What Travel Department does

Travel Department is a privately-held UK tour operator (Company Number 05948197, registered at 78 York Street, London W1H 1DP) with a parallel Dublin headquarters at Harmony Court, specialising in fully escorted and guided group holidays. Its catalogue covers more than 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia–Pacific, with departures from Belfast, Edinburgh, London, Glasgow, and Dublin serving a primarily UK and Irish customer base. The product mix is segmented by trip type — city breaks, cultural tours, river cruises, small-group, solo (no single-supplement), tailormade groups (10+), Over 50s, sun holidays, and adventure via the TD active Holidays sub-brand — packaged end-to-end with flights, accommodation, transfers, and local guides. The company generates revenue through one-time holiday purchases with deposits at booking and balances due typically 10 weeks before departure, supplemented by amendment/change fees (rising from £35 to £50–£75 per person from 1 January 2026), travel insurance arrangements, gift vouchers, and a B2B travel-agent portal under ABTA membership.

Its distribution is omnichannel and direct-to-consumer-leaning: the traveldepartment.co.uk booking engine, telephone sales (028 9099 7691 / 020 7099 9665), email, brochure requests, and dedicated traveldepartment.ie and tdactiveholidays.com brand sites. Marketing is largely content-led via the Travel Tales blog, country travel guides, podcasts, and an earned-media loop through Trustpilot (4.8/5 across 5,000+ reviews) plus a customer photo-sharing campaign (#TravelDepartmentTogether). Financial protection is delivered through ATOL licence 9373 (Civil Aviation Authority) for air-inclusive packages and Total Payment Protection (topp) cover via Travel & General Insurance Services for non-flight packages, with AITO specialist-travel and ABTA trade-association memberships providing industry standing. The company is recognised by three consecutive British Travel Awards (2022, 2023, 2024) for Best Escorted Group Tours.

Underlying technology is conventional web-booking, brochure, and contact-centre infrastructure; no proprietary platform, API, AI/ML capability, or software stack is disclosed in the available data. Headcount is stated at 51–100 employees, consistent with a small-to-mid-sized specialist operator, and there are no disclosed funding rounds, acquisitions, investor relationships, or revenue figures, leaving capital structure and ownership opaque beyond the single private limited company designation.

Name

Travel Department

Legal name

Travel Department

Website

https://traveldepartment.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Travel Department is a privately-held UK and Ireland tour operator selling fully escorted, guided group holidays across more than 40 countries, with multiple product lines including city breaks, river cruises, solo travel, Over 50s tours, and adventure holidays via its TD active Holidays sub-brand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tour Operator Services

NAICS

Tour Operators (561520), Travel Agencies (561510), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation (487)

akta.pro primary industry

Escorted Coach & Bus Package Tour Operators (THAKADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Group & Small-Group Custom Itinerary Planning (THAKAOAF), Leisure & Generalist Retail Travel Agencies (THAKABAA), Package Tour Wholesalers (Pre-Packaged FIT/Group Programs) (THAKAJAC)

Keywords

• Guided group tours
• Escorted holidays
• Package tour operator
• River cruise holidays
• Solo travel holidays

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Package Holidays: Comprehensive escorted tour packages that include flights, accommodation, transfers, and guided tours. Customers pay deposits at booking and full balance typically 10 weeks before departure.
2. Tour-Only Packages: Tour and cruise-only holidays excluding return flights to destination, where the customer's own travel arrangements to the start point are made separately.
3. River Cruises: River cruise holiday packages with accommodation and guided excursions included.
4. TD active Holidays: Adventure holidays brand offering walking, yoga, photography, and small group Explore tours with expert local guides.
5. Solo Travel: Specialized solo holiday packages for individual travellers without single supplements.
6. Travel Insurance: Travel insurance products offered as add-on to bookings, processed through third-party insurers.
7. Tailored Groups: Group bookings for 10+ people with tailored itineraries and group rates.
8. Amendment and Change Fees: Fees charged for booking amendments: £35 per person (up to Dec 31, 2025), £50 per person for holidays 7 nights or less (from Jan 1, 2026), £75 per person for holidays 8 nights or more (from Jan 1, 2026).
9. Gift Vouchers: Gift voucher products available for purchase.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Travel Department is a specialist direct-to-consumer tour operator that sells fully escorted and guided group holidays — including flights, accommodation, airport transfers, and locally guided tours — to more than 100 destinations across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East & Africa, and Asia & Australia. Holidays are sold as package bookings through the company's own website, telephone sales, and a dedicated travel-agent portal, with a deposit at booking and balance due 10 weeks before departure. The line-up spans short city breaks, worldwide long-haul tours, river cruises, solo holidays without single-supplement fees, small-group tours, and tailored group departures for 10+ people.

Product overview

Travel Department is a tour operator offering award-winning escorted and guided group holidays. The core product is the Travel Department guided tour programme featuring fully escorted holidays across Europe, Americas, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia. A secondary brand, TD active Holidays, provides adventure-focused travel including walking, yoga, photography, and small group Explore tours. The company also operates a B2B Travel Agent Portal. Supporting services include a travel blog, destination guides, brochure requests, gift vouchers, booking management, and travel podcasts. Holidays range from short city breaks (3-4 nights) to long-haul multi-week tours (10-16 nights), with variants including Solo Travel, River Cruises, Small Group Tours, Tailored Groups, and Brand New Holidays for 2026/2027.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TD active Holidays: A collection of adventure holidays featuring walking, yoga, photography tours, Explore range of small group tours, and Camino holidays.

