Damar Travel & Cruise

What Damar Travel & Cruise does

Damar Travel & Cruise is a privately held full-service travel agency founded more than 20 years ago by David and Marsha Schuman, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri with a second office in Alton, Illinois. The firm employs 50+ travel and group incentive specialists and serves a dual market: individual leisure travelers requiring assisted booking and complex itineraries, and corporate/incentive clients including Fortune 500 companies running group and employee recognition programs. A coast-to-coast network of travel representatives — reachable via toll-free lines — extends the firm's reach well beyond its two physical offices.

The company segments its offering through dedicated sub-brands: BlindTravel.com targets blind and visually impaired travelers, DamarHoneymoons.com targets the honeymoon segment, and Damar Travel Incentives addresses corporate and group incentive programs. The supplier portfolio spans major cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, NCL, Celebrity, Cunard, Azamara, Princess, Seabourn, Crystal), resort brands (Sandals, Apple Vacations), and escorted tour operators (Globus). The firm has integrated co-branded online booking engines with Globus and Apple Vacations, which sit alongside rather than replace its human-advisory channel. Management reports an 82% repeat client rate, situating the firm as a relationship-driven rather than transactional intermediary.

Damar's revenue model is commission-based, with supplier commissions on cruise, resort, and tour bookings as the primary income stream, supplemented by service fees on custom itineraries and corporate/group incentive engagements. The company is closely held, with no disclosed external funding, no PE/VC backing, and no public indicators of advanced technology or AI/ML tooling beyond supplier-provided booking platforms. The dated public-facing content suggests limited recent reinvestment in digital or technology capabilities, which is a relevant factor for forward-looking valuation.

Name

Damar Travel & Cruise

Legal name

Damar Travel & Cruise

Website

https://damartravel.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Damar Travel & Cruise is a privately held, 50+ specialist full-service travel agency headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, serving individual leisure travelers and Fortune 500 corporate/incentive clients across the U.S. via cruise, resort, and tour bookings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Agency Services

NAICS

Tour Operators (561520)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400)

akta.pro primary industry

Cruise Travel Agencies & Specialist Cruise Consultants (THAEAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

River Cruise Booking & Distribution (Direct/Agents/OTAs) (THAEACAF), Cruise & Land Tour (Cruisetour) Package Operators (THAKADAO), Luxury Expedition Cruise Specialists (Sales & Distribution) (THAEABAJ)

Keywords

• Cruise travel agency
• All-inclusive resort booking
• Honeymoon and wedding planning
• Accessible travel services
• Corporate incentive travel

Headquarters

HQ city

Alton, Illinois

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Travel Agency Commissions: Damar earns commissions from cruise lines and resort partners on bookings made through their agency
2. Service Fees: Expert travel planning and booking services, with agents providing personalized consultation and support
3. Group & Corporate Travel: Arranged travel and cruises for Fortune 500 groups and incentive travel programs

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Damar Travel & Cruise is a full-service travel agency that sells cruise vacations, all-inclusive resort packages, escorted tours, honeymoons and destination weddings, accessible travel for visually impaired clients, and corporate/incentive group travel. Sales are delivered through expert in-house travel consultants backed by partnerships with major cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Celebrity, Cunard, Azamara, Princess), all-inclusive resort brands (Sandals, Apple Vacations), and tour operators (Globus). The agency combines personalized consultation with co-branded online booking engines and dedicated niche websites.

