The Unbelievable World of Million-Pound Holidays
Imagine having £1,000,000 to spend on a single vacation. What could that possibly buy? According to Doménique Wissink, founder of the luxury travel agency Extra Ibiza, it buys absolutely everything. From beachfront Ibiza villas with uninterrupted sea views to superyacht day trips, VIP nightclub tables, and around-the-clock staff including chefs, bodyguards, masseuses, and private chauffeurs. Some clients even request doctors on standby to administer IV drips and hangover cures before breakfast.
Meeting the Demands of the 1%
For 26-year-old Doménique, this level of excess represents just another week at work. His agency arranges high-end getaways and day trips for Premier League footballers, reality stars, influencers, politicians, and Hollywood A-listers. While most bookings center on Ibiza, Mallorca, and Dubai, he can source a helicopter ride in Switzerland within ten minutes if requested. Miami, he notes, takes about thirty minutes.
In his four years of planning holidays for the rich and famous, the Dutch-born entrepreneur has witnessed astonishing scenarios. "We had a group flying into Ibiza who had spent tens of thousands on a beautiful villa in rural nature," he recalls. "The plan was daily massages, healthy food, and relaxation. But when they landed, they felt more like partying. So they booked eight five-star hotel rooms instead – and left the villa completely empty."
Beyond Imagination Requests
Doménique has fielded every imaginable request:
- Little people hired as waiters and bodyguards (which he declined to provide)
- A client offering €200 for someone to dash out and buy forgotten toothpaste
- A guest flown onto a superyacht purely to snap a champagne-soaked photo at lunch before choppering off an hour later
- Orders for 500 bottles of expensive champagne for a group of ten
- Requests for in-villa cryotherapy chambers or tattoo artists
- One client asked for €100,000 in bills – a request he legally had to refuse
"The ultra-high-net-worth will book club tables costing between €20,000 and €100,000 for day, evening, and night," he explains over Zoom from his home in Malaga. "And then decide on the day whether they actually want them. They're not fussed about losing their 50% deposit."
The Psychology of Luxury Travel
Some clients want carbon-copies of holidays they've seen on TikTok and Instagram – the same flowers, restaurants, even the same swings hanging from yacht sides. Others, particularly tech billionaires, demand meticulous itineraries. "They want everything planned – when they have their first beer, what they eat, how healthy it is," Doménique says. "They calculate exactly how drunk they can get while still feeling good the next day. They find peace of mind in structure."
Privacy remains paramount for most clients, though some B-list celebrities request camera crews to document their indulgences for followers. Meanwhile, rich teenagers and emerging young sports stars take their first solo holidays with parents ready to authorize €80,000 for nightclub tables at a moment's notice.
Witnessing Staggering Waste
While Doménique insists most clients are polite and hard-working, he has witnessed staggering waste that could change lives elsewhere. He's seen clients spend enough money in one night to pay a worker's annual salary and villas trashed after wild parties. "It bugs me when people smash windows, rip curtains down and just leave," he admits.
This reality has led him to develop psychological profiling techniques to match clients with appropriate properties. Some villas need to be 'hufter-proof' – a Dutch term loosely translating to 'arsehole-proof' – featuring replaceable Ikea furniture and fake grass instead of pristine lawns. "We've seen the craziest things," he says. "People will literally drive their cars over the garden."
Drawing the Line
Despite promising clients "experiences they didn't even know they wanted," Doménique maintains strict boundaries. "I don't want to be an operator of their darkest needs," he states firmly. "We get requests to bring women in, and we don't support that. And we don't manage drugs."
Beyond those limits, however, his agency will arrange almost anything – from booking famous DJs for villa basement nightclubs to rehoming stray cats that influencers befriend and don't want to leave behind. He once even sourced and vetted party guests for a client who rented an entire villa for his birthday but had no local friends to invite.
A Personal Journey Through Excess
Doménique's own relationship with excess has been complicated. He started drinking and smoking weed at 14, got sober by 17, relapsed at university, and spent years as what he describes as a "functioning addict." "I had a good time," he reflects. "But underlying addiction, there are always mental problems. When Covid hit, things got really bad. I was working on my own, and it was a slippery slope. I lost myself."
His turning point came in 2023 when his girlfriend of nine years and Extra Ibiza co-founder, Jiel, told him she was leaving because "there was no joy anymore." "She said I was never there – always away, or working, or tired, or drunk," he remembers. "And I would be physically ill – like a constant state of having the flu. I knew I had to stop."
Twenty-four hours after Jiel left, both were made redundant from their marketing jobs. Living in Switzerland at the time, they chose to give their relationship another chance and moved to Spain so Doménique could get sober. With just three suitcases, they left everything behind and spent months on the beach recovering. "At that point, I found life was worth living again," he says. "When our money ran out, we had to do something to get back on our feet, so together we came up with the idea for Extra Ibiza."
Understanding Clients Through Personal Experience
The couple now plans to move to Ibiza, where Doménique finds it easy to stay sober despite the island's party reputation. Both his NA and AA sponsors live there, and the island promotes clean living alongside its nightlife. "I was enjoying myself by destroying myself," he admits. "So I understand the joy in that lifestyle, which helps me understand my clients. I want people, and my staff, to be safe. Sometimes I have to tell a guest, maybe slow down tonight."
Serving More Than Just the Ultra-Wealthy
Doménique's clientele extends beyond the ultra-wealthy. He also arranges group trips for what he calls the "hard-working class" – builders, carpenters, and lorry drivers who club together to spend €40,000 on a week in the sun. "They work incredibly hard and save for it," he says. "And they're just excited. I love chatting with them because they're so humble."
The Reality Behind the Glamour
Despite orchestrating hedonism for a living, Doménique's own days involve more computer screens than champagne. He starts work at 6am and often answers WhatsApp calls until 1am. He doesn't collect luxury watches, wear designer clothes, or own a flashy car, though he admits to enjoying occasional Michelin-starred meals – a perk of the job.
"I never did this for the money," he concludes. "Something about it is pure. It's creative. It gives me energy. It's fun and I love it." After witnessing everything from empty villas to champagne-soaked yacht photos, Doménique Wissink has reached a point where nothing shocks him anymore – except perhaps the enduring human capacity for both extravagance and redemption.
