Anniversary
Open the door to a world of insider experiences with Trafalgar.
1947-2012
Enjoy meeting colourful local characters
The Story of Trafalgar From its humble beginnings in 1947 to today, Trafalgar upholds its reputation as a world leader in guided holidays. The keystone brand of The Travel Corporation, Trafalgar makes unique travel experiences accessible to everyone, providing local expertise and knowledge not offered by any other operator. Trafalgar passionately believes in the power of travel to broaden the mind and build bridges between people and cultures. Today it offers hassle-free holidays to Europe, Great Britain, USA, Canada, Central and South America, South Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. During its 65-year history, Trafalgar has delivered unforgettable experiences to over two million travellers. Whether bonding with locals over an authentic Italian dinner in Tuscany, enjoying an evening of Old West hospitality in America’s beautiful Montana countryside, or marvelling at the magnificence of Machu Picchu – each moment is carefully designed for a guest’s ultimate enjoyment. It’s the exclusive relationships formed with families, skilled artisans and expert guides in local regions around the world, together with Trafalgar’s knowledgeable Travel Directors, that bring every destination that Trafalgar visits to life.
Innovation over the decades 1947-2012 As holiday styles and consumer needs have transformed over the last 65 years, so too has Trafalgar...
1940s Like many of the most successful business ventures, Trafalgar started almost by coincidence and for the first 12 years of its existence was known as Industrial Recreational Services. Initially founded by William Nunn and Robert Appleby, in its early days Trafalgar was positioned as ‘the busy man’s service’, providing personal service and luxurious Continental Europe coach travel. In 1949, Industrial Recreational Services began promoting show trips to the famous London Palladium headlining the renowned American comedian, Harpo Marx of the Marx Brothers. This year also marked a relocation of the company’s headquarters to 139 Grand Buildings in Trafalgar Square – the landmark which would later provide the inspiration for the company’s new and highly recognised name.
One of the first Trafalgar travel brochures
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40s
1950s The 1950s saw many ‘first’ moments in history. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to climb Mount Everest and Russia’s Sputnik 1 was the first ever spacecraft to launch into space. For Industrial Recreational Services, this decade also proved a crucial turning point and for the first time people began to look further abroad for their holidays. In 1957, founders Nunn and Appleby sold some of their shares to the Overseas Visitors Club (a popular meeting point for young overseas visitors in London) and the Mosenthal, a South African conglomerate. The strong links between South Africa and Trafalgar can be traced back to these early days. In the summer of 1958 Industrial Recreational Services commenced operating its European coach tours, starting with the 21-day itinerary ‘The Young Commonwealth Special’. All tours during this time were called ‘Special’ and some of the most popular tours were those that travelled to the major European capitals. In 1959, Industrial Recreational Services changed its name to Trafalgar Travel and this marked the beginning of the expansion era.
50s
1960s With the advent of increased access to travel, the sixties saw Trafalgar begin to expand, with new selling markets, new destinations and transportation methods. This decade also saw the Tollman family take over the Trafalgar business. With strong links to South Africa, Trafalgar opened its first international offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town in 1961. Always an innovator, in 1962 Trafalgar found itself in new waters (literally!) when it hired a 1600 passenger ship for a 14-day voyage from Cape Town to Southampton. Trafalgar also benefited from the chartering of ships from Australia to Greece by providing onward coach transport from Athens to London. This expansion suddenly saw a whole new market of visitors for Trafalgar, with a mix of ages and nationalities now truly experiencing the product. Just as Martin Luther King delivered his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech in 1963, Trafalgar too pushed on with its dreams of expansion and introduced tours in Russia. Despite the many challenges faced during the height of the Cold War, the 20-day ‘Moscow Special’ prevailed. The 60s also saw a greater demand for longer European tours of over a month covering more countries. Today, itineraries last on average from 7 to 14 days and many travellers opt to discover a specific region or country in depth. In the 60s Trafalgar already offered value like no other. As a leader in the market, its massive negotiating power enabled it to secure rates through suppliers at an incredible price.
Early Trafalgar travel marketing
60s
1970s The travel industry witnessed significant changes after the first Boeing 747 Jet landed in London in 1970, heralding a new era in international travel.
The face of Trafalgar Tours in the 70s
Trafalgar envisioned the positive impact this would have on its ability to provide guided holidays to a global market, and grew its international presence. The number of European itineraries grew to over 20 in the 70s. This included a range of multi-country itineraries and for the first time region-specific itineraries in destinations such as Britain, Spain, Greece, France, Switzerland and Eastern Europe stretching anywhere from 7 to 34 days in length. In this decade Trafalgar introduced budget tours to its growing product range. New offices also opened in New York, California and New Zealand, while the Australian office in Sydney, which was previously run through a general sales agency, also opened.
70s
Trafalgar is your key to travelling like an insider.
Local Guides share their vast knowledge with you
1947-2012
1980s After the success of its operations in Europe, Trafalgar began to look further afield and continued to expand its global presence in the 80s, which resulted in increasingly more travellers experiencing the product. Just as Torvil & Dean achieved Olympic gold with their memorable Ravel’s Bolero routine in 1984, it too was a winning year for Trafalgar, enjoying a record season of bookings. With the deregulation of air travel, it became cheaper and larger numbers of people went abroad for their holidays. The late 80s saw the first of much advancement for Trafalgar in the area of information technology, which propelled improvements and efficiencies in business operations and offered travel agents an easier method for booking holidays. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was a defining moment in history and paved the way for more opportunities in guided travel for Trafalgar.