Product overview

Damar Travel & Cruise is a full-service travel agency (not a SaaS platform) offering a portfolio of travel products and services organized around cruises, all-inclusive resorts, luxury travel, and specialty niches. The core offering consists of cruise bookings through a curated network of partner cruise lines — Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Cunard, Azamara, and Princess — and tour operators including Globus and Apple Vacations, each with dedicated partner pages and co-branded online booking tools. Damar extends its portfolio through two specialized sub-brands: Blindtravel.com (for visually impaired travelers) and DamarHoneymoons.com (for honeymoons and destination weddings). The company also offers corporate/incentive group travel via Damar Travel Incentives. Together these products form a service-driven portfolio rather than a unified software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Royal Caribbean Cruises Royal Caribbean International cruise vacations booked through Damar, offering the full fleet with itineraries to Alaska, Canada/New England, Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii, South America, South Pacific, and Transatlantic destinations, with access to exclusive pricing, special promotions, and Gold Anchor Service.
• Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) Cruises Norwegian Cruise Line Freestyle Cruising booked through Damar, featuring NCL's fleet with no fixed dining times, flexible schedules, casual atmosphere, and downloadable brochures covering Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Bermuda, South America, and the Caribbean.
• Celebrity Cruises Elegant cruising with Celebrity Cruises booked through Damar, featuring Solstice-class ships, interactive virtual tours, superior design, exceptional cuisine, and itineraries across Europe and major cruise destinations.
• Cunard Line Cruises Iconic ocean liner travel with Cunard booked through Damar, including the Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Victoria, offering classic ocean travel traditions with modern style and luxury ocean travel.
• Azamara Cruises

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Apple VacationscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDamar partnered with Apple Vacations to give clients ability to build and book all-inclusive vacations online. Clients receive special pricing and Damar's expert service with every booking.
• Globus Family of BrandscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-branded booking engine with Globus allowing clients to research destinations, access special pricing, and book escorted and cruise vacations online through Damar.
• Royal Caribbean InternationalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDamar is an authorized partner offering Royal Caribbean's full fleet with access to exclusive pricing, special promotions, and Gold Anchor Service.
• Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFreestyle Cruising partner offering NCL's youngest fleet with no fixed dining times, flexible schedules, and casual atmosphere.
• Celebrity CruisescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner offering Celebrity's elegant cruising experience with Solstice-class ships, superior design, and exceptional cuisine.
• Azamara CruisesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIntimate cruise line partner offering smaller ships, unique ports, butler service, and immersive experiences to destinations like Antarctica and South America.
• CunardminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner representing the most famous ocean liners in the world, offering classic ocean travel traditions with modern style aboard Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Victoria.
• Sandals ResortsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSponsorship partnership offering Suite Deals and 60% savings at Sandals all-inclusive resorts.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• SmartFlyer: Advisor-led travel agency focused on luxury and experiential travel including cruises and honeymoons; directly comparable to Damar's luxury and personal-service positioning.
• Direct Line Cruises: Cruise-focused travel agency with multi-line inventory across premium and contemporary brands, comparable to Damar's authorized-partner model with cruise lines.
• Dream Vacations (formerly CruiseOne): Home-based and brick-and-mortar cruise travel advisor franchise that sells the same major cruise-line inventory as Damar and competes for the same consumer and group bookings.
• CruisesOnly: Cruise-specialist online travel agency offering multi-line cruise inventory with volume-based pricing; overlaps with Damar's core product set and target customer.
• Expedia CruiseShipCenters: Franchise-based retail cruise travel agency network operating in the same cruise-booking channel as Damar, with multi-line cruise supplier relationships and an in-person consultative sales motion.

Broad incumbents

• American Express Travel: Large, established consumer and corporate travel services provider offering cruises, tours, and luxury travel through both advisors and online channels; competes for the same premium and corporate/incentive travelers Damar serves.
• Apple Vacations (Apple Leisure Group): Major all-inclusive vacation and charter provider that is both a Damar supplier and a competitor in the consumer all-inclusive and package booking space, with significantly larger scale.
• Travel Leaders: National retail travel agency network with deep cruise, luxury, and corporate travel capabilities, materially larger scale than Damar and directly comparable business model.
• Liberty Travel: Long-running U.S. retail travel agency chain selling cruises, all-inclusive packages, and tours through storefronts and digital channels; targets the same leisure consumer.

Emerging players

• Fora Travel: Newer upscale travel advisor platform with a modern digital stack and training ecosystem; competes for the same high-touch leisure traveler while investing in technology Damar does not own.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/damar-travel-&-cruise

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries3 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 Damar Travel & Cruise