Newmarket Holidays, part of The Newmarket Group, is a British tour operator based in Wallington, Greater London, providing escorted holidays, resort-based stays and event-based tours to destinations throughout the UK, in Europe and to worldwide destinations. The group employs 180 staff at its Surrey head office.
Toni Frei and Jeremy Griffin founded Newmarket Promotions Limited, the parent company of Newmarket Holidays, and incorporated the business on 22 March 1983. [1] [2] Managing Director Simon Hibbs joined them in 1984, and together, the three are shareholders of the group. [3] Frei initially worked in publishing, including Haymarket Publishing, while Griffin worked for pioneering hotel group Grand Metropolitan Hotels. Hibbs, a graduate of St Catharine's College, Cambridge University, qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Price Waterhouse (now PWC) and began his career with the firm before joining Newmarket as Chief Executive.
Newmarket Holidays, incorporated in 1988 [4] [5] is a wholly owned subsidiary of the parent company. Both companies are members of ABTA, the Association of British Travel Agents, [6] and Newmarket Air Holidays holds a Civil Aviation Authority Air Travel Organisers' Licence. [7] [8]
Newmarket's first few years of trading focused on providing reader travel arrangements to UK newspaper publishers. Client newspapers included regional titles, a large number of local newspapers and national newspapers.
Early coach travel-inclusive holidays offered by Newmarket Holidays included London, Paris and Amsterdam, to which a range of UK breaks, including the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and longer duration European trips, including Switzerland, Austria and France, were added.
The incorporation of Newmarket Air Holidays enabled the Group to offer air-travel-inclusive arrangements, with Malta an early destination for the group.
The opening of Disneyland Paris (formerly Eurodisney) in 1992 was significant for the Newmarket Group, as the company established itself as a UK tour operating partner of the resort, [9] receiving the Leisure Group Operator of the Year award in 1999, and the relationship led to the establishment of Newmarket's Study Experiences division, which holds curriculum-led educational seminars and conferences at Disneyland Paris each year.
Newmarket Holidays has continued to expand its offerings to travelers, adding new destinations and new flights on a regular basis. In the summer of 2011, the company added two new destinations via direct flights leaving from Cardiff Airport. These charter flights go directly to Naples and Verona, and packages include options to visit seven cities in seven days or to explore just one location over the course of a full week. [10] 2010 also saw Newmarket Holidays launching a new catalogue of Festive Season trips and escorted holidays by air to a number of new European and global locations. [11] In June 2013, following the closure of Manston Airport, Newmarket Holidays began operating a number of direct charter flights to Italy from Lydd London Ashford Airport. [12] [13] [14]
The company celebrated its 30th year in business in 2013. As part of the celebration, they unveiled a new brand identity, including a new logo and slogan, "Crafted with Care". [15] The tour operator has also expanded its operations, and served nearly 230,000 customers in 2013. [16]
In 2014, Newmarket Holidays began a technology transformation process, which has included partnering with cloud-based telephony provider Syntec. [17]
In May 2015, the company moved from McMillan House, in Worcester Park, to Cantium House in Wallington.
Newmarket Holidays still focuses on providing reader travel arrangements for newspaper publishers. Clients include national publishers News Corp UK & Ireland Limited – particularly their publications the Sun and the Times – the Daily Mail, [18] Daily Telegraph, The Guardian [19] and Mirror Group, several regional newspaper groups, including Trinity Mirror Regionals plc, Newsquest Media Group, Local World, Archant Limited, Tindle Newspapers Limited, DC Thomson & Co Ltd, The KM Group, The Express and Star and The Irish News, as well as independent titles.
In addition, Newmarket Holidays has established trading partnerships with retail travel agencies, and is a key member of the Truly Independent Professional Travel Organisation (TIPTO), [20] with the company's Agency Sales Manager serving as a member of TIPTO's executive team since September 2014. [21] The company's Air Holidays aspect has grown to encompass chartered holidays from regional airports across the UK, including Durham [22] and Cambridge. [23]
In addition to its range of coach- and air-inclusive holidays, which feature destinations throughout Europe and worldwide, Newmarket Holidays is a provider of travel- and accommodation-inclusive arrangements to events such as the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships, [24] the annual opening to the public of Buckingham Palace, and to concerts by veteran British pop-star Cliff Richard, [25] Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell and Dutch violinist André Rieu. [26] It is also the operator of Remembrance Travel packages on behalf of the Royal British Legion. [27]
First Choice Airways Limited was a British charter airline of European tour operator TUI Travel plc, based in Crawley, England until its merger with Thomsonfly to form Thomson Airways in 2008. It flew to more than 60 destinations worldwide from 14 UK and Irish airports. 70% of the airline's services were operated for its parent company, rising to 85% in the summer season, with the remainder on behalf of some 120 other tour operators. It also operated scheduled year-round leisure routes to Cyprus and the resorts of Spain and Portugal.
