30 Under 30: Meet Nathan Cable

Being unable to attend the best parties on a “lads holiday” to Ayia Napa in Cyprus back in 2009 was the initial inspiration for Nathan Cable and business partner Barry Moore to come up with the idea for their tour operator, Party Hard Travel.

Cable and Moore had opted to book their flights, accommodation and transfers themselves rather than going with a tour operator, which worked out about £100 cheaper than a package trip. But when they got to Ayia Napa, they found they could not afford to go to all the best beach and boat parties, unlike a group of friends who had booked with an established operator.

“As students at the time, we didn’t have a lot of spending money so had to miss out on the best parties,” says Cable. “We had to chill at the bars and free clubs. We had a good time but we could’ve had a better time.”

The experience got Cable and Moore thinking about a possible business opportunity – selling holidays to the most popular clubbing hotspots in the Mediterranean.

“We thought that if we could package up entry to all the best events and parties, we could compete with the big players by having a similar price to them,” adds Cable.

This was the genesis of Party Hard Travel, which first started life in Moore’s bedroom before the pair opened their first office in Guildford in early 2016.

After graduating from Portsmouth University, Cable worked as a business analyst for British Airways’ loyalty scheme, Avios, before leaving to work full-time at Party Hard Travel.

The operator managed to secure private investment to develop the business, which now offers packages to seven European resorts: Ayia Napa, Kavos, Ibiza, Malia, Magaluf, Zante and Sunny Beach in Bulgaria.

“Our USP is that we’ve gone out to seven resorts and sourced the biggest and most established events to create Party Hard event packages,” explains Cable.

“This includes all the biggest parties and beach club nights with famous DJs bundled into one package.

“If you were to buy them individually it would cost €300 for all the events. Our clients get it for free if they book a package with us or they can just buy the event package for £99 to £129.”

Initially, demand was strongest for the events package but this has changed as Party Hard Travel has established itself and more customers have been booking travel packages.

“At the start, people didn’t know if we were for real and they were asking if we had an Atol,” admits Cable. “We felt we had to have Atol protection, and since we got that, it’s made a real difference to our bookings.”