In the Press

Group holiday specialist Travel Department welcomed its first customers back to Italy this week on its Lake Como, Milan and St Moritz tour including the Bernina Express.

You may be more familiar with Travel Department for their escorted trips to far-flung spots, but they’ll also bring you to some Irish gems, where you’ll find yourself in a happy group of explorers, with everything taken care of.

One way of feeling super secure about foreign travel is to take an escorted tour to glamorous spots in the south of France. And that’s where The Travel Department comes in.

Travel Department chief executive Sara Zimmerman said bookings for 2022 have shattered all expectations – but summer 2021 bookings hinge on holidaymakers knowing precisely what the Government plans.

Irish owned and operated Travel Department, which is celebrating 25 years as leaders in guided holidays, have some fantastic Homegrown Irish holidays available to book now.

Sara Zimmerman, CEO of Travel Department said: “It’s so important to have something to look forward to while we are in lockdown, and for many people that means a well-deserved holiday. We have been encouraged by the demand not only for late 2021 holidays but also for our 2022 range over the last few weeks..

Travel Department is celebrating 25 years of designing holidays for the curious in 2021 and has already seen positive travel trends for this year among its customers.

Confidence in travel is returning in the over-60s age group primarily due to the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme, according to a recent survey of Travel Department customers.

Claire Doherty is the product director at the Travel Department, which specialises in guided holidays all over the world, and while she is not brimful of misplaced optimism about the year ahead, she is at least hopeful that as the year goes on there will be more people travelling to and from Ireland.

Travel Department chief executive Sarah Zimmerman said her holiday firm was, like others, adapting to a changing market. "Our survey shows an optimism and confidence in returning to travel which is really reassuring," she said.

I was standing at a fresh 2,300 meters and surrounded by blacked lava fields with Spain's highest peak towering overhead. This Martian-like landscape couldn’t have been more different to the sprawling holiday resorts that I’d expected to find in Tenerife.

The rise in solo travellers and growing numbers of females now holidaying alone has prompted the launch and recent expansion of options for solo traveller tours by Travel Department. 

It is harder to get off the beaten track when relying solely on travel agencies, although some agencies such as the Travel Department and Trailfinders can actually make it easier to do this. 

We travelled with Travel Department and stayed in the 3-star Hotel Roma. It is conveniently situated about two minutes walk from the Metro which brings you into the centre in less than ten minutes...our guide Margaret gave us some of the history and showed us the main sights, was excellent.

Long strips of quayside restaurants, with no cars driving by as you wine and dine, are fairly rare in a capital city. But open markets and quays full of locals and tourists in 'relax' mode...this is the essence of Ljubljana.

I had been to Tenerife some years before when the weather had been beautiful, and I spent most of the long hot days basking beside the pool, or making the occasional trip to a nearby bodega to sample some of the local brew. This time, I was determined to explore more of the island.

When I was invited by Travel Department to go on a press trip to Salamanca in north-western Spain, I jumped at the chance. In the past, GG and I have travelled to South Africa, Beijing and several European cities with the online agency and have always been delighted with its service.

The Danube is remarkable. Rising in the Black Forest mountains of western Germany, it joins the waters of the Black Sea, after winding its way through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine

“We are backing a market leading business led by an experienced team with a very strong understanding of the market and their customers, and with significant ambitions for the future,” said Neil McGowan, Investment Director, MML.

Emmett Neeson, director at AIB specialised finance, said: “AIB is delighted to partner with MML on another transaction and support Sara and the Travel Department team. “We look forward to working with the management team to further support the business over the coming years”.

Headquartered in Dublin, Travel Department is one of Ireland’s biggest tour operators for guided group holidays, organising tours to more than 100 destinations around the world. It was founded in 1996 and recorded revenue of €40m last year. 

We admit we are a little lazy about our holidays and like the feeling that someone is looking after us. Others like booking their own flights, planning their own itineraries and finding their own accommodation. We like using trusted, specialist holiday travel agents.

On first approaching the Bay of Naples, my minds's eye conjures up the sirens beckoning Ulysses and his sailors to their downfall against the rugged cliffs that hug the Sorrento peninsula.  

The true advantage of booking a guided holiday is the fact that once you book it you are off the hook when it comes to planning. Once you arrive to your destination, your guide becomes your personal holiday concierge of sorts. 

According to new data, Irish people are becoming more adventurous, with a 22% increase in long-haul travel and solo travel. Some of 2018’s most popular destinations included China, India, South Africa and Vietnam.