Tailor-Made Travel Search.com is intended for anyone who is looking for a holiday that is ‘different’, whether to an unusual or special destination, for a special occasion, or for irregular periods of stay or anyone who wants an itinerary or arrangements made for them at destinations that are not normally available.
Having travelled extensively for some 40 years, we have identified companies that can almost certainly help you, but who for a variety of reasons may not be widely known.
Included are tailor-made travel specialists and it is these companies that can probably offer you the best advice and also make the arrangements you need.
However, even tailor-made travel organisers can be split into different categories: from those who will tailor-make or design your holiday from scratch in their office from the minute you leave your home or office until you return, make hotel, villa, theatre and restaurant reservations throughout your travels and arrange itineraries that include places some of which you have never heard, to those who basically are offering more modest flexibility options such as departure dates and extended durations of existing brochure packages, plus private car transfers instead of ‘around the hotels’ coach transfers.
There are also some High Street agents who will offer to help you, but who will pass on your request to a tailor-made travel organiser they have come to know or with which they or their parent company has a ‘preferred partner’ arrangement. In other words, there are specialist tailor-made travel companies who will design your holiday in-house – and companies that will act as an intermediary or limit their assistance to making alterations to an existing package tour holiday by offering extra days, and private transfers, etc.
Nevertheless, High Street agents should not be ignored. Some have intimate knowledge of a resort for example and have the possible advantage of being close to your home or office. Neither should you overlook the growing number of ‘homeworkers’, most of whom belong to one of the groups attached to one or other of the national tour operators and who provide them back-office and other back-up support. They have experience gained working full-time in-house for, perhaps, several years, but for personal reasons have decided to reduce their in-house work and work from home.
There is one other category of tailor-made holiday organiser and this is an hotel company or hotel group that will offer you an arrangement centred around one or possibly two hotels, but seldom an itinerary covering a wider area apart from local excursions.
What we have tried to do is identify most of the travel companies that specialise in designing tailor-made travel arrangements that have been put together to meet the best available itineraries for you.
They will know the most suitable hotel, the best rooms, arrange extra facilities such as a swimming instructor for your children, make restaurant reservations and plan an itinerary for you that is not going to leave you exhausted. If your holiday is to involve flying… remember to check that your flights are included in the arrangements provided; some tailor-made arrangements now leave airline bookings to the client!
Remember, when you are discussing a tailor-made holiday – or even business trip if you feel you can combine the two – that biggest is not always best and that experience and knowledge of a destination is far more important than size.
Many of the specialist tailor-made companies are small and keep a very a low profile, some to the extent that they are ex Directory or do not have Web sites that have easily recognizable names. Others are just very small and marketing and branding does not figure as highly among their priorities as knowing the destination or destinations they serve – and getting to know their clients.
Always take time to prepare questions you should ask if discussing a tailor-made holiday and allow time for the travel organiser to check availability, etc. You should also ask them for how long they been sending clients there, have they stayed at this or that hotel, and so on.
It is worth your looking for membership of travel trade associations and client protection schemes, such as the following…
ABTA: Association of British Travel Agents
AITO: Association of Independent Tour Operators
ATOL: Air Tour Operators’ Licence (holder of)
IATA: International Air Transport Association (this is an airline organisation which checks out travel agencies to see if they meet the requirements of airlines to sell scheduled airline tickets).
ABTOT: Association of Bonded Travel Organisers’ Trust
TTA: Travel Trust Association
If you have any doubts, then check with the Civil Aviation Authority regarding an Air Travel Organisers’ Licence or ATOL. Membership of ABTA and the Travel Trust Association are also worth checking.
If you know a hotel you want to use, make sure the company can book you into that property and does not try to book you elsewhere. Listen to their advice, but make sure you are convinced by any arguments in favour of other options before you agree to change your mind. Sometimes an operator will offer you hotels that only appear in their main brochure or which is a preferred partner.
If you feel it is necessary, ask if they can visit you at home or at your office or if you can visit them at their office, but probably on an appointment only basis, before finalising arrangements.
