Turner Travel

What Turner Travel does

Turner Travel is a privately held, traditional full-service travel agency founded in 1971 and headquartered at 614 Hawkins Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia. The company employs a staff of five travel consultants plus minimal support personnel, with consultants averaging more than 27 years of experience. Its service portfolio spans nearly all travel forms — corporate, domestic and international air, rail, rental cars, and hotels — with specializations in ocean cruises, river cruises, guided tours, Disney vacations, packaged vacations, and custom itineraries worldwide. The agency operates a hybrid consumer/B2B model: individual travelers and families in the Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, and greater Shenandoah Valley region make up the primary leisure segment, while corporate clients ranging from solo operators to larger firms with traveling sales, technical, and service agents form a secondary segment.

The business operates on a traditional commission-based revenue model, acting as an intermediary between customers and travel suppliers such as Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Avalon Waterways, Viking River Cruises, Tauck, Globus, Micato Safaris, Apple Vacations, and Vacation Express. The agency does not own proprietary booking technology and does not offer online self-service booking; all reservations are handled via direct consultant contact by phone, email, or in-person office visits. Distribution leverage comes from consortium and rate-program memberships — TravelSavers for special offers and the THOR Worldwide Negotiated Hotel Rates Program providing access to 45,000+ properties at negotiated rates — plus local marketing channels including Facebook, regional newspaper advertising, and a co-branded Disney page.

The go-to-market is relationship-led and consultant-centric: Turner Travel explicitly designs its service model around personal relationships with individual consultants and does not disclose pricing publicly, instead providing quote-based quotes through direct consultation. Marketing reach is regional and channels are predominantly local (newspapers, community Chamber membership) and organic (Facebook, co-branded Disney content), with the TravelSavers consortium serving as a referral and specials platform. There is no disclosed funding, no parent company, no acquisitions, no app, no API, and no disclosed revenue figure; the company appears to operate as a cash-generative lifestyle small business sustained by repeat clientele and consultant expertise accumulated over five decades.

Name

Turner Travel

Legal name

TURNER TRAVEL

Website

https://turnertravel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Turner Travel is a privately held, full-service travel agency founded in 1971 in Harrisonburg, Virginia, operating with five consultants and serving both individual travelers and corporate clients across the Shenandoah Valley with specialties in cruises, tours, Disney, and packaged vacations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Agency Services

NAICS

Travel Agencies (561510)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Cruise Retail Travel Agencies (THAKABAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Adventure & Expedition Travel Agencies (THAKAFAB), River Cruise Booking & Distribution (Direct/Agents/OTAs) (THAEACAF), Escorted Coach & Bus Package Tour Operators (THAKADAA)

Keywords

• Travel agency services
• Cruise booking services
• Vacation planning
• Corporate travel management
• Disney vacation specialist

Headquarters

HQ city

Harrisonburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Travel Agency Commissions: Traditional travel agency earning commissions on booked travel services including cruises, tours, hotels, airlines, rental cars, rail tickets, and packaged vacations. The agency acts as an intermediary between customers and travel suppliers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Turner Travel is a full-service traditional travel agency providing personalized booking and planning services across cruise, tour, river cruise, Disney, packaged vacation, safari, and corporate travel categories. The agency acts as an intermediary between customers and travel suppliers, earning commissions on booked services while leveraging consultant expertise and access to negotiated hotel rates through the THOR program.

Product overview

Turner Travel is a full-service traditional travel agency offering a comprehensive portfolio of travel planning and booking services. The core offering is its full-service travel agency (core product), supplemented by specialized service offerings covering ocean cruises, tours, river cruises, Disney vacations, packaged vacations, corporate travel, group travel, and safaris. The company also provides access to the THOR hotel rate program and the Travelsavers.com consortium for special offers, along with travel advisory resources. Turner Travel operates as a single unified service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture, with a staff of five travel consultants averaging more than twenty-seven years of experience serving clients in the Harrisonburg, VA area and the greater Shenandoah Valley since 1971.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ocean Cruises

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.

• TravelSaverscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerNational consortium partnership providing Turner Travel clients access to special travel offers, promotions, and deals. The TravelSavers.com site is maintained by the national consortium and offers email and mail signup for specials. Turner Travel is affiliated with this network to provide clients with exclusive offers.
• THOR Worldwide Hotel Rates ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTurner Travel is a member of THOR Worldwide Negotiated Hotel Rates Program, recognized by over 13,000 hoteliers. THOR offers the largest number of properties at deeply discounted rates with value-added services and client amenities. Turner Travel must make reservations to obtain negotiated rates.
• International Airlines Travel Agent NetworkminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAffiliation with International Airlines Travel Agent Network providing access to airline booking systems and commissions.
• Harrisonburg-Rockingham County Chamber of CommerceminorOthersMember of the local Chamber of Commerce, indicating community involvement and local business presence.
• Disney (Disney Travel Center)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-branded Disney page providing access to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, Adventures by Disney, and Aulani resort bookings. Turner Travel has a certified Disney specialist (Angela Christian, College of Disney Knowledge graduate) arranging Disney vacations since 1971.
• Holland America LinemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreferred cruise line supplier for ocean cruise bookings.
• Princess Cruises & ToursmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreferred cruise line supplier for ocean cruise bookings.
• Avalon WaterwaysmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreferred supplier for river cruise bookings.
• Viking River CruisesmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreferred supplier for river cruise bookings.
• Tauck World DiscoverymajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreferred tour operator supplier for guided tours worldwide.
• Globus & CosmosmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreferred tour operator supplier for guided tours worldwide.
• Micato SafarismajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreferred supplier for African safari packages. Offers 12-19 day safaris to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Turner Travel staff have personal experience with Micato safaris.
• Apple VacationsmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary partner for packaged vacations, offering deals out of Baltimore, Washington D.C., and many other gateways.
• Vacation ExpressminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSupplier for packaged vacation deals.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• AAA (American Automobile Association): AAA's travel agency division operates the same traditional, relationship-based, full-service retail travel agency model — booking cruises, tours, hotels, and packaged vacations through agent relationships. Highly comparable in service mix and target customer (mainstream U.S. leisure travelers).
• American Express Travel: Operates a full-service traditional travel agency with personal travel consultants, cruise/tour specialization, and corporate travel services. Comparable to Turner Travel in service mix (cruises, tours, luxury itineraries) and consultant-led model, though at much greater scale.
• Liberty Travel: Brick-and-mortar traditional U.S. travel agency retail chain selling cruises, tours, and packaged vacations through in-store and phone-based consultants. Closely comparable business model to Turner Travel's sales-led, relationship-based GTM.
• Protravel International: Full-service travel agency specializing in luxury and customized travel including cruises, tours, and safaris. Highly comparable in consultant expertise emphasis and supplier-relationship-driven negotiated access, though focused on the premium end of the market.
• Frosch International Travel: Traditional travel management company combining leisure and corporate travel with consultant-led service and strong cruise/tour supplier relationships. Comparable to Turner Travel's hybrid B2C/B2B model and cruise-tour specialization.
• Travel Leaders Network: Network of traditional travel agencies offering cruise, tour, and packaged vacation services through affiliated consultants — comparable to Turner Travel's individual agency model and consortium-style supplier access (similar role to TravelSavers).
• Valerie Wilson Travel: Long-established (since 1981) full-service traditional travel agency specializing in customized leisure and corporate travel, with deep cruise and luxury expertise. Closely comparable to Turner Travel in tenure, consultant-led model, and cruise-tour product mix.

Broad incumbents

• Expedia Group: Online travel agency conglomerate operating Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. Represents the structural competitive threat to Turner Travel's traditional model — competes on the same supplier inventory (cruises via Expedia Cruises, hotels, tours) but via self-serve digital channels.
• Booking Holdings: Parent of Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak, and OpenTable. The dominant broad-incumbent OTA that competes for the same travel bookings Turner Travel arranges — cruises, hotels, packages — through self-serve online channels.

Emerging players

• Adventures by Disney: Disney's own guided-tour brand directly overlaps with Turner Travel's Disney-specialist offering. Represents an emerging channel-disrupting competitor in the Disney-vacation niche where Turner's College of Disney Knowledge credential has historically been a differentiator.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Turner-Travel-Service/167710169911661
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/turner-travel-service

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

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 Turner Travel