CV Villas is a London-based[1] travel agency for villas in Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Turkey, Morocco, Florida, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean. Today, it is a specialist tour operator, selling villa holidays including flights, car hire and experiences directly to clients and through independent travel agents.[2] The company has over 800 lodgings in the world.[3]

CV Villas
IndustryTravel
Founded1972
FounderRichard and Patricia Cookson
Headquarters
London
,
England
Area served
Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Turkey, Croatia, Morocco, Florida, Sri Lanka and The Caribbean
Websitehttps://www.cvvillas.com/

History edit

The agency was founded in 1972 by Patricia and Richard Cookson.[4] In the early days, individually produced, hand-finished brochures were sent out with a note asking for them to be returned.[5] During its first decade, the company added to its collection of Corfiot houses. In the 1980s, the company expanded its portfolio to offer villas on other Greek islands as well as in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the Balearics.[6][7]

By the 1990s, Morocco was added as a new destination. The Cooksons sold their interest in the company in 2004 to travel entrepreneur John Boyle and in 2007. CV Travel was acquired by specialist tour operator Kuoni Travel.[8] Debbie Marshall was appointed managing director in 2004 and, under her management, CV Travel acquired the ski chalet operator, Ski Verbier, in 2005.[9] Richard Cookson continued to work for CV in Corfu for a number of years. In 2007, the company added the Caribbean as a destination, and in 2009, included properties in Great Britain.[10]

In September 2015 DER Touristik Group acquired Kuoni Travel's tour-operator and sales activities including CV Villas.[11]

In 2016 Croatia was added to the portfolio[12] and in 2017 they launched Resort properties.[13] In 2019 the company's new luxury collection ABOVE emerged, containing a selection of fully staffed properties.[14]

Sri Lanka is the most recent destination to be added to their long haul portfolio,[15] launched for travel in 2021.

Awards edit

CV Travel won Condé Nast Traveler awards in 2007[16] and 2009[17] and was a runner-up in 2008,[18] 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Protection edit

CV Villas are a member of ABTA, which stands for the Association of British Travel Agents. ABTA protection is designed to enforce standards and provide insurance for holidaymakers in the event of financial problems for travel companies. They are also fully bonded with CAA, the UK Civil Aviation Authority and have an ATOL (Air Travel Organisers Licence), meaning that package holidays are protected, ensuring peace of mind for guests.

Kuoni UK edit

CV Villas is part of The Kuoni UK group.[19] Kuoni is part of DER Touristik (part of the German REWE Group) and is based in Dorking, Surrey, England. The Kuoni UK group also includes:

  • Voyages Jules Verne (now trading as Jules Verne)
  • Kirker Holidays
  • Carrier
  • Journey Latin America
  • Kuoni Retail

References edit

  1. ^ "Contact Us". CV Villas. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  2. ^ "CV Villas Website". Archived from the original on 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
  3. ^ Simon, Kate (2009-05-03). "Who holidays in a house like this? Well, you could". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  4. ^ Simpson, Aislinn Simpson (2008-10-28). "George Osborne flew on budget airline for £10,000 stay in Corfu villa". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2008-10-28. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  5. ^ "About Us: CV Travel". CV Travel. Archived from the original on 2009-06-17. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
  6. ^ "Kuoni UK Acquires CV Travel". Directline holidays. 2007-06-22. Archived from the original on 2009-07-24. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  7. ^ Symon, Ken (2007-06-24). "Boyle sells CV Travel for more than GBP10 million". The Sunday Herald