to resolve any mid-trip issues before you even know they’ve come up.
Our travellers often tell us that they’ve had a ‘trip of a lifetime’ with Jacada, but no matter how many times we hear it, it doesn’t get old. Creating magical moments for our clients is the reason we exist. It’s what makes the job worth it for our travel designers and why so much time is spent on each trip.
Well-travelled friends
Our trips are designed for travellers who prefer a more authentic, personal way of travelling. We want people to be able to experience a new country as the locals experience it, getting insider information and behind-the-scenes access that only someone who knows a place well can offer.
Often described as “well-travelled friends”, our designers, concierges and local guides love what they do.
Meet a Jacada guide: Fredy
Guiding is one of the most important elements in our company, which is why we hand-select our guides ourselves. We only use local guides who are brimming with knowledge and enthusiasm. They must be as professional as they are passionate.
Eduardo, our guide in Mendoza, was outstanding, one of the best, or maybe the best I have ever had. He anticipated everything, checked on everything we did or were getting ready to do, made us reservations, called to make sure things were set up, and was so kind. He knew everybody – and I mean everybody. We were extremely pleased. The cooking day with Lucas was special and we enjoyed it very much. The girls are still talking about it. The wineries selected were a good cross section of the region – well done. All the dinner reservations were perfect. Overall, I give Jacada an excellent rating.
Fees, USA
I took a leap of faith when I booked my family trip to South Korea with Jacada Travel. I researched online and liked the website. After I spoke with Ellie who is the Asia specialist, I anxiously awaited the itinerary, was wowed by the trip details, and booked the trip immediately even without any further pursuit of more thorough review…
All three of my trips with Jacada have been seamless...timing/scheduling/planning were flawless. The camps chosen for us were all different and led to a wonderful Botswana experience.
My husband and I recently traveled to South Africa and we utilized Jacada travel services. Jody Van Merode planned the perfect trip for us- we spoke over the phone and she put together an itinerary that would best match what we wanted to see, our interests and our budget! We visited two very different game reserves - each beautiful in…
The trip was perfect from start to finish which I completely attribute to the communication with James and Eugenia. I really felt as if our needs were anticipated and our style of travel understood. They truly picked the best accommodations and made transfers between easy. I've never had such a seamless and well-organized travel experience. It is so worth it…
We worked with Jamey and Angela at Jacada to plan our honeymoon in South Africa. We started from scratch not knowing much about South Africa and Jamey met with us to get to know us and our budget and created the most incredible 10 day trip for us. My husband and I have both travelled a lot, but this trip…
More about our Travel Designers...
Whatever you want from your tour or adventure, our team of expert travel designers are ready to help.
