Meet the luxury travel agent who plans ultra-lavish vacations for ‘thrillionaires’ – with some costing more than $44 MILLION – as he reveals one client wanted to detonate a NUCLEAR BOMB

A luxury travel agent who plans trips for some of the world’s wealthiest individuals has revealed how he spent more than $44 million on a single holiday and that the requests can sometimes cross borders.

Ricardo Araujo, 45, started his company Ariodante Travels more than seven years ago, and he told DailyMail.com that his team now works for “a handful of extremely wealthy individuals, mostly billionaires and sometimes senior royals, who have a common interest in culture, beauty and having a positive impact on the world. ‘

“You could call them thrillionaires, because their thirst for adventure is insatiable,” he joked.

Because Ricardo’s clients require NDAs, he says he can’t reveal the exact details behind each trip, but on one occasion a sabbatical in Latin America that lasted several months cost more than $44 million and took us almost a year of planning. ‘

Asked about some of the more unusual requests he has received, the travel professional, who splits his time between London and Paris, recalls “a gentleman who wanted to detonate an atomic bomb.”

Revealing how the unique request came about, he continued: “The man had heard how I had taken someone in a nuclear submarine for a special lunch with the commander of the fleet. By the way, these are the kinds of things I can make happen.

“So this man came to me and offered me millions to fulfill his dream of detonating an atomic bomb. After the initial shock, I politely sent the man away.’

Another crazy request came in the form of arranging a mermaid for the nine-year-old granddaughter of a wealthy American client.

On this occasion, Riccardo was able to fulfill the client’s wish after researching the world of professional mermaids.

The ‘mermaid show’ came about during a luxury yacht trip he put together in Europe and was inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey.

Riccardo managed to smuggle a professional mermaid aboard the ship, so that when the youngster took a submarine trip with her mother off the island of Capri in Italy, the performer took a deep dive and left her spectators ‘wowed’.

The stunt, including the rental of the submarine, cost $350,000, while the total trip earned the unnamed family $2.5 million.

Ricardo says he’s inundated with requests from deep-pocketed travelers around the world, but he’s selective about who he takes on as clients because there’s one thing money can’t buy: good manners.

He recalls an instance where he ended up referring a “very complicated couple” to other agencies because the billionaire’s husband didn’t seem very courteous.

Most of Riccardo’s clients travel the world on private jets, either self-owned or chartered by trip

The travel professional prides itself on offering unique experiences, such as private museum tours

He explained: ‘My complaint about the client was his attitude. He showed his true colors while I was planning an experience to gain access to a beautiful private castle in Italy.

‘I had arranged for the couple to have lunch with the castle owner, who is actually a prince from one of the oldest families in Italy.

‘But when my client saw the schedule, he asked to exchange lunch for sandwiches in the helicopter because he was reluctant to pay for the prince’s lunch.

“That kind of billionaire doesn’t suit me, so I referred him to other agencies so he could have a normal journey.”

Riccardo says that his clients generally placed their trust in him to devise unique and extraordinary trips.

He says he often gets “clues” about certain desires, but “just like a fashion designer creating a haute couture dress or an artist, my imagination takes over and I create something with that original concept as a basis.”

“My clients are happy to give us a creative blank check because they know our team has the expertise, know-how and imagination that they don’t,” Riccardo told DailyMail.com.

One of Riccardo’s proudest moments was gaining access to “one of the most famous museums in Europe” so that his client could participate in the restoration of a mummy.

Recalling the extraordinary experience, he said: ‘My client was so overwhelmed that his hands were shaking with excitement and disbelief that he was actually doing it.

‘What I am most proud of is conveying these kinds of emotions and memories that will last a lifetime. I don’t think there is a price for that.

‘When I let the child spot a mermaid from the submarine, that was also very special.

‘There had been people saying for years that her mermaids weren’t real, but then she saw one and managed to get a photo on her phone. She couldn’t sleep for almost two days because she was so happy and excited.”

Because Ricardo’s clients require non-disclosure agreements, he says he cannot reveal the exact details behind each trip

Riccardo’s favorite luxury hotels include Claridge’s in London and The Carlyle in New York

So, how do you become a luxury travel agent?

Well, for Riccardo, his entry into the world of yachts, helicopters, mermaids and more happened completely by accident.

He started out as a classical musician, composer and conductor by training, and one day Airbnb contacted him and asked if he could create a classical music concert.

Recalling the series of events, he said, “I received the request and decided to do it. It simply involved a group of tourists going to a classical concert with a conductor to learn more about music. I ended up hosting a wonderful older couple from Boston, passionate about opera, and we became friends.

‘They were incredibly kind to me, so to thank them I took them on a backstage tour of the opera house because all I had to do was call a friend and open the door.

‘They loved it so much that they started bragging about it in the US, and their friends started contacting me.

‘In no time I was impressing every new wealthy traveler with my imagination and attention to detail and the requests started pouring in.

‘My ambition was to make each journey even more incredible than the last. In an effort to turn some of my crazy, impractical ideas into reality, I had to recruit a team of experts and from there my business grew.

“I now consider myself a travel alchemist, able to turn dreams into reality, and I pride myself on choosing my clients carefully.”

Looking to the future of travel, Riccardo – whose favorite luxury hotels now include Claridge’s in London and The Carlyle in New York – says people will “continue to shift their focus to experiences rather than looking for our regular flight and hotel packages.”

He concludes: ‘Overtourism is becoming a real problem for many destinations and this also applies to the luxury market.

‘That’s why I believe we should move more towards meaningful travel.

‘The good news is that you don’t necessarily need a lot of money to have meaningful experiences. It just requires taking the time to research and look beyond the obvious.

“So instead of following Google’s recommendations or quizzing ChatGPT, look further and discover countless wonders that 90 percent of people ‘neglect’ because they don’t even know they exist.”