Pettitts Travel Celebrates 35 Years in Business

Pettitts Travel celebrates 35 years of crafting bespoke, luxury tours and personalised adventures worldwide.

TUNBRIDGE WELLS, KENT, UNITED KINGDOM, April 19, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- This month marks a milestone for Pettitts Travel who celebrate 35 years in business in leisure travel. An extraordinary tale of entrepreneurs Steven Pettitt, and Mark Kempster, two local Tunbridge Wells businessmen, who started small specialist travel companies in 1988, subsequently building up independent, thriving local businesses.

In some ways Steven Pettitt's arrival in the travel industry was inevitable and, from an early age, India was an inherent part of his life in one way or another. Steven’s father posted to India during the war, returned with thrilling stories of his time in Bombay, Calcutta, Darjeeling and the North East of India and, as a small boy, he remembers being mesmerised watching Whicker’s World with Alan Whicker atop an elephant discussing the days of the Raj with princes and palaces of Rajasthan.

So, at the age of 18, Steve gained employment at Cosmos Holidays. Over six years and a myriad of departments, he landed in the Italian department as the Overseas Tours Manager, where he met Nigel Berry, future co-director of Pettitts, who would go on to be an essential part of Steve's working life.

In 1982 Steve started a travel company leading coach tours to India, an emerging tourist destination. The timing coincided with Richard Attenborough’s infamous Gandhi film, which skyrocketed interest in India. In the early 80’s there were only a handful of companies sending tourist groups there and Steve saw a gap in the market for bespoke, individual tours with an English-speaking driver and local tour guides, away from the mass market coaches that flocked to the Golden Triangle.

After several years visiting India, mapping out routes and locations for tailored guided tours with his Indian counterpart Sam Madhavan, Steve was ready to go it alone and in 1988, having regrouped with Nigel Berry, they set up Pettitts in Tunbridge Wells. A year later, Steve’s former colleague, Sam set up Pettitts India Tours as their ‘man on the ground’ who remains our direct partner in India, run by Sam’s son, Sandeep Madhavan.

At the same time in 1988, Mark began trading on Mt Pleasant as Country Trails Travel, a traditional high street travel agent of the 1980s, offering everything from holidays to clothing and outward-bound equipment, and, as two local businessmen in the same industry, they soon became acquainted.

Fast forward 26 years and CT Travel Group had launched the innovative Pack Your Bags, an early adopter of online holiday bookings and acquired Medway Travel, experts in experience-based holidays such as wildlife tours and Route 66 road trips. Pettitts had expanded into the rest of the Subcontinent, large parts of Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America.

In 2015, Steve and Nigel joined forces with CT Travel Group, by then a leading national travel company, and in 2019, Pettitts was rebranded and reborn as ‘Pettitts Travel’ and the two successful leisure arms of CT Travel Group, Pack Your Bags and Medway, and Pettitts were merged to create the dedicated, thriving leisure brand we are today. Combining CT Travel Group’s Leisure arms and Pettitts has enabled us to offer a wide range of wonderful holidays to anyone seeking something a little more off the beaten track, expertly planned with a hint of luxury.

“As we approach the end of our 35th year of trading, we celebrate a significant milestone in our company history. I am extremely proud that many of our clients who joined us at the very beginning are still choosing us as their travel partner, which is a testament to the excellent service we are known for. I am confident that we will continue our upward trajectory and solidify our position as a leading travel management company. We have ambitious plans, and I am excited about what the future of the group looks like - watch this space.”

Mark Kempster, CEO & Founder of CT Travel Group

“35 years later, it is with great pride and honour to still be working with some of the very first people to book trips with us. In some cases, having organised honeymoons for couples in the late 80’s, we continue to book their holidays to this day, but now with their grandchildren in tow.

It is my solid belief that we offer excellent quality and originality in every one of our holidays and why we have very strong recommendations from existing clients to new clients. My passion has always been to provide a completely dedicated service, which truly engages each customer on a very personal level, it’s what I love and why I still do it.”
Steven Pettitt, Managing Director & Founder of Pettitts Travel

We are proud to remain an independent family-run business which continues to thrive as part of the CT Travel Group, offering a truly personalised service with broad, ever-growing expertise with travel truly at its heart.

If you would like to enquire about booking a trip of a lifetime with Pettitts Travel, one of our knowledgeable experts are a phone call away from your next adventure.

Rebecca Mclaren
Pettitts Travel
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