In the Press

Fahy Travel has been appointed as an official agent for the Travel Department’s exciting programme of tours. As an appointed agent, the company can now assist you in booking your next adventure — whether it’s a solo trip, a city break, or a worldwide holiday.

Of the travel companies that land in the sweet spot where solo travel and sociability combine, the Travel Department does it better than most, as I discovered on a trip to Portugal last October.

We're in Madeira with The Travel Department, which allows you a mix of your own free time alongside guided tours. It's the perfect combination.

As product director at Travel Department, which specialises in guided holidays worldwide, Claire Doherty sees the demand from this demographic first-hand. “It’s not necessarily that they tell us what the money is, so much as we get a lot of people who are of retirement age suddenly taking holidays because they have both the money and the time,” she says. Though Travel Department offers a full a range of European destinations, there is a marked spike in long-haul bookings among this age group, she adds.

Claire Doherty of Travel Department and TD Active Holidays was bursting with tips and gave us plenty of brilliant reasons why booking with a travel agent is still a good idea in 2025.

Winners in the Sustainability initiative awards category at the Irish Travel Industry Awards

There’s a misconception that solo travel means you want to channel Greta Garbo and be totally alone. In Ireland, the demand for Travel Department’s solo-friendly holidays has doubled since 2019, says Claire Doherty, Product Director.

I’m accompanied by my curious adult children, Mark and Nicole, who jumped at the opportunity to join mum on a comfortable fully-guided-tour with Travel Department.

For one week in early October I became the ultimate passenger princess when I jumped on an Aer Lingus flight to Munich before being ferried to the river boat which would be my home for the week. Not only was the mode of travel taken care of but so was pretty much everything else – thanks to Irish tour company the Travel Department.

River cruises may attract mainly older travellers, but I can’t recommend one highly enough to those in their 30s, 40s and above. Let’s face it, life is busy and we could all do with taking a pause on the river, indulging in great food, fantastic service and a day trip somewhere new with each morning. Who doesn’t love a spot of luxury and beautiful scenery?

Although India is cheap to get around and everyone speaks English, the expertise of following an itinerary with a professional guide makes great value for time and money. We had only scratched the surface, but what a cornucopia of ­delights the Golden Triangle revealed.

We are en route to Šibenik, a city about an hour south of Biograd no Moru, as part of a week-long tour with the Travel Department exploring Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast; three days of guided tours to nearby cities and islands, balanced with three days of leisure to soak up the sun, sea and explore as we please.

You don’t need to study the Classics to be wowed by the treasures of ancient Greece with the Travel Department.

A new venture into the Northern Ireland holiday market for Travel Department has been a success says Stephen Mills, the UK General Manager for the travel business that specialises in guided group holidays, escorted tours and active and adventure holidays.

The striking medieval city of Bruges offers a contrastive experience to the much-visited southern cities of Europe. 

James Coughlan will take over from Sara Zimmerman as CEO of Travel Department, Ireland’s leading guided group holiday company and will join the company in March.

Claire Doherty is product and operations director with Travel Department, which offers guided group holidays. The company has a detailed and transparent sustainability policy, although Doherty notes this journey only began three years ago “and there is much more we can do”.

Egypt is a hugely popular destination for Travel Department’s customers, who see the pyramids as one of the ultimate bucket list experiences.

We went at the end of November on a group tour with Travel Department and it was the perfect time to visit.

Before we went there with Travel Department, I knew very little about Slovenia except that it was part of the former Yugoslavia (it was one of the first to declare independence 32 years ago). Yes, I had heard it was a beautiful country and was fast becoming a popular holiday destination.

Our holiday, which included flights, transfers, hotel accommodation and excursions, was organised through Travel Department in Dublin and our group of just over 20 lovely people.

The Travel Department’s chaperone, Sean Crean, was also invaluable in keeping the group informed of what was going on, where we were due to meet and depart. He was well informed and available at any time of day or night if anything was required. 

If you have not been to Berlin, put it on your list. GG and I had a wonderful three days there in March with Travel Department. We left a wet and damp Ireland behind for a cold, but sunny German capital.

We will not forget our Danube Cruise for our 40th Anniversary with Travel Department. If you want a relaxing holiday with excellent food and drink, then this is the perfect break. If you want to visit different places with minimal effort, then this is the holiday for you.

“Inevitably, Italy remains the top spot for our customers, with so many different types of destinations and experiences, there is something for everyone – from culture and history and amazing food and wine to stunning landscapes and beaches.."

It is beautiful, too, and Travel Department is adept at giving you just enough guiding and non-obligatory excursions to let you feel you’ve got under the skin of a region. There is also plenty of relaxing time to do as much or as little as you choose.

Porto is the perfect city for a short break. We travelled with Travel Department in mid-May and it proved to be the perfect time to visit. I was delighted to accept Travel Department’s offer of a press trip. 

My plus one and I travelled with the Travel Department, an Irish-owned and operated guided group tour provider. “Is this your first trip with the Travel Department?” several of our group enquired. For many of our travel companions, this was not their first outing with the company. One couple had even met years before on another of the tours.

Europe’s most northerly capital should be on everyone’s bucket-list, for its uniquely epic landscapes.

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 like using trusted, specialist holiday travel agents and have travelled in groups both large and small, with some incredible trips in recent years, including holidays in Vietnam and Cambodia, China and South Africa.

On first approaching the Bay of Naples, my mind'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.