World Travel Holdings is a distributor of cruises, air tickets, hotel rooms, and vacation packages. It was co-founded in 2005 by Brad and Jeff Tolkin, with more than 50 years of combined expertise as operating executives in the travel industry. But the story of World Travel Holdings is really the story of many successful travel companies, each specializing in a different area of product and service, united in the common goal of delivering every customer a superior travel experience.

The beginning of the WTH story starts with the end of another. For more than two decades, the Tolkins owned and operated Travel Impressions – from its start in 1974, they built the company into one of the nation's most profitable, privately held travel wholesalers. During this time, they also operated prestigious brands like Pan American Holidays, Eastern Vacations, Continental Vacations, and Virgin Atlantic Vacations. In 1992, they acquired Empress Travel; the retail travel agency grew from 44 to 104 store locations in just six years under the Tolkins' leadership. In 1998, the Tolkins sold their portfolio of brands to American Express, but it wouldn't be long before the brothers would return to the travel industry with a renewed passion and vision.

On January 1, 2005, the Tolkins established WTH and celebrated the new year and their new quest with the purchase of Villas of Distinction, a leading brand in the villa rental field established in 1989. A new standard was set for innovation, service, and value in the luxury travel market around the world. They also acquired Rooms.com. With Rooms.com, the company now offered a powerful booking engine providing a wide selection of hotel accommodations throughout the world. Later in 2005, WTH expanded again with the acquisition of Cruise411. By bringing Cruise411 onboard, WTH now offered voyages from every major cruise line and access to the nation's premier source of cruise information.

On July 12, 2006, WTH more than doubled in size with the acquisition of National Leisure Group (NLG) , the largest cruise seller in America and one of the nation's leading vacation package distributors.

Though formally established in 1986, NLG really began as Last-Minute Travel in 1983. This small travel agency created a business model that at the time was groundbreaking in the travel industry – reselling excess inventory in bulk at reduced rates. The company achieved $1 million in revenue in just one year. In 1986, National Leisure Group was officially founded with the creation of its flagship brand, Vacation Outlet. Both Last-Minute Travel and Vacation Outlet quickly sold huge volumes of vacations. While the rest of the travel industry wrote off nearly expired inventory as losses, NLG gained national exposure and a loyal customer base by offering thousands of discount travel packages and last-minute deals from the world's best resorts, hotels, and cruise lines.

Five years later, NLG had grown from a single travel agency with three agents to a 225-employee, 19-store, $40 million company. A dedicated sales and customer service group of more than 100 staffed an inbound call center, while the retail chain spanned Boston, Chicago, and cities in New Hampshire. NLG was now sending nearly 100,000 customers a year to Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida, Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Europe.

Throughout the 1990s, NLG grew rapidly in the New England retail and U.S. online markets. Vacation Outlet launched its successful e-commerce website, vacationoutlet.com, and also established one of the most widely publicized and attended consumer travel shows in the U.S. – Vacation Expo, held annually in Boston.

Since 2000, the company has leveraged its industry expertise by partnering with some of the world’s most recognizable brands. Strategic alliances with BJ's Wholesale Club, Hotwire, Priceline.com, Orbitz, many of the country's largest airlines, and others have enabled NLG to significantly broaden its market reach and fortify its already strong reputation in the travel industry.

In 2003, NLG expanded the depth and breadth of its leisure travel offerings with the acquisition of the CruisesOnly (1-800-CRUISES) and Cruises.com brands. By adding these two cruise powerhouses to its portfolio, NLG was now not only a leading provider of land vacation packages to the world’s most popular destinations, but now had also become the largest provider of cruise vacations in America. The company also acquired the CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. brands to make NLG the largest home-based cruise distributor in the United States.

In June 2010, World Travel Holdings acquired a significant interest in the UK's fastest growing cruise retail business, Cruise118. Cruise 118 was established in June 2008 by ex My Travel directors Mal Barritt and James Cole. In 2009, the company signed a multi-million pound deal with travelsupermarket.com to provide a white-label cruise website. Cruise118’s two principal directors, James Cole and Mal Barritt, have over 25 years experience in the travel industry and the company’s management team have 50 years experience in the cruise travel market specifically. Cruise118 has built a strong service ethic and created the concept of the "cruise concierge". Other Cruise118 group websites include: www.sailfromuk.com, www.alaskaonly.com, www.sixstarcruises.co.uk, and www.uk.cruises.com.

Mal Barritt serves as co-founder and Director of Cruise118, a UK subsidiary of WTH. Barritt is responsible for the leadership of Sales, Operations, Technology and Partnerships. Prior to setting up Cruise118 in 2008, he worked for a variety of blue-chip companies before joining My Travel UK as Director of Call Centre Operations. At My Travel, he successfully led the Call Centres through the merger with Thomas Cook, before deciding to set-up Cruise118 with colleague James Cole. His experience within the travel industry spans 18 years.

James is co-founder and Director of Cruise118, a UK subsidiary of WTH. His role includes overseeing the Finance, Marketing, Commercial and Cruise Line relationships. Prior to setting up Cruise118 in 2008, he worked for My Travel UK for 11 years primarily in the cruise division and latterly as Managing Director of the cruise retail arm. Having always wanted to start his own business, the merger of MyTravel and Thomas Cook acted as a catalyst for this, along with being fortunate enough to meet the perfect complementary business partner in Mal Barritt when working at MyTravel. Cole holds a BA (Hons) in Business and Innovation, along with an MBA. He was also named Young Entrepreneur of the Year by EN Magazine in 2010.

Today, World Travel Holdings is able to provide all of the products and services needed to meet the demands of every kind of traveler. United by the same mission, all of the world-class brands in the WTH portfolio deliver higher levels of sales and service and will continue to grow as one company into broader horizons. By building strategic partnerships and providing customers with the skill and guidance of the most passionate, trusted experts in the travel industry, WTH is uniquely positioned to offer leisure travelers a lifetime of remarkable vacation experiences. WTH was rated the 14th largest travel distributor in Travel Weekly's "Power List of 2009".