For our location, we wanted something quite unconventional and different. Cliches were something we wanted to avoid. We settled on Ecuador because, looking at what it had to offer, we thought it had something that would appeal to all 3 demographics. And, of course, it wasn't a particularly conventional holiday location.

I suggested Ecuador - specifically the Galapagos, initially - as I thought it was just that: an unexpected choice that would certainly put us on the map. We didn't want to make yet another trip to places where people always vacation; rather, we wanted to turn the unconventional into something accessible by truly bringing patrons one step closer to nature.

At the very start of the task I suggested an idea that we went for something out of the ordinary. Places like Florida, southern Europe or France are very predictable and we wanted to challenge ourselves by finding somewhere a lot more interesting.

Somewhere that you don't see everyday, somewhere that offers plenty of brand new, unique, experiences. Then Justin suggested Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands and I absolutely loved the idea of it because of the nature based aspects to it. It's something that would be suitable for all the different groups, and we could pitch all three in different ways and in conclusion I do feel we've made three fantastic package deals for the different group demographics.

I think we all wanted somewhere that had things to it that would appeal to all of the demographics, and not be an obvious choice. There were a few suggestions that would have worked, but Ecuador was the most popular amongst the group.

It was actually me who suggested we avoid cliches like Florida

One of the main criticisms from the buyers was that is was far too expensive, especially for a family with children. Thoughts?

I have chatlogs to suggest otherwise.

ETA: Just looked at the chatlogs and you did mention the word 'cliche' but only seconds before I mentioned it.

I am going to be honest and say I haven't seen the pitch for the family with children. I know that my pitch was exceptionally affordable considering the age bracket, so I don't particularly think that the Over 60's package was too expensive.

For what the holiday was offering, I do feel although quite pricey - it was something that was definitely affordable.

Edit: Although I definitely agree there was quite a bit of confusion over the pricing. in fact, costing in general easily was the nightmarish part of the task.

I would agree with this for the family package, although not with the student & over 60s packages. As for the students one, it was by far the cheapest of our three packages and it was so cheap with the fact that it was aimed at students in mind. The price was very cheap for what we were offering.

Do you not feel one or two of the activities could have been sacrificed (or swapped) for the sake of a more affordable price?

Or did you feel it wasn't possible to have a more affordable holiday that would still be very enjoyable?

And Harmonia, whose idea was it to choose Italy? A lovely country, no doubt, if not a bit predictable.

I'd just like to point out that David and I initially planned to give discounts on the activities, as in the real business world companies offering packages would be offering a deal. David said he was going to ask you what percentage we were allowed to take off each activity, but then he got back saying that we had been told that we weren't allowed to do that.

EDIT: I mean David 'Tyjet', not David 'Carlisle'. Just so it's clear.

The thing that was the most pricey was the Darwin's Footprints tour, as I'm sure you're well aware.

Although quite expensive, I do think it was well worth what is consisted of. It was the main bulk and focus of the holiday and it's ideal target audience is families.

Italy was my idea. We brainstormed loads of different countries. Italy has room to grow for a student market, there's lots of cities which could be developed further for families and it's suitable for over 60s. It's close to the UK - easily accessible, not to difficult / tiring to travel to and it's affordable for the three target markets we had so I felt it was definitely a suitable choice.

I believe it was Katie's idea for Italy and a rather good one as well as Italy is a beautiful country and has lots of areas that are well suited too all families, Students and 60+ as well.

I think it might have been Jack or Katie who suggested Italy. In our initial discussion, we thought Spain would be a good choice but a very obvious one as well. Others mentioned included France, Greece and Cyprus.

We wanted to go with a European location, and we felt that Italy was the best choice for us.

Katie suggested Italy but although we had discussed other countries, we all agreed that Italy provided a number of locations which could suit each of our target markets.

Italy was suggested quite early on (by Katie I think?) and it just worked for everything so we stuck with it. We didn't feel it was too predictable, as actually less package holidays seem to go to Italy and moreso to places like Spain or Portugal, and we didn't want to go for something too extreme or extravagant as we knew it had to have realism and be affordable for the types of people it would be sold to. And also there's no denying that Italy is a wonderful country with loads of amazing things to do that would strongly appeal to a wide range of people, so for these reasons we felt that Italy was the perfect location for the task!

I'd also like to add that Justin never saw my pitch because he was off getting drunk at the time. Tyjet saw my pitch and he didn't ask for anything to be changed whatsoever so I thought it was acceptable.

My family & I would happily pay that price for what came with the holiday, and I don't doubt other families would, too.

God, I wasn't criticizing you for not seeing your pitch. I was just saying I couldn't comment on yours because I didn't see it, and that I didn't think my own was out of the price range. I trust both your and Tyjet's judgment on the pitch, as I told Tyjet numerous times, and would probably have been happy with it either way.

Also, I'm sorry it was a national holiday in America yesterday. I can't go back in time and change the date, you know, so don't blame me for having a good time after I got my portion of the pitch done.

Hmm, alright. We'll discuss the losing team's idea further after the results.

Before I start I'd like to say a huge thank you to all of my buyers. They're been absolute stars and such a massive help. Thanks Alex, Bethany and Aliyah!

The first orders we're going to reveal are from anactoria. Zak, could you please tell us anactoria's orders for Helios?

and for Harmonia?