About Inghams Villas

Inghams Travel

Since 1934 Inghams Travel has grown into one of the UK’s leading specialist tour operators, and is also part of one of the premier travel groups in Europe. Our successful Swiss parent company, Hotelplan, is a distinguished brand on the continent and has as well as Inghams has offices in Switzerland and other European countries. As a group Hotelplan carried 1.891 million passengers in 2005 and the Hotelplan turnover was 1728 million CHF. For full information on the Hotelplan group visit www.hotelplan.ch Hotelplan in turn, is part of the Migros organisation, the largest grocery wholesaler and retailer in Switzerland. Migros' philanthropy is illustrated by the continuous funding provided for a range of cultural and social activities and community projects.

So how did Inghams start?

Walter Ingham, born in the UK moved in the 1920’s to Vienna. As a lad the Austrian mountains were his playground and he developed a passion for skiing, ski mountaineering and walking. He returned briefly to the UK as a junior salesman for Remington Typewriters but the appeal of the mountains lured him back.

In 1934 Walter advertised a private ski party in the British national newspapers where he asked participants to join him on his Christmas adventure. The trip was a success and five more followed that season. As the business grew, the main activities were skiing and ski mountaineering in the winter and mainly walking in the summer, with overseas reps recruited from past clients.

In 1962 Walter decided to hang up his skis, after all he had built up a reputable company over 28 years carrying 14,000 skiers each year with an enormous volume of repeat clients. He sold to Hotelplan, a Swiss company, and enjoyed the remainder of his days on the island of Elba.

Sir Walter’s legacy lives on and Inghams continues to go from strength to strength. In this new era the company has gone through its most substantial developments taking Inghams to market leader positions in Ski and Lakes and Mountains as well as developing our specialist business units of Just France, Eurobreak and very recently Inghams Villas. Innovation and dedication strengthened our position in our main markets with offices in Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Andorra and Canada. Bladon Lines was purchased in 1995 boosting the ski programme with the addition of quality chalets and club hotels in top ski resorts.

All of these businesses have benefited from the financial strength and the central infrastructure of Inghams. Product knowledge is the key to our success and Inghams discerning clients appreciate the advantages of booking their holiday with a reputable specialist tour operator. Inghams provide a wide choice of products, accommodation and services, all of which have been carefully selected and vetted by our experienced staff. Inghams provide a guarantee of quality and a holiday experience second to none.