TTC Tour Brands’ Melissa DaSilva: ‘Creating a Power Brand Under Trafalgar’

From river cruises and small group tours to a recent portfolio expansion announcement, there have been a lot of changes at Trafalgar this year.

The tour operator brand, which is part of the TTC Tour Brands family, is known for its quality escorted land tours. With itineraries that balance comfort with value, and trips offering signature experiences in more than 70 countries, Trafalgar has developed a reputation for dependable, seamless travel.

That very reputation is why Trafalgar is poised to become an even more prominent member of The Travel Corporation family. Earlier this month, TTC Tour Brands announced that it would be merging Costsaver and Insight Vacations with Trafalgar, unifying the three separate tour operators as one brand.

In early 2027, Trafalgar will launch an expanded portfolio with itineraries from all three brands, split into three tiers: saver, classic, and premium. Costsaver itineraries will be bookable under the saver tier, while Insight Vacations itineraries will be classified as premium tours (exisiting Trafalgar itineraries will be under “classic”). However, river tours will be classified as premium.

For now, all three companies will continue to operate as normal. During the transition period in 2027, all three brands will continue to be bookable via codesharing. Eventually, however, the Costsaver and Insight Vacations branding will be phased out.

Travel Market Report sat down with TTC Tour Brands’ Deputy CEO and Chief Sales Officer Melissa DaSilva for an exclusive interview on the Trafalgar expansion, and what this all means for travel advisors.

“We are leaving the Costsaver and Insight Vacations brands alone for the moment,” explained DaSilva. “What we’re really doing is creating a power brand under Trafalgar whereby all of the product will be available for sale under the Trafalgar moniker.”

Unifying Trafalgar: Simplifying the Brand Experience

Already a large player in the guided land tour space, Trafalgar is in the midst of a major expansion. The tour operator entered the river cruise market this year. Its two ships, Trafalgar Verity and Trafalgar Reverie, sailed a 10-day Best of the Rhine and Amsterdam itinerary as well as an eight-day Best of the Danube itinerary, respectively.

Trafalgar also recently launched its own small group tour collection, with 22 itineraries designed for groups of up to 18 travelers. The tour operator announced the new travel style in June and will be testing the experience with travel advisors through its Trailblazers program this fall.

When Trafalgar launches its expanded portfolio with the Costsaver and Insight Vacations tours in 2027, it will offer more than 600 itineraries, spanning classic groups, small group tours, river cruises, rail journeys, and group sales. Advisors will have more flexibility on price point and inclusions too, allowing them to cater to more clients within Trafalgar’s portfolio rather than having to introduce them to a whole different brand.

“We want to make it easier and simpler for our travel advisor partners, as well as our customers, to really find that right product without having to juggle between different brands,” explained DaSilva. “This allows [advisors] to have a much wider range of product all under the same Trafalgar brand.”

According to DaSilva, the decision to unify the three brands under Trafalgar ultimately came down to two major factors: Trafalgar’s existing brand recognition in the market, and a more simplified system for both travelers and travel advisors. She explained that advisors “were using our brands as a proxy for price anyway,” but this could be limiting — especially in cases in which the client was familiar with one brand (say Trafalgar) but hadn’t heard of the others.

Another benefit to unification is that TTC Tour Brands can focus more energy on marketing one brand, increasing visibility in the market, which in turn makes it easier for the advisor to sell the experience to their clients.

“It’s going to allow us to focus all of our marketing efforts around a single brand, which is Trafalgar … We’re going to be able to get a lot more cut through in the market, which will hopefully, based on our research, drive more customers to our partners asking for Trafalgar.”

TTC Tour Brands’ announcement said that the company would be making its biggest ever brand investment in Trafalgar. Although DaSilva could not go into specifics, she did indicate that Trafalgar will be unveiling a new brand identity in Q1 that reinforces the notion that the tour operator offers a range of experiences from budget-friendly to premium, setting up Trafalgar’s brand identity for future growth.

DaSilva told TMR that the decisions made at TTC Tour Brands are informed by feedback from the travel advisor community.

“We did something like 18 or 20 focus groups before we actually rolled out our messaging,” she said. “We just want to make sure that we are the best partner that we possibly can be so that our advisor community will continue to book with us.”

So far, the feedback from the trade has been positive.

“It makes a lot of sense to travel advisors. For the most part, everybody’s very on board with it. They absolutely understand what we’re trying to accomplish. They’re excited about the simplicity of it.”

The main concern shared by travel advisers was the challenge of converting Insight Vacations loyalists to booking with Trafalgar. These clients have come to expect a certain level of premium experience associated with Insight Vacations. That’s why TTC Tour Brands will be focusing 2027 messaging on reinforcing the idea that Trafalger’s premium product is identifical to the Insight Vacations experience. Ultimately, TTC Tour Brands is making efforts to re-assure travel advisors.

“The only thing that’s going to change is the power of the marketing behind the Trafalgar brand.”