Virgin Holidays
Encyclopedia
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
, headquartered in "The Office" in Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
. The company was formed in 1985, a year after the successful launch of Virgin Atlantic Airways
Virgin Atlantic Airways
Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited is a British airline owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Singapore Airlines...
in June 1984. Initially selling seats on Virgin Atlantic routes to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Miami and Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
the company has grown to become one of the largest and most successful long-haul scheduled tour operators in the UK.
Operations
The company offers holidays worldwide with destinations including the USA and Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, India, the Indian Ocean, the Far East, Australia and the South Pacific. In addition, the company has an established ski programme, “Virgin Snow”, a specialist cruise division, "Virgin Holidays Cruises" and "Worldwide Journeys" touring holidaysIn September 2008 Virgin Holidays launched a partnership with Herbert Ypma's HIP Hotels to create Virgin Holidays + HIP Hotels, a bespoke tour operator providing holidays to luxury and boutique hotels around the world.
On 18 December 2008 Virgin Holidays acquired the assets and brand name of Travel City Direct
Travel City Direct
Travel City Direct is a brand owned by Virgin Holidays. It was previously the trading name of the Really Great Holiday Company PLC, a British holiday company based in Crawley , specialising in holidays to the United States...
from XL Leisure Group
XL Leisure Group
The XL Leisure Group was a major tour operating company in the UK, consisting of charter and scheduled airlines, holiday companies and flight-only tour operators. It also has operations in France, Germany, Ireland, Australia and Cyprus...
, which collapsed in September 2008. Travel City Direct has been relaunched offering holidays to Florida, Las Vegas and the Caribbean.
Nearly a year later, on 15 December 2009, Virgin Holidays announced that it had bought the small independent tour operator, Bales Worldwide.
Virgin Holidays has its own network of stores throughout the UK and plan to open in excess of 100 sites by the end of 2011. They are located in selected Tesco, Debenhams and House of Fraser stores.
Awards
Virgin Holidays was voted Best Long Haul Operator at the TTG Awards 2010 and won 13 awards at the British Travel Awards 2010, including Best Package Holiday Company Long Haul, as voted by customers. It was recognised as a Consumer Superbrand in 2011, voted one of the UK's strongest brands by experts and consumers.v-room
There are now v-room airport lounges at Gatwick and Manchester Airports. They're exlcusively for the use of Virgin Holidays customers and the first ever aiport loungues dedicated to people going on holiday.Environmental research
On 21 September 2006, Richard BransonRichard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
announced that all profits the Virgin Group receives from Virgin Holidays will be ploughed into research and investment to develop sustainable sources of energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
. He also committed the profits from Virgin Atlantic Airways
Virgin Atlantic Airways
Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited is a British airline owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Singapore Airlines...
and Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...
, which in total is estimated to be $3bn over the next 10 years. At the time he said, “Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents, it is in our hands whether our children and their children inherit the same world.”