kabarsula Byron’s RatPack Travel returns to roots with opening of Manchester office bandar SLOT INDONESIA

RatPack Travel has opened its first international office in Manchester – the original home of its founders – aiming to target UK, Irish and European travellers planning road trips in Australia and New Zealand.

The expansion is something of a homecoming for founders and cousins Sammy and Mikey Finley, who grew up in Manchester. They launched RatPack in Byron Bay in 2016, booking tours for backpackers from a renovated 1973 bus.

The founders of the Byron Bay-based campervan and RV booking service said the move would help fill a gap in the market left when many specialist agencies selling Australia and New Zealand road trips closed during COVID and never returned.

UK travellers already account for about a quarter of RatPack’s customers, with demand previously handled from Australia. The Manchester team, all experienced Australia and New Zealand travellers, will offer advice in the UK time zone.

When borders closed, the business pivoted to campervan and RV hire for domestic travellers, investing in content and service while much of the sector was on pause.

RatPack now employs more than 40 people across Byron Bay and Manchester, holds more than 3,000 five-star Google and Facebook reviews, and has contracts with campervan and RV operators across both countries. It has also signed new partnerships with Discovery and Ingenia.

The service is free to customers and operates as a 24-hour personalised booking concierge, with the company promising to match the price of any option customers find online.

Back home, RatPack has outgrown its Byron Bay headquarters and is moving its finance, marketing, technology and customer service teams into new premises next door.

“In business you don’t often stop to reflect, but I guess a 10-year anniversary makes you,” Finley said. “Ten years ago, I was running RatPack out of a bus, just trying to help travellers have the best possible road trip.

“The mission remains the same. Now we’re opening a second office in Byron Bay and our first in the UK, in Manchester. It’s a huge milestone for our team. It means we can look after more travellers, in their own time zone, delivering more of the personalised RatPack touch.”