In this, the 159th edition of this publication, I thought that, rather than
belabor you with all the many good reasons you should get TF to look
after your travels, I would highlight just a few of our special landmarks
along the way to our 50th Birthday.

After opening for business (there were just four of us and three were the unpaid start-up investors), it took eight weeks to secure our first booking. The excitement was short-lived as the customer cancelled two days later! Although by 1977 we had grown to 20 staff and moved from our dingy second floor garret office to a smart shopfront, we did not register a profit until our seventh year – wafer-thin though it was! We had however, built a following and a stand-out reputation for looking after our travellers. Trailfinders set up a formal Trust Account in 1993 and, from the outset, we separated monies paid to us for future arrangements from our general account. We have campaigned for many years on the issue of making this simple form of escrow a requirement throughout the industry. The miseries of collapses like Thomas Cook would have been greatly reduced had our idea been adopted years ago. We fight on!

Also, from the outset we set up the unique Trailfinders Guarantee, which goes far beyond any formal obligations to protect our clients from financial failures. It has been called into play all too many times and took big hits with the demise of Laker Airways, Ansett, Braniff and Pan Am in particular. I was proud to found The Mike Gooley Trailfinders Charity in 1995 which has now donated more than £65 million to good causes. It is funded entirely by Trailfinders. The chief beneficiaries have been medical research, care of veterans, and educational initiatives.

We bought the old, and once renowned, Great Western Railway sportsground in Ealing in 1997. It had become very dilapidated, but after 22 years and £25 million it has been developed as Trailfinders Sports Club, the best venue of its kind in the land.

To further our 50th year celebrations, we have set aside £1 million pounds worth of free travel to be shared by some of our lucky clients. With your patronage, these good works are set to continue.

Wishing you, as ever, the happiest of carefree travel in 2020 and beyond.