The Titan disaster has actually sparked more interest from the super-rich in extreme adventures, the founder of a luxury travel company says

• The Titan disaster has sparked interest in extreme travel, the founder of a luxury travel company says.
• Brown and Hudson previously offered submersible trips to the Titanic in partnership with OceanGate.

The founder of a travel company offering bespoke luxury trips says that the Titan disaster hasn't deterred wealthy customers from extreme travel.

Instead, it's done the opposite.

"People have got in touch recently as a result of this tragedy, not specifically about Titanic, but about other things," Philippe Brown, the founder of Brown and Hudson, told Insider. "Tragedies sometimes generate interest in other areas of extreme travel."

There's been a "marked increase" in interest in the company's high-level memberships, some customers have started new discussions about terrestrial projects, and no one has canceled their upcoming extreme-travel trips, he added.

OceanGate offered $250,000 trips for passengers to view the wreck of the Titanic. The Titan, its submersible, lost communication with its mothership less than two hours into its journey on June 18. The US Coast Guard says the submersible likely imploded, killing its five crew members – OceanGate's CEO, three ultra-wealthy customers, and one of their sons.

Brown and Hudson had offered Titanic dives with OceanGate. Brown said that the experiences OceanGate offered were a "little bit light" and that Brown and Hudson made them "broader and longer" with more training. He said that since 2017, three of the company's clients had committed to go on the Titan but all "pulled out at the last minute," largely due to scheduling issues.

Brown and Hudson advisors meet with their clients to discuss their dream trips and map out vacations for the next few years. "For most of our clients, Titanic came into that," Brown said. Some wanted "bragging rights" or had always been fascinated by the ship, while others saw it as an investment and hoped to sell their spot in the future, he said.

"The kind of people who joined the waitlist for the Titanic are the same kind of people who would consider near-space flight," Brown said. "The investment required, is relatively speaking, is similar."

Wanting to travel adventurously and take risks is "a perfectly normal thing and accidents will not stop it," Brown said.

"People still fly when planes go down. They'll take helicopters when there are helicopter accidents," Brown said. "Mankind just moves forward, hopefully in a slightly more educated way and more risk-aware in some cases."

As well as paying for the trips, which can cost well over £100,000 ($127,400), Brown and Hudson's clients pay annual retainers of between £9,700 (about $12,350) and £100,000 ($127,400), plus taxes. The clients are mainly from North America, but many also come from Brazil, China, India, and the UK. They include investment bankers, Palo Alto tech workers, and "the kind of people that would go to Davos or the Sun Valley Conference," Brown said.

Popular activities include heli-skiing, polar activities, climbing at altitude, and trekking in remote locations. The company is currently planning an off-road biking trip in northern Syria for a group of 12 US investment bankers.

Expeditions, extreme sports, and trekking have become status symbols among the world's wealthiest people.

"Beyond a certain point of wealth, you are not interested in another flashy car or the latest iPhone," Brown said, adding that material objects only have a short-term impact compared to experiences like adventure travel.

"Stuff tends to have less value and you don't need to show off quite as much because you know that you are worth a billion, so you don't need to display your wealth. It's just part of you."

Extreme travel can also appeal to people's competitive streak. "For some people it might be connected to one-upmanship or being the first to do something, being able to tell a cool story to your family or friends," Brown said.

"We are human and by nature, human beings are very rarely just happy with their lot," he continued, referring to hedonic adaptation.

"If you go to a beautiful hotel with a great view, the day you walk in, you get a rush of dopamine, but three days later the view might suddenly not be quite as exciting ... When you've got a billion and you are making hundreds of thousands in your sleep, then the range of possibilities is just different and you can push boundaries."