Audley Travel is a tour operator based in the UK in

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

, with offices in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The company covers over 90 destinations worldwide, providing tailor-made travel. According to the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', Audley is the largest operator in this market.

History

Audley Travel was founded in a

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

in 1996 by Craig Burkinshaw and John Brewer, both graduates of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

. The pair originally offered tours of Vietnam, advertising in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''. In 2006, the company moved to its current headquarters at New Mill in Witney, Oxfordshire, and tourism executive Ian Simkins joined the company as CEO in 2011. In 2014, the company opened an office in London and a US office in Boston,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

after it discovered 20% of its web traffic was coming from the United States. Audley arranges holidays in more than 90 destinations, covering all seven continents. Top-selling destinations include the USA, Canada, Japan, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam and Costa Rica. In 2012, equity firm Equistone Partners Europe invested a majority stake in Audley Travel during a management buyout. Equistone exited its investment in 2015, selling its share of the company to private equity firm 3i.

Awards

Awards won by Audley Travel include: * Guardian and Observer Travel Awards 2006: Best Tour Operator (Mainstream) * The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For 2006-2018 * Telegraph Green Travel Awards 2007: Luxury Tour Operator of the Year * Guardian and Observer Travel Awards 2008: Best Tour Operator (Small) * Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Travel Awards: First Place Specialist Tour Operator 2010 * Sunday Times Travel Magazine Value For Money Award 2010 * Wanderlust Travel Awards 2011: Best Website * Wanderlust Travel Awards 2012 and 2019: Top Tour Operator * Telegraph Travel Awards 2013: Best Tour Operator * Guardian and Observer Travel Awards 2014: Best Tour Operator (Small) * The Oxfordshire Business Awards 2014: Employer of the Year * The Times and Sunday Times Travel Awards 2016 and 2019: Best Luxury Tour Operator * Telegraph Travel Awards 2016, 2017 and 2019: Best Tour Operator * Sunday Times Travel Magazine Value For Money Award: 2018 * Travel Media Awards 2019 and 2020: Best Customer Magazine * The Sunday Times Travel Magazine Best Travel Specialists 2020 * Which? Recommended Provider for Escorted Tours: 2021 * Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards 2020: Top Tour Operator

Charity and philanthropy

In January 2020, Audley was granted Travelife Partner status in recognition of its efforts to improve sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Travelife is the leading international sustainability certification in the travel sector. In 2021, Audley introduced an

Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) data reflect the negative externalities (costs to others) caused by an organization with respect to the environment, to society and to corporate governance. ESG data can be used by investo ...

(ESG) framework that identifies five areas they will focus on each year. These goals are often aligned to the

UN Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

. The company created the Audley Travel for Good Fund to support several social and environmental charities around the world that align with its responsible travel approach. As of 2022, the company supports seven UN Sustainable Development Goals focused on supporting the communities and ecosystems clients and staff travel to.

References

{{reflist Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Oxfordshire