About the Group
The Albatross Group – A Short History
1985 – 1995
Albatross Tours was started in 1985 in a small office in West Hampstead, North London by Sally & Manfred Thelen, although they soon decided to move out to the beautiful county of Kent in 1986, firstly in central Maidstone and then to the riverside village of Aylesford.
Selling wholesale accommodation packages to continental Europe to a small number of coach operators in the UK, Sally & Manfred were soon joined by their friends Erich Silbermayr and Trish Condon who launched Albatross Incoming Tours in 1987 to cater for the domestic needs of UK coach operators, whilst also looking after inbound groups from the USA and Germany.
These first few years in the life of Albatross were a rollercoaster ride that included the high of handling all of the ground arrangements in the UK for Michael Jackson’s infamous 1988 ‘Bad Tour’ to their largest client going bust, owing them tens of thousands of pounds in only their second year of trading!
Despite the occasional setback, their own tenacity, expertise and ambition combined with that of their growing team saw Albatross Tours win its first industry award as Wholesaler of the Year in 1994, as sales for both companies grew to just under £5m by the end of their first decade in business together.
1995 – 2008
From 1995 onwards, the business grew rapidly as Albatross established a new venture in Australia, eventually partnering with Euan Landsborough in Brisbane to develop a business that would use the buying power of the UK companies to form the foundations for what would become Albatross Tours, a successful escorted tour operator to Europe.
In 1997, Albatross Tours and Albatross Incoming Tours merged to form The Albatross Travel Group in order to better serve both its UK and overseas coach operator customers. This move was quickly followed in 1999 by the acquisition of Success Tours in Trowbridge near Bath and later the purchase of Leisure Breaks in 2007, which was to become Albatross London and was eventually merged with Albatross Travel.
Between 1995 and 2008 the companies won a whole host of awards, including Albatross Travel being voted Tour Wholesaler of the Year in multiple years with Success Tours also being voted Group Tour Operator of the Year on two occasions. Albatross was also recognised as the Mid-Kent Business of the Year in 1998 and the company also became an Investor in People and made it onto the Sunday Times Top 100 Small Companies to Work For in three consecutive years.
2008 – 2016
In 2008 and 2012, the business was sold to a new management team via a management buyout, although the original owners, Sally and Manfred, remained non-executive directors until 2012.
The Group continued to grow and win industry awards and during this period, Albatross became a much more active member of its local communities through the foundation of a charity fund in memory of Claire Foster, who died tragically young of P.O.E.M.S disease, raising money for charities and good causes throughout the UK and sponsorship of a young British Olympic hopeful.
During 2012, Albatross Travel Group was rebranded as Albatross Travel and this year also saw the birth of brand-new business, Scenic & Continental Car Tours Ltd., established to create and deliver an exciting a range of holidays for the driving enthusiast.
In 2013 the Group acquired London Hotels & Travel Services (LHTS) which was subsequently merged into Albatross Travel, thus providing UK coach operators with a one-stop shop for wholesale accommodation packages throughout the UK, Ireland and continental Europe. Albatross Travel was again voted Wholesaler of the Year in 2013.
During 2014 the growth in Albatross Tours in Australia saw them to move into new and larger offices in Brisbane and Success Tours was once again voted Tour Operator of the year at the Group Leisure Awards.
In 2015 Albatross Tours Australia were nominated in the National Travel Industry Awards, Albatross Travel were again voted Wholesaler of the Year at the Coach Tourism Awards and Success Tours were once more voted Tour Operator of the year.
2016 –
Until the world came to a standstill in 2020, the Albatross Group enjoyed a period of steady growth as the companies established themselves as leading brands in their markets.
The global pandemic, as it was for so many travel companies, resulted in the darkest days in the history of Albatross, requiring the business to take dramatic measure to ensure survival. But survive the business did and as the world returned to some sort of normal, Albatross began the long process of revival.
In 2022, Albatross bought Backwater Classic Car Tours. Founded by Paul and Linda Trill in 2010 as an outlet for their extensive experience of car touring in their Jaguar. The original ethos remains today, namely taking you to quiet backwaters, scenic routes and lesser-known drives and destinations. Backwater Classic Car Tours, now a trading name of Albatross Motoring Limited, is the perfect complement to Scenic Car Tours.
Most recently, the Group launched two new brands Magari Tours, focused on holidays for the discerning traveller looking to explore the “real” Italy and Success Retreats offering some of the best locations for the perfect Yoga, Pilates and wellness vacations in the UK and overseas.
Today. The Albatross Group has combined annual sales of over £30m, across six brands. It has a purpose focused on treating everyone (customers, clients, suppliers and our people) who travels with us like an individual we genuinely care about and clear ambition to build a sustainable business and make Albatross a great place to be.