Black Tomato X 007
24th August 2023
Travel the Bond world in luxury with a new bespoke travel package from Black Tomato
By MI6 Staff
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Black Tomato are travel experts, co-owned by friends who met while travelling in Queensland, Australia. After some time in corporate life, the travel bug refused to be quelled, and Tom Marchant, James Merrett and Matt Smith founded Black Tomato in 2005. Since then, they have been creating bespoke travel arrangements and premium global experiences.
“We're very much about… the world shouldn't be looked at as a list of destinations to tick off. It should be about finding these places that give you these amazing, amazing feelings,” says Tom Marchant, co-founder of Black Tomato.
Marchant says he’s previously developed immersive travel experiences based on fiction. “You might be reading a book that's set at a particular location, not about the location, but set there and just as you are following that story. We've created various products over the years that really used literature and drama and film as inspiration. I think on the back of just who we are and the kind of work we do, we just appeared on Eon's radar as potentially a company they could work with on this project.”
Black Tomato was approached by the Bond producers to help craft classic and classy Bond travel experiences. And it was EON that suggested the experiences could be enriched by the specialist knowledge of Bond insiders, including the likes of special effects artist Chris Corbould and their very own archivist, Meg Simmonds. “It was those mind blowing conversations, if I'm honest, to be in the room talking about that or talking with Ali James, one of the brilliant location managers and understanding how she brings that world to life,” adds Marchant.
Choosing where in the world to start this Bond adventure was easy, says Marchant: “Both from a technical and from an organizational point of view and spiritual home, it's London. But let's go out from there and tap into some of the glamorous and enthralling destinations across Europe that have played host to so many of the films. There's just a wealth of things to do in Europe and even all the ideas we had, we didn't include to start with, you can build out more down the line and then it's very easy to lift your eyes and look around the world at all these other fantastic locations Bond has been in.”
The team at Black Tomato have curated a twelve night adventure across Europe, from London through Paris, Monaco, Lake Como and Venice, ‘The Assignment’ is an amazing all-inclusive way to experience some of Bond’s most iconic European locations. In London, you’ll board the very same Superhawk 34 piloted by Cigar Girl in 'The World Is Not Enough' (1999) – sailing past the sights that have played a role in so many Bond films. You’ll receive a stunt training tutorial and a mixology masterclass before departing to Paris and Château de Chantilly – the setting of Zorin’s stud farm in 'A View To A Kill' (1985). In Monaco, a private helicopter gives you a view of the Côte d’Azur and step on the floor of renowned Casino de Monte-Carlo, which made an appearance in 'GoldenEye' (1995). On arrival in Lake Como you can get behind the wheel of an Aston Martin V8 Vantage at the location of Mr. White’s estate from 'Casino Royale' (2006). In Venice, on the last leg of the adventure, take a private tour of Torre dell’Orologio the tower where Bond fought Chang in 'Moonraker' (1979). Browse the city before dining within the industrial surrounds of a working glass factory reminiscent of Bond’s visit to Venini Glass in the same film.
At various stages of the tour Bond experts can join you to enrich the tour. Experts include Lee Morrison, Chris Corbould, Carole Ashby, Ali James, Meg Simmonds, Sarah Donohue, and mixologist Erik Lorincz.
“It's been put together with a real keen eye so that everything links nicely to each other. The 12-day [tour] is, if you like, the blue ribbon. This is the whole nine yards, end to end; the perfect embodiment of what we set out to achieve when we started. Then there's the bespoke option,” says Marchant. If the expense and time of an epic 12-day tour is too much, travelers can pick and choose their favourite adventures.
For more information, visit https://www.blacktomato.com/james-bond or read more about how the concept came together in MI6 Confidential #69.
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