Travel Massive Buys Greek Island

We are very excited to announce the new global headquarters of Travel Massive. As of last week, we are now the statutory owners of a freehold island in Greece.

Update:  If you’d like to visit the island please join the Massive Island Chapter

Read on for the story of how we came to own and island and what our big plans are for “Massive Island” for 2015.

Our new island, located in an archipelago in the Ionian Sea had been on the market for a decade by a reclusive retiree. The official Greek name is “μαζική νησί”  so we’ve renamed it to “Massive Island” and will be applying for a European trademark to ensure no-body else steals our great idea.

We will be developing the island into a live-in Travel Massive community, where startups, travel bloggers, and the industry can get together and work on big ideas to contribute to the global travel industry. All members of the Travel Massive community will be welcome to live on the island, and we’ll be building approximately 130 eco-friendly cabins for members to live on while they work on their travel startups and projects.

Responsible tourism will also be a big feature of the island’s design and operation, with Anula Galweska being head of the responsible tourism plan. The island will be powered by second generation tidal turbines, and development will be limited to low-impact self-sustainable cabins, and a common conference space. There are no plans to build a runway so visitors will need to arrive by either ferry (twice daily) of charter helicopter.

Speaking about the purchase, Ian Cumming, Founder of Travel Massive said: “When deciding on our corporate headquarters, we wanted Travel Massive to live up to it’s name. San Francisco has become too expensive, so we started looking for cheaper, better alternatives to build our global headquarters, and found this amazing island. And since I grew up on the Island of Tasmania, I’ve always wanted to return to one. “

The Island was discovered by Simon Lewis while on a Travel Massive road trip in Greece.  “There are thousands of islands for sale in Greece. So, we got the paper out and started looking. But when we checked out this island earlier this month, it had everything we needed to create a Travel Massive Island!”.

Fostering Travel Massive Island Startups

We will also be looking to develop industry partnerships to make Massive Island a true startup hub for the travel industry. Already we are looking to talk to SpaceBase to list the island for event spaces, and are also approaching HotelTonight to trial a new app (currently in stealth mode) for Millionaire-travelers called “IslandTonight”. More startup partners will be announced over the coming weeks.

Stephan Ekbergh, a founding investor in Travel Massive commented “I had no idea that we’d bought a Greek Island, but when Ian and the team told me about it, I was incredibly excited! It’s the best investment I’ve ever made and I can’t wait to bring the family there!”

The Perfect Travel Conference Location

We are also looking at making Massive Island available to our conference partners, and are hoping to host TBEX Europe next year, along with Traverse, WIT events and Tnooz THacks. If all goes well with the incorporation of our tourism board, we will also be exhibiting as a destination at ITB Berlin next year.

The official opening ceremony of Massive Island will be in early 2016 for the Travel Massive Global Gathering party.

Community managers Erika Helstrom and Cristina said “Islands are all about community, so we are going to create some truly amazing ideas for travel on our island. The best ideas happen on islands!”

So here’s a few interesting facts about the island: 

We purchased the island for just a little over €500,000. Now that there is no more money left in the bank account, Travel Massive will be looking to raise a Series-A this summer.

The official language of the island is a local Greek dialect. Therefore, for anyone to visit the island on a long-term basis, you are required to take a short language course in order to become accustomed to the local dialect.

The island is 4 square miles (approximately 1000 hectares) and features more than a 30 different beaches including a waterfall, cave, and ocean cliffs up to 50 feet high. The island also features a German nudist beach named “TravelDudes beach“.

According to multi-modal search engine GoEuro the Island is accessible by ferry or private charter helicopter. Ferry cost is  €7 and runs twice daily from the nearby port town. In case of bad seas, charter helicopter is available for approximately €150.

There are more than 100 species of local fish that inhabit the shallow blue waters around the island, including a rare variety of octopus that is albino. Further out to sea there is also a family of non-rideable Dolphins.

Dylan Lowe and Alicia Drewnicki will be appointed joint Governers of the island. Dylan and Alicia’s extensive visits to many Travel Massive events and their excellent British accents makes them the perfect candidates for this job.

Stuart McDonald from Travelfish.org will be the Island’s official advisor, after his many extensive years relaxing researching travel on islands across South East Asia.

All visitors to the Island will be required to have a Travel Massive community account which will constitute a visa for entry. Visitors who turn up to the Island but don’t have an account will be refused entry.

What next?

We are still in the final stages of transitioning the ownership of the island and there are still many more permits we need to acquire before Travel Massive Island is open for business. We are extremely proud of our team to make one of our dreams happen, and can’t wait to share the island with our community in early 2016!