Monarch Airlines, simply known as Monarch, was a British charter and scheduled airline founded by Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock and financed by the Swiss Sergio Mantegazza family. The company later became a low-cost airline in 2004 before abandoning charter flying completely. The airline's headquarters were based at London–Luton, and it had operating bases at Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, London–Gatwick and Manchester.
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ABTA Ltd, operating as ABTA – The Travel Association and formerly known as the Association of British Travel Agents, is a trade association for tour operators and travel agents in the United Kingdom.
Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) is a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) scheme to give financial protection to people who have purchased package holidays and flights from a member tour operator.
The XL Leisure Group (XLLG) was a major tour operating company in the UK, consisting of charter and scheduled airlines, holiday companies and flight-only tour operators. It also had operations in France, Germany, Ireland, Australia and Cyprus. The group's UK companies were placed into administration on 12 September 2008.
Dubai National Air Travel Agency is an Emirati airport services provider which provides aircraft ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services across five continents.
TUI Airways Limited is the British arm of the TUI Airline group, which is owned and operated by the TUI Group. They offer scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
CV Villas is a London-based travel agency for villas in Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Turkey, Morocco, Florida, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean. Today, it is a specialist tour operator, selling villa holidays including flights, car hire and experiences directly to clients and through independent travel agents. The company has over 800 lodgings in the world.
The Co-operative Travel is a travel agency brand used by some independent retail co-operatives in the United Kingdom, such as Midcounties Co-operative, through their access to The Co-operative brand. Between 2011 and 2016, the brand was also used by TCCT Retail Limited, a travel agency run as a joint venture between the Thomas Cook Group, The Co-operative Group, and Central England Co-operative.
Clarksons Travel Group was a pioneering package tour operator in the UK during the 1960s and early 1970s. Its founder, in 1959 as Clarksons Tours, a subsidiary of the long-established City firm of H. Clarkson shipbrokers, was Tom Gullick, a former flag lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
Goldtrail was a UK-based tour operator that specialised in operated flights and holidays to Turkey and Greece. It was run by Abdulkadir Aydin, the sole director, based in Surrey, England.
JetXtra.com was a virtual airline that offered air charters between the United Kingdom and Spain using aircraft from other airlines. It operated from 2012 to 2017.
STA Travel was a Travel Supplier supplying travel products and service to the general public through their 200 retail travel agency stores located globally. It was owned by Diethelm Keller Holding (DKH), with headquarters in Zurich and London. It had almost 2,000 employees working in over 200 stores worldwide.
Cosmos is a UK independent tour operator providing a range of package holidays to the UK market. The tour operator is connected to the international Globus Travel Group, founded in 1928, which remains family owned with headquarters in Lugano, Switzerland. Under parent company Cosmos Tours Ltd, the tour operator offers holidays through two brands: Cosmos and Avalon Waterways.
Jet2holidays Limited is a British package holiday provider and tour operator. It was formed in 2007 as a subsidiary of Dart Group plc, and a sister to Jet2.com, the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK. As of 2023 Jet2holidays is the largest tour operator in the United Kingdom, by ATOL licenses in 2023.
Thomas Cook Tourism (UK) Company Limited, known as Thomas Cook UK, is a British package holiday provider which offers 'Flight + Hotel' packages and Hotel only bookings. The company was launched in 2019, when Chinese firm Fosun International purchased the brand from the insolvent Thomas Cook Group, and began trading in September 2020.
Leger Holidays is a coach tour operator based in Rotherham, England in the United Kingdom. It is part of the Leger Shearings Group, alongside Shearings, Battlefield Tours and Holts Tours. The company operates tours and holidays by coach, air or cruise to destinations in mainly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Continental Europe with some other international destinations. The company is reported to be the UK's largest escorted coach tours company.