Products and services

• Travel Department Guided & Escorted Tours Fully escorted and guided group tours that bundle flights, accommodation, transfers, and local expert guides into one package, sold across more than 100 destinations in Europe, The Americas, Middle East & Africa, and Asia & Australia. Awarded British Travel Awards Best Escorted Group Tours in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
• Solo Travel Holidays Guided solo holidays designed for individual travellers, with packages that do not charge a single-occupancy supplement. Available across the same destination portfolio as the main escorted tours.
• City Breaks Short-break guided holidays in European and worldwide cities, combining guided sightseeing with leisure time, sold on a per-person basis with flights, accommodation and transfers included.
• Worldwide Tours Long-haul escorted group tours across The Americas, Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East, typically of 10–16 nights, with flights, accommodation, transfers, and guided excursions included.
• River Cruises River-cruise holiday packages with on-board accommodation and guided shore excursions along major European waterways such as the Danube and Rhine.
• Small Group Tours Escorted tours with reduced group sizes for a more intimate travel experience, including the unique small-group Explore range under TD active Holidays.
• Tailored Groups Customised guided group tours with group-only rates for parties of 10 or more people, including tailored itineraries.
• Brand New Holidays (2026 and 2027 departures) Newly introduced escorted tour itineraries with departure dates across 2026 and 2027, marketed under a dedicated 'Brand New Holidays' section of the website.
• Over 50s Holidays Guided group tours paced and routed for mature travellers aged 50 and above, combining guided sightseeing with leisure time.
• Tailormade Trips Customised itineraries for groups and individuals that do not fit a standard catalogue tour, built around the customer's preferred destinations and travel dates.
• TD active Holidays Sub-brand of Travel Department selling adventure-focused holidays — walking tours, yoga retreats, photography tours, Camino holidays, and small-group Explore tours — with flights, accommodation, transfers, and expert local guides arranged.
• Walking Holidays Active guided walking holidays with expert walking leaders, sold under the TD active Holidays brand.
• Yoga Holidays Yoga retreats and wellness holidays led by yoga instructors, sold under the TD active Holidays brand.
• Photography Holidays Photography-focused guided tours led by photography experts, sold under the TD active Holidays brand.
• Camino Holiday Guided walking tours along the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, sold under the TD active Holidays brand.
• Travel Insurance Optional travel insurance add-on sold alongside holiday bookings, arranged through third-party insurers including Travel & General Insurance Services Limited.
• Travel Department Gift Voucher Gift voucher redeemable against Travel Department holiday bookings, available for purchase directly from the company.
• Travel Agent Portal Dedicated B2B login portal enabling travel agents to make bookings, manage client reservations, and access trade pricing on Travel Department package holidays.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4.8 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot based on over 5,000 reviews

Named customers1 record

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL)coreOthersATOL (Air Travel Organisers Licence) number 9373 from the Civil Aviation Authority provides financial protection for air-inclusive holidays. In the unlikely event of insolvency, the CAA ensures customers are not left stranded abroad and arranges refunds for advance bookings.
• Travel & General Insurance Services Limited (t&g)coreOthersInsurance policy arranged with Travel & General Insurance Services Limited to protect customer prepayments for non-flight packages sold to UK customers under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018. Underwritten by Accelerant Insurance Europe SA UK Branch.
• AITO (The Specialist Travel Association)minorOthersMember of AITO, The Specialist Travel Association, indicating specialist expertise in escorted and guided tours.
• ABTAminorOthersTravel agent login portal indicates ABTA membership for trade partnerships.
• TD active HolidayscoreOthersRelated brand offering adventure holidays including walking, yoga, photography, and small group Explore tours. Operates from tdactiveholidays.com with same booking systems and cookie domains as Travel Department.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cosmos Tours: Globus family brand offering escorted and independent tours worldwide. Directly comparable in escorted tour product and pricing tiers, though with primary focus on the US source market.
• Audley Travel: UK tailormade and escorted tour operator with country specialists designing bespoke trips. Comparable to Travel Department's Tailored Groups and Worldwide Tours offerings, with similar premium positioning for older, experienced travellers.
• Saga: UK travel and financial services provider specializing in holidays for the Over 50s, with escorted tours, river cruises, and tailor-made trips. Comparable in target demographic and escorted tour category, though broader product portfolio.
• Explore Worldwide: UK small-group adventure tour operator covering walking, wildlife, cultural, and discovery tours. Highly comparable to the TD active Holidays sub-brand in adventure, walking, and small-group tour product positioning.
• Travelsphere: UK escorted holidays specialist focused on the Over 50s demographic with worldwide guided tours. Closely comparable to Travel Department in customer persona, escorted tour product, and reliance on UK departures.
• Newmarket Holidays: UK escorted tour operator offering guided holidays, river cruises, and short breaks. Comparable to Travel Department in escorted tours product, UK/Ireland source market, and Over 50s customer focus.
• Riviera Travel: UK-based escorted tour operator offering guided group holidays, river cruises, and tailor-made trips across Europe and worldwide. Most directly comparable to Travel Department given similar product mix, target demographic, and award-winning positioning in the escorted tours category.

Broad incumbents

• Jet2Holidays: Major UK package holiday operator with own airline, offering city breaks and sun holidays. Competes with Travel Department in the UK package holiday space but with vertical airline integration and broader mass-market positioning.
• TUI UK: Largest UK tour operator offering package holidays, escorted tours, cruises, and city breaks. Competes in overlapping escorted tours and city breaks segments but at significantly greater scale and brand reach.

Regional players

• Contiki: Tour operator specializing in trips for 18–35 year olds across Europe, Americas, and Asia. Relevant adjacent peer given the youth travel and small-group tour overlap with TD active Holidays' Explore range, though serving a different demographic and core geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/TravelDept
• Facebookfacebook.com/TravelDepartment
• LinkedInie.linkedin.com/company/travel-department
• Instagraminstagram.com/travel_department

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Travel Department