Here’s How Tour Operators Are Transforming Travel

I recently read some research revealing most people go on holiday because – brace yourselves – they want to relax. I know, I know. It’s not exactly discovering the laws of quantum physics, but it did get me thinking. Of course, we all want to relax on holiday but what is it that makes us relax? What are the ingredients that make a holiday, well, a holiday? There are the non-negotiables: quality time with friends and family; good food; great activities. But what takes a good holiday and lifts it up to the kind of experience you still talk about years later?

That’s exactly what tour operators are figuring out: how to make our travels count for more and stay in our minds for longer. Take the traditional group tour. Once upon a time, that meant traipsing after a guy toting a flag with about a hundred other tourists, climbing onto stuffy coaches and staying in vast, soulless hotels. Not exactly one to stick in the metaphorical photo album. Thankfully, group tours have changed dramatically – and I’ve spotlighted how below.

Our top pick is Intrepid Travel, the small-group adventure travel experts operating in more than 100 countries with 35 years of experience under their belts. With a B Corp certification proving their dedication to creating a positive impact, guests can expect to journey alongside like-minded adventurers, guided by a locally-based leader, getting under the skin of a place beyond the everyday sights. Think mochi making in the backyard of your homestay in Japan, learning Bollywood dance moves on a Rajasthan rooftop or visiting the home of Zineb in Morocco for dinner. Find out more and start planning your adventure at intrepidtravel.com

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How Tour Operators Are Transforming Travel

Intrepid’s new Greenland Expedition brings small groups into the heart of the country. (© Greenland.com)

Smaller Groups

‘Our group sizes usually range from eight to 10 people, and our tour leaders are local, which means you really get under the skin of a destination,# says Zina Bencheikh, managing director EMEA at Intrepid Travel. You can stay in locally owned accommodation, travel on public transport and eat with local families in their homes.’ Added bonus: insider guides mean you often get to visit sites before day-trippers arrive, while smaller groups mean travelling to places that coaches can’t get to. ‘Like staying in a family-run guesthouse in the White Mountains of Crete,’ says Bencheikh, ‘Or at an eco-farm in northern Albania.’

This amounts to the cherry on top: having a more positive impact on communities by supporting small businesses, spreading the benefits of tourism and allowing our money to go further on the ground, rather than being syphoned off by global conglomerates. A good case in point is Intrepid’s new Greenland Expedition, which inverts the ‘traditional’ Greenland trip by cruise ship – where visitors spend little time on land and money stays with the cruise company – instead bringing travellers on land and right into the heart of the country. Costing from £4,817 a person for ten days, the trip includes guided hikes to Inuit communities, visits to fishing towns to learn the centuries-old tradition of bone carving and small-boat trips, hearing stories of legendary monsters from local storytellers.

Discover a new route to Machu Picchu developed by Intrepid Travel with the local community in the high Andes

Exclusive Experiences

Another trip that might stay in the mind long after returning home comes from the high Andes. Last year, Intrepid’s Peru operations manager Maritza Chacacanta worked closely with a local community to develop a new section of the Quarry Trail, previously unseen by travellers. The four-day hike still culminates at Machu Picchu but offers an alternative to the Inca Trail, beginning with a 15-minute climb to Qory Sonq’o hill, where adventurers can take in views of three valleys (Soqma Perolniyoc, Pachar and Huarocondo) and discover skeletal remains and original tomb structures dating back hundreds of years – tombs not seen by any travellers until Intrepid developed this section of the trail. ‘Together with the Socma community, we reforested the area with more than 1,000 plants and ensured the site was ready for visitors,’ says Chacacanta. ‘We pay a small entrance fee, with proceeds reinvested in protecting the site and creating jobs for the community, and we held a traditional ceremony to honour the opening of the trail and seeking permission from Mother Earth and the mountains, reaffirming the spiritual connection we share with this land.’ The Inca Trail Express costs from £796 a person for seven days.

Visit ancient Cambodian temples on Original Travel’s summer sabbatical. (Cristapper/Shutterstock)

Multi-Destination Trips

Original Travel, long a trailblazer of adventure family holidays, has added the concept of summer sabbaticals to its trips. ‘Family holidays are a chance to switch off and connect,’ says co-founder Tom Barber, ‘and summer sabbaticals are a fantastic evolution of that.’ Work drudgery will certainly be far from your mind on Original Travel’s month-long trip around Vietnam and Cambodia, from £6,305 a person, beginning in Hanoi, Mai Chau and UNESCO-protected Trang An. In Cambodia, there’s time to visit the temples before heading to the coast for some beach time in Kep. ‘You can slow the pace, while really getting to know a destination,’ says Barber.

Flight-Free Options

Slowing the pace is very much the USP of Byway, which specialises in flight-free trips. A new focus for 2025 is encouraging ‘in-season’ travel, so rather than fleeing winter for hotter climes, you stay closer to home and embrace the season you’re in, reducing your carbon footprint while you’re at it. ‘Travellers are becoming more thoughtful about how, why and when they travel,’ says Cat Jones, Byway’s CEO and founder. ‘People are increasingly embracing the season we’re in, appreciating the beauty of the changing weather and nature. This helps them see new sides of familiar spots, visit places without the crowds and support local economies outside key tourist months.’

Rather than escape northern Europe’s erratic spring, for example, you can revel in its changing moods and colours, and hop by Eurostar to the Netherlands. From there, head south to the town of Lisse, famous as the world’s largest tulip fields, with more than seven million bulbs that burst into extravagant colour, perfect for bike rides or walks. Five days cost from £483 a person, including train transport and accommodation.

Go beyond the Big Five at the Greystoke Mahale camp

Authentic Safaris

Even safaris are stepping up, moving away from ticking off the big five and instead spending longer on the ground and getting to know a more authentic side of Africa. ‘Showcasing the real Africa has evolved and, I believe, improved,’ says Alice Gully, owner and managing director of Aardvark Safaris. ‘It’s no longer about an old colonial perspective, but instead about local people who truly know and love the land.’

Guests, she says, no longer want to sit passively in 4x4s and view game, but instead want to interact with their destination. One of her top tips for escaping the more traditional, cookie-cutter safaris is to head to Tanzania’s far western parks of Katavi and Mahale, combining Nomad Tanzania’s Chada Katavi and Greystoke Mahale camps. Eight nights costs from £9,000 per person, including internal flights and accommodation, and there are elephants, buffalo and hippos galore, as well as Lake Tanganyika’s forest chimpanzees. That’s one for the family album.