APT: Australia’s Largest Family-Owned Tour Operator Is Coming to the U.S.

Travel advisors in the U.S. and Canada have a new — and largely untapped — option for booking premium and luxury tours.

APT Travel Group is one of the leading tour operator travel companies in Australia, known for its high-end, all-inclusive experiences. The flagship brand, APT Luxury Travel, was founded in 1927 by Bill McGeary, and evolved over the years from a humble transport business serving Melbourne to an elevated guided travel provider operating in regions like New Zealand, Canada, and Alaska. Today, APT covers more than 70 countries around the world.

Still owned and operated by the McGreary family, the parent company, APT Travel Group, is Australia’s largest locally owned, family-run tour operator, with brands covering guided land tours, river cruising, and even private jet journeys. Now, key tour operators from its portfolio are expanding to serve North American travelers: APT, Travelmarvel, Captain’s Choice, and Botanica.

Travel Market Report spoke with Tim Harrison, APT Travel Group’s head of sales, North America, about APT’s expansion plans and the opportunities for travel advisors in the U.S. and Canada.

The Opportunity for Travel Advisors

Currently, travel advisors in North America can book travel with several of APT Travel Group’s brands — but Harrison believes the best opportunities are with the tour operators APT Luxury Travel and Travelmarvel. The former is the company’s luxury brand, offering fully all-inclusive journeys with high-end accommodations, elevated service, and immersive experiences. The latter is closer to the premium space, offering a more accessible price point while still maintaining a strong level of comfort, quality, and convenience.

There are also two niche brands represented in North America: the private jet tours company Captain’s Choice and the garden-focused tour operator Botanica. “Across those four brands, we operate globally,” he explained.

Harrison emphasized APT’s position to deliver highly curated experiences in New Zealand and Australia, backed by deep destination expertise, arguing that this allows APT to stand out in a crowded premium and luxury touring market.

“We’ve got the widest range of premium and luxury touring and cruising throughout the Australian and New Zealand region, but that’s complemented by an extensive global range,” he said. “That [gives] advisors flexibility and choice to make sure they can match the right experience to the right client, whether they’re looking for that immersive cultural trip or a truly indulgent luxury experience.”

When asked to describe the APT difference, Harrison focused on the curated nature of its portfolio, its deep history in Australia, and its advisory-friendly strategy.

“In terms of what we do: first is delivering highly curated journeys, which is about removing friction for the guests and the travel advisor — particularly with APT, the all-inclusive model provides clarity and value… Secondly, we’ve got some very deep destination expertise. So many of the experiences that we organise are exclusive or privately arranged, and this gives guests access to things that can’t easily be replicated independently. And then thirdly would be a heavy focus on trade. So we come from a really strong background in how we support the trade in Australia, and we’re looking to bring that to life in what we do in North America as well.”

How APT Supports the Trade

APT Travel Group is a trade-friendly company. Harrison told TMR that in Australia, travel advisors are a crucial part of their overall business operations.

“Supporting has always been central to the strategy,” said Harrison. “We invest heavily in training, marketing support, long-term partnerships and we really want advisors to be collaborated with us in our growth, not just another sales channel for us to exploit.”

The tour operator hopes to build this collaborative spirit here in the U.S. as well. APT Travel Group joined the USTOA last year, and has already begun to roll out programs to attract North American travel advisors, such as a recent gift card incentive exclusively for advisors in the U.S. and Canada.

The first priority, said Harrison, is attracting travel advisors to the brand and then educating them on the product. The company benefits from a strong relationship with the trade back home in Australia, so it already understands the unique needs and priorities of travel advisors — now, it’s just a matter of building out the same support but catered to a North American audience. At this stage, this is primarily developing a mix of training and marketing tools, as well as a possible FAM by year’s end.

“That first step is getting advisors to know our product inside and out,” said Harrison. “They’re much more confident and better equipped to not only recommend something to the client, but to bring it to life and inspire the client.”

APT Travel Group is still in the process of meeting with agencies and consortia to find potential partners; however, Harrison believes there is a benefit to travel advisors working with APT as an early adopter.

“As we grow in North America, I think the advisors who engage with us earlier are going to secure that position to build a relationship with us, [and] they’re going to get the first [access to] any initiatives and exclusive campaigns.”

Ultimately, the goal is to form strong partnerships within the North American trade community in order to foster mutually beneficial growth.

“This is not about short-term wins… It’s about really building the foundations now for relationships we would hope to see continue for many, many, many years.”