Expressions Holidays is a privately-owned company that was set up in 1989 by the two director-owners, Marcelle Hoff and Martin Garland. Beginning with a small range of personally-selected hotels throughout France, our purpose was to offer a personal service based on first-hand knowledge and professional advice to clients who appreciated this approach, far removed from a traditional, mass-market package holiday.
This tailor-made approach offering a personalised, quality service was much appreciated by our clients and we were soon asked to expand our range of holiday destinations. We expanded into Italy and to this day, have a highly-developed, in-depth programme of holidays to Italy.
Gradually we developed further-afield destinations, both in response to the wishes of our clients, many who were becoming faithful regulars each year, and in response to destinations that we researched and found to be a perfect fit for our type of specialist approach. So, in addition to France and Italy, we offered the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in particular, as well as other worldwide destinations. More recently launched was a dedicated programme to Spain, along the lines of our Italian and French holidays.
Whilst holidays to the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean tend to be luxury beach holidays, staying in one or two top-quality resorts, the holidays to the other destinations are most often a mixture of touring holidays (where we put together an itinerary of any number of nights and include the travel arrangements, which may be by train, fly-drive or accompanied by a driver-guide, depending on the destination), stay-put or single centre holidays and special interest holidays with a theme or flavour.
As well as our destination-specialist holidays another very important development has been the range of special interest, lifestyle and occasion holidays that we offer. These include our holidays for families, touring holidays, cookery holidays, spa holidays, garden tours and holidays by train.
Significantly, no two of our holidays have ever really been the same. This degree of personalisation was fundamental to the company ethos on the outset and remains at the core of our service today. Clients have an enormous amount of choice in terms of departure date, method of travel, duration and combination of hotels, regions and activities.
A few years ago, we created our strapline, ‘The Art of Intelligent Travel Organising’. It sums up brilliantly exactly what we do and how we look after the interests of our clients.
Our team
Our specialist travel advisors have experience of living and working in the destinations we offer. With this in-depth knowledge, we provide the best possible information and advice to clients during the planning of their holiday. In addition to their personal experience of the destinations, we also send them on regular trips abroad to experience the countries, the hotels we feature and a variety of methods of travel. Most of our team also speak at least one other foreign language, including French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Many members of our team come to us as graduates from Exeter and other top universities. We also employ current Exeter students, both as undergraduates and post-graduates, for part-time work.
Our clients
When writing about us as a company, we have to mention our clients too. Everything we create has a client focus with the aim of providing a well-crafted and well-executed holiday experience. In us our clients find like-minded souls who understand the value of – and thrive on – creating the perfect holiday itinerary. All arrangements are tailored to individual desires and requirements, including the finest details like restaurant reservations, spa treatments, wine-tasting, museum tickets or local excursions. It is this ‘concierge’-style service that keeps our customers returning to us every year. Yet we also pride ourselves on providing value for money, important even at the top of the luxury market.
Awards
Over the years we have accumulated various awards and accolades. In 2002 we received an award from Deloitte-Touche as being within the top 100 fastest-growing companies. In addition, we have received various awards from tourist boards (Italy), for our brochures (Shades of Green, holidays to Australia and New Zealand), magazines (Conde Nast Traveller) and most recently the British Travel Awards for our programme to Spain, as a specialist operator.
Financial Protection
Flight-inclusive package holidays are ATOL protected by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is 3076.
Non-flight package holidays and non-package accommodation only arrangements are financially protected by AITO Financial Protection Services Ltd (AFPS) and our AFPS membership number is 6401.
Please note that bookings made outside the UK are only protected by AFPS when purchased directly with Expressions Holidays. Please refer to our booking conditions for full details.
We are also members of AITO (the Association of Independent Tour Operators), an organisation of some of Britain's best specialist tour operators.
We have chosen not to be members of ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) as we are a tailor-made specialist tour operator and not a travel agent, and we feel that the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) is an organisation that represents our interests, as a tailor-made specialist, best.
Links:
www.caa.co.uk
www.aito.com
www.aitofps.com
Our location
Having been based in Belsize Park, London for 20 years, Expressions Holidays moved to Devon in 2009, and we are now based in the flourishing regional capital and university, cathedral city of Exeter. We have offices in an accessible location on the outskirts of the city, yet only 10 minutes from the city centre. If you would like to arrange a visit, please call us. We look forward to meeting you.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between a tour operator and a travel agent?
A travel agent acts as a retailer — they sell holidays created by someone else and earn a commission from third-party suppliers. A tour operator such as Expressions Holidays designs, creates and operates its own holidays from scratch. Every itinerary we offer is built by our own destination specialists who have personally visited the places they recommend, stayed in the hotels they suggest, and know the difference between a property that merely photographs well and one that consistently delivers.
