Florian Wupperfeld has 20 years of experience in the marketing industry. He has worked with a number of leading brands, such as BMW, Adidas and the NY Times. However, travel, art and culture are his true passions.
It is this passion that led to the creation of Leading Culture Destinations, a culture travel platform that aims to ‘give culture more exposure in the travel channel’.
When asked about the inspiration behind LCD, Florian Wupperfeld told Compelo: “Looking at my own travel habits, culture has always played a key role in my travel plans. Actually, at one point I was speaking about a trip and a friend of mine said to me ‘wow, you are a real cultural nomad’ – and I thought bang, that’s pretty cool.”
That eureka moment was the birth of a platform that is part travel blog, part travel agency. The culture guru hasn’t looked back, as he attempts to provide travellers with a unique way to explore the world.
“Today our business has really expanded and consists of two main areas: Our business to consumer travel business where we offer and curate once in a lifetime cultural experiences to some of the most exotic and unique cultural destinations worldwide. And then on the other side, we realised that we have the audience and network which is also very interesting for museums.”
Wupperfeld’s channel has since grown further to include the Leading Culture Destinations Awards. Branded as the ‘Oscars for museums’, the awards call upon travel and cultural leaders to select the world’s best museums. Categories include ‘Best Exhibition’, ‘Best Museum Shop’ and ‘Best Digital Experience’.
Organising such a big event so early on in his new venture’s history was certainly ambitious. However, he was confident that he had the know-how to make it a success.
“My personal background in sales and marketing – I worked for many years for the Soho House Group – and what I learned there could also be very helpful for public arts organisations, and so I spoke to some hospitality and media brands,” Wupperfeld explained. “In 2014, then, we hosted our first Leading Culture Destinations Awards, a consumer campaign to shine light on the most established and emerging culture destinations worldwide.”
Florian Wupperfeld: Revolutionising the travel industry
It has been a huge success. The LCD Awards have gone ahead every year since, much to the delight of those involved. Organisations have reported incredible results thanks to the exposure that they have received.
“We hear from smaller organisations that they have increased their social following as a result, which then helps them to reach a wider audience,” Wupperfeld told us. “While cities like Quebec City tell us that it transformed their entire community.”
According to the travel expert, “It’s a fact that the modern traveller really wants unique, localised culture experiences after being globalised through brands in the past 50 years.”
If that is the case, the channel can expect its user base to grow exponentially over the years. Regardless, Wupperfeld’s infectious love for everything travel doesn’t make it hard to get excited about the experiences that LCD champions.
Take a look at Florian Wupperfeld’s Leading Culture Destinations, or read more:
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