The Travel Corporation is a private hotel group and travel company based in

Cypress, California Cypress is a city in northwestern Orange County within Southern California. Its population was 50,151 at the 2020 census. History The first people living in the area now known as Cypress were the Gabrieleno, a Native American tribe of the Ton ...

, United States. Its brands include Trafalgar, Contiki, Insight, Cullinan, Uniworld River Cruises, Red Carnation Hotels, and others, along with Bouchard Finlayson Vineyards. Collectively, TTC’s portfolio operates in over 70 countries worldwide, carrying over 2 million travellers in 2019. In 2020 TTC celebrated its 100th anniversary. Internationally, TTC has become one of the largest, family owned and run business in the world. The company is wholly owned by members of the Tollman family, four generations of which are actively involved with the business. The company traces its history to a small hotel outside

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, in the early 1900s. In 2008 TTC’s not-for-profit foundation was founded, today known as the TreadRight Foundation, for international project activation (as of 2021 donating over US$2.5 million to sustainable tourism projects worldwide), and traveller inspiration to ‘make travel matter’.

Brands

The company owns the following tour operators, as of 2022: *

AAT Kings AAT Kings is an Australian and New Zealand coach tour operator offering both short and long distance tours. History AAT Kings history can be traced back to the 1920s when the Pyke family began a car hire business in Sydney. In the 1930s the ...

** Aussie Adventure ** Inspiring Journeys * Adventure World Travel * African Travel * Brendan Vacations *

Contiki Tours Contiki is a New Zealand tour company that caters to 18- to 35-year-olds. It operates tours in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Africa, Middle East and Asia. It is a subsidiary of The Travel Corporation. Its tours h ...

* Down Under Tours * Evan Evans Tours * Grand European Travel * HAGGiS Adventures ** Highland Explorer Tours ** Shamrocker Adventures * Insight Vacations ** Luxury Gold * Lion World Travel * Siva Travel Services Greece * Trafalgar Tours ** Costsaver * Travel Corporation Asia *

Uniworld Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection is located in Los Angeles, California and the company operates a fleet of 21 river cruising cruise ships along the rivers of Europe, Russia, Egypt, South America, and China. Uniworld also has operational ...

– operates

river cruise A river cruise is a voyage along inland waterways, often stopping at multiple ports along the way. Since cities and towns often grew up around rivers, river cruise ships frequently dock in the center of cities and towns. Descriptions River da ...

s across Europe, Asia and the Middle East on a number of rivers including the Rhine, Main, Danube, and the Seine. The company also owns Red Carnation Hotels, a luxury hotel group with hotels in the United Kingdom,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the United States,

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. In August 2015,

Ashford Castle Ashford Castle is a medieval and Victorian castle that has been expanded over the centuries and turned into a five star luxury hotel near Cong on the Mayo-Galway border, on the Galway side of Lough Corrib in Ireland. It is a member of the Le ...

in Ireland was voted the world's best hotel by Virtuoso Travel Week, and third best world hotel in July 2015 by ''Travel + Leisure'' magazine in the U.S. The company also owns and operates transportation services in various locations. Transportation brands include AAT Kings and Atlas Reizen (based in

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

). Other holdings include the Old Town amusement park in Florida and Bouchard Finlayson Winery in South Africa. The company's philosophy is to keep the brands separate with their own identity, serving their own niche markets, rather than trying to merge them all and ending up with one brand without a distinct identity.

Investments

The company is the largest shareholder of Cullinan Holdings Ltd, one of South Africa's oldest public companies, which owns household travel brands such as Thompsons Africa, Thompsons Holidays, Thompsons Touring & Safari, Springbok Atlas Tours and Safaris, Hylton Ross Tours, Planet Africa, Gateway Tours, and Pentravel, as well as marine businesses Manex and Central Boating.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Travel Corporation Companies based in Orange County, California Companies established in 1920 Cypress, California Travel and holiday companies of the United States