Clare Doherty
The Travel Department, a tour operator new to working with the Irish travel trade, is offering over 200 all-inclusive escorted tour itineraries worldwide, handling all logistics from flights to excursions. The company promotes its product as an easy sale for agents, assuming full operational responsibility and offering price protection. It highlighted strong customer loyalty, with 70pc repeat business and an average spend of €1,700 to €1,800 per person, including customers who have taken over 50 tours.
Clare Doherty of Travel Department told the annual conference of the Irish Travel Agents Association in Alcobaca in Portugal that the operator’s key differentiator is its customer base, which is 85pc Irish and characterised as sociable and repeat-booking. She noted the company’s recent sustainability certification and a Trustpilot score of 4.7 from 5,000 reviews. The operator also provides dedicated services for creating private group itineraries and offers solo traveller tours with no single supplements.
The product range extends beyond Europe to long-haul destinations like Colombia, Galapagos, and Asia, identified as the fastest-growing segment. Tours utilise independent hotels and local guides to provide authentic experiences, and river cruise products include a dedicated tour manager. The company’s client demographic is broadening, with a trend towards younger travellers, moving beyond a perception of an older clientele.
Doherty emphasised the commercial opportunity for agents, framing a sale as securing a long-term customer due to the high repeat rate. The operator’s business model ensures agents are not involved in operational servicing, as the company manages all customer care and problem resolution directly. A dedicated trade relationship manager, Brian Fulton, is assigned to support agency partners.
In conclusion, the presentation positioned Travel Department as a comprehensive, trade-friendly partner offering a diverse portfolio of escorted tours. The operator seeks to collaborate with agents to access its established customer base and utilise its flexible product development for groups, providing a streamlined, low-risk sales option with significant potential for repeat business.
Clare Doherty shared: “We do everything for the customers, it’s the easiest sell you’ll ever do. The flights, the inclusions, absolutely everything. You don’t have to worry about anything, and if something goes wrong, we’re the ones who look after it.”
“If you manage to get one of our customers on board, you then have a repeat customer… So it’s a nice lucrative customer to get in the door and keep in the door.”
“I’m just so grateful that we are working with the trade now. It’s really exciting for me and we really appreciate all of the support that we’ve had so far.”