80s
1990s Coach holidays in the 90s represented a larger crosssection of travellers, with the average age much younger than the misconception that escorted tours were designed only for the elderly. As Trafalgar continued to expand its range of products, so too did its team of Travel Directors with 350 professionals leading the way – an impressive degree of growth compared to just 35 Travel Directors in the 70s. 1997 marked an epic milestone for Trafalgar, celebrating its 50th anniversary. This followed with the much anticipated launch of two exciting new programs in the United States and Canada, and South Africa. The world also witnessed huge technological developments in the 90s. Trafalgar adapted to such changes with the launch of its very first website which provided a new way for travellers and travel agents to engage with the brand.
The changing face of Trafalgar destinations
90s
2000s In the early 2000s Trafalgar led the way by testing the waters and mixing up the traditional guided holiday market with new and exciting ways to travel. In the early 2000s it added new destinations to the company’s American product range, including Hawaii, South and Central America as well as Asia. With its finger on the pulse, in 2009 Trafalgar identified how the guided holiday industry provided the perfect holiday choice for families. Thus, the ‘Family Experiences’ program was born, offering families tailored itineraries especially designed for family travel throughout Britain, Europe and North America (later expanding to Central and South America). After listening carefully to the needs of its guests, Trafalgar altered the original ‘all inclusive’ format of its guided holidays and provided travellers with more free time to explore on their own. Trafalgar also realised guests were looking to delve deeper inside the destinations they were visiting, and the transformation of its product continued. One of the most ground-breaking innovations to come out of this process was Trafalgar’s revolutionary ‘At Leisure’ program, which provides more free time and relaxed pace itineraries while still offering the insider experiences of guided travel. Initially focused on Europe, At Leisure holidays now span the world. The late 2000s also saw Trafalgar test a concept that would take guided holidays to a whole new level – Be My Guest dining experiences. Truly immersing travellers in the local culture, these unique experiences allow guests to savour authentic dishes of regional cuisine with local hosts at family-run properties, working farms and other private venues. The very first Be My Guest experiences were launched in 2009 on selected itineraries in France, Italy, Portugal Be My Chef David St Guest exper erling host and Morocco, and now extend across sa ience in Me rida, M exico every continent.
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Trafalgar today Tours are yesterday’s product. Today’s Trafalgar guided holidays are unique local experiences. You meet local people and share experiences that you would not have travelling on your own. Trafalgar demonstrates its knowledge and expertise in by offering its guests authentic experiences such as Be My Guest dining, Hidden Treasures, Local Specialities, Unique Insights, Local Experts and the services of professional Travel Directors in destinations across the globe. Today, in addition to coach travel, a guided holiday with Trafalgar incorporates many different modes of transport, each utilised to enhance the sightseeing experience in a particular destination. These include rail travel through picturesque France, a ferry ride in the idyllic Greek Islands or The Canadian train journey, which takes full advantage of this country’s breathtaking scenery.
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Guests receive a true insider’s view of each destination they visit through the expert guidance and local knowledge of Trafalgar’s highly experienced Travel Directors. They gain deeper insights with Local Guides, who will often accompany them at various locations throughout their journey, sharing stories and knowledge of their hometown and local traditions. Trafalgar takes care of everything – from negotiating the best hotels to checking guests in and skipping the queues to all the must-see sights. Everything is packaged together to ensure guests receive unbeatable value in both the time and money saved. Traveling with Trafalgar is a fun-filled hassle-free holiday.
Learn the art of wine blending with a wine maker, like Peter at Ravenswood Winery, Sonoma, California
Vision for the future
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Building upon its foundations as the insider, Trafalgar continues to strive to set the benchmark as a market leader in the guided holiday sector. Numerous industry awards won by the company over the years attest to the high standards it continually strives to exceed, including Best Tour Operator 10 years running in Canada’s Agent Choice Awards, and more recently Best Tour Operator Europe at the Travel Age West Awards in the USA.
In response to the changing travel needs of its customers, Trafalgar is committed to further developing and enhancing its product range and unique, local experiences, with a particular focus on providing even greater value for every guest on every day of their holiday. Embracing new social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, the Trafalgar Blog and online Community Forums represents part of that commitment by engaging in an ongoing conversation with its guests and other travel enthusiasts every day. Trafalgar recognises that contributing to the growth of international travel comes with a responsibility to preserve the wellbeing of the planet we all live on. The company is therefore strongly committed to minimising the environmental impact of its operations globally and protecting the people and places it visits for future generations to enjoy. As a founding partner in The Travel Corporation’s Conservation Foundation, Trafalgar continues to fund projects that help underprivileged communities and support sustainable tourism worldwide, visit www.travelcorporation.com/foundation With Gavin Tollman at the helm as CEO, the Tollman family continues to play an integral role in shaping the future of Trafalgar. Still a family-owned company, it is committed to exceeding customer satisfaction and rewarding ongoing loyalty. Trafalgar’s global expertise and innovative approach to guided holidays will see the company continue to forge ahead, leading the way and delivering holiday experiences unlike any other travel operator in the world.
Valley
See the world from the inside.
1947-2012
www.trafalgar.com Even more ways to keep in touch: facebook.com/TrafalgarTravel
@TrafalgarTalk
TrafalgarBlog.com
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