This distinction matters for several reasons. It determines the depth of knowledge behind your booking. It determines who is accountable if something needs resolving while you are away. And it determines how genuinely bespoke your holiday can be — because a travel agent can only customise within what a third-party supplier allows, whereas we design from a blank page.
What should I expect to pay for a properly tailor-made holiday — and what does the price actually reflect?
Because every itinerary we design is built from scratch to your requirements, prices vary considerably with destination, duration, hotel selection, time of year and the level of inclusions. Most of our holidays start from around £3,000 per person, with longer itineraries or more remote destinations reflecting accordingly.
What the price represents is not simply accommodation and flights. It is the depth of knowledge behind the selection — the years of first-hand visits, the direct relationships with properties, the understanding of which hotels consistently perform and which have declined. It is the personal briefing you receive before you travel, covering specifics that no website will tell you. It is the availability of a named consultant who knows your booking in detail throughout the trip, not a call centre that asks you to repeat yourself.
Clients who have previously booked through booking platforms frequently tell us that the difference is apparent from the first conversation — not just in what they experience on holiday, but in how they feel looked after from the moment they enquire.
How does Expressions Holidays choose which hotels to include in its selection?
Every hotel in our programme has been assessed and whenever possible visited in person by a member of the Expressions Holidays team.
What we are looking for is consistency rather than aspiration: hotels where the quality of the experience matches what the photographs suggest, where the service is genuinely attentive rather than merely efficient, and where the character of the place reflects the destination it sits in. We include some well-known names where they genuinely merit it. We also include smaller, family-run properties that rarely appear in mainstream travel — precisely because our clients value authentic experience over brand recognition.
What happens if something goes wrong while I am away?
Your named consultant remains contactable throughout your trip. The person you call is the person who designed your itinerary, who knows your booking in detail, and who has a direct relationship with the properties and suppliers involved.
This matters more than most people realise until they need it. We have direct relationships with every property and supplier we feature, which means we can resolve problems quickly and at the right level. In over 35 years of operation we have encountered most of the things that can go wrong on a carefully planned holiday. Our clients are not passed between call centres and asked to repeat themselves. They speak to someone who knows the trip.
How does Expressions Holidays differ from a large tour operator covering dozens of countries?
Expressions Holidays is a specialist operator covering a deliberately selected range of destinations in genuine depth: not a catalogue of everywhere. We cover Italy across 20 distinct regional areas, from the obvious (Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, Rome) to the less visited but equally rewarding (Puglia, Basilicata, the Ligurian Riviera, the Italian Alps). France across 19 regions. Norway across five distinct areas from Oslo to the Arctic north. Switzerland region by region.
Our consultants specialise in the destinations they look after. The practical difference is knowledge at a level a generalist operator cannot match: which valley in Tuscany is worth the extra distance, which side of a Caribbean island suits which type of traveller, which combination of regions in France works well over 12 nights versus which feels rushed. This is not incidental detail — it is the difference between a holiday that meets expectations and one that exceeds them.
Is my money protected when I book with Expressions Holidays?
Yes, comprehensively. Expressions Holidays holds ATOL licence number 3076, which protects all flight-inclusive holidays under the Civil Aviation Authority's scheme. We are registered with AFPAS (registration 6104) and are members of AITO — the Association of Independent Tour Operators.
AITO membership is worth understanding specifically. It is not simply a regulatory requirement — it is a peer-assessed mark of quality that distinguishes genuine specialist operators from high-street retailers and booking platforms. AITO members are independently vetted, must meet standards covering financial protection, customer service and responsible tourism, and are assessed by the industry rather than simply ticking a regulatory box. For clients choosing between operators, it is a meaningful signal of seriousness and accountability
What do clients who return to Expressions Holidays year after year say is the reason they come back?The most consistent reason clients give for returning is the relationship with their consultant. After a first trip, your consultant knows your preferences, your standards, what you found disappointing and what genuinely delighted you. The next holiday begins with that knowledge as its foundation, not from a blank page.
Many of our clients have been booking with us for a decade or more, and some considerably longer. They return not because they are unaware of alternatives, but because the quality of the relationship and the consistency of the experience makes alternatives less compelling. That consistency is built on the fact that we are a specialist operator who designs and manages the product ourselves, rather than a retailer dependent on the quality of someone else's supply chain.
How do I start planning a holiday with Expressions Holidays?
The most productive starting point is a telephone conversation with one of our destination specialists. Before any itinerary is suggested, we want to understand what you are looking for — not just the destination and the dates, but what kind of experience you are hoping for, what has worked well in previous trips and what has not, and what this particular holiday means to you.
We are available Monday to Friday 9am to 5.30pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm, on 01392 441245. You can also email info@expressionsholidays.co.uk or browse the destination pages on our website for inspiration before making contact. There is no obligation in an initial conversation — we would rather take the time to understand what you want properly before making any recommendation.