The word ‘rally’ reckons with fast cars, races, troops & groups, but the Verve Rally is where adventure, holiday and luxury come together. Luxurylaunches speaks with Darshana Ubl and Marcus Ubl the founders of the unique concept of lifestyle focussed travel and their plans for India.
Tell us about this exceptional concept – Verve Rally.
Is it a rally for car enthusiasts and adventure travellers or a road trip combined with luxury?
Verve means zest or enthusiasm. It’s where luxury lifestyle meets adventure. For the discerning Verve Rally includes a holiday on wheels, combined with some of Europes finest roads and most luxurious hotels to create a holiday that is not to be missed.
We would like to know more about the creativity, the brilliance of the innovativeness of the concept and the stimulus behind the one of its kind luxurious and lifestyle rally
Necessity is the mother of all innovations, someone once said.
As serial entrepreneurs it is important to celebrate each milestone in business.
We had one such milestone in 2015 end when we sold our previous business and got home a powerful car with a V8 machine. I love long drives with nice car tunes, company and beautiful scenery. But often our experience of the car was a lot less inspiriting as I drove it at 20miles an hour in London (mostly getting stuck behind a bus) coupled with grey weather.
So we knew that we had to take the car to the continent to truly enjoy it on open roads coupled with scenery. Marcus presented a few rallies to me but none of them met my criteria of what I was looking for. I remember making a list of things I wanted in a rally which included – not more than 4.5 hours drive time a day, a luxurious setting, having a group of people who you’ve met a few times before the rally and a good mix of male and female. After weeks of research he said that he could not find anything like what I was describing. For me, I saw that as a gap in the market. I asked Marcus if he wanted to join forces to create a luxury car rally he said yes. That’s when Verve Rally was born.
Having run training and Events Company before with an international footprint, I saw the business model of running car rallies as being no different. The only difference is that this is in the luxury travel section adding fulfillment to people’s lives vs. training which added value to businesses.
The words Rally, fast cars, speed, open roads are traditionally associated with men and have been a Man’s playground so far, how does Verve plan to allure women to this unique convoy.
You’d be surprised how many girls like to drive. Think scrafs, sunglasses and an open top car. It helps having a female cofounder of the rally to looks through the details from a female perspective and who is also very particular on how she spends her holiday. Last year we had two of Mumbai’s prominent ladies Ghazalah Moloobhoy and Nandini Singh join us and they accomplished driving through 7 countries in 9 days across Europe and covering 1400 miles by road.
We would like you to share with us the essence and the sensory experience that one can expect at the end of this luxurious holiday
Without the risk of giving too much away and letting there be a surprise element, we have designed the rally keeping in mind the six elements – earth, water, fire, metal, air and spirit. At the end, the participants feel invigorated and have a renewed enthusiasm for all that awaits their journey onwards.
By combining luxury with adventure the Verve Rally surely is on the bucket list of people from different backgrounds and cultures, is that a challenge for the organizers to manage all the travellers?
We have experience in training and facilitating group workshops and I personally have spent years managing groups of 30-50 people and ensuring that they get along. In our experience most people on the rally meet atleast 3 new people they can call friends going forward.
The Verve Rally aims to be a “Carbon neutral rally” what does this suggest and how do you plan to give it back to the environment?
In every business we’ve run there has been a charity or a sustainability element. Instead of ‘one day’ making a change, for each and very one of us its important to take positive steps on an ongoing basis as regularly as we can.
To give back what we take from nature, we have partnered with Plant a Tree Today (PATT) foundation where we calculate the miles per car times the engine size and plant trees in turn. So in the long run we offset the carbon and replenish the environment.
Marcus being a serial entrepreneur and Darshana you being a business owner, SME advisor and a keynote speaker tell us about your work- to-rule and rules-to-work approach
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Passion is the key to inspiration. Both Marcus and me are passionate about travel, exceptional experiences and getting a good like minded group together. Although there is a big picture to this, we achieve it by focusing on the details.
What are your plans for India?
The biggest challenge for a car enthusiast in India face is that the infrastructure is not conducive to driving fast nor do we tend to follow lane discipline. So for real car and travel enthusiasts driving a supercar in Europe is a great way to explore and a big tick to that bucketlist.
Find additional information and apply for a place at www.ververally.com
Sejal Parekh is a successful entrepreneur passionate about reading, writing, traveling and retail therapy. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a diploma in PR and events management from MICA. Has worked as a successful film PR professional, marketed Bollywood movies and now runs a renowned preschool. High on life and has a penchant for writing and experiencing all things chic, stylish & luxurious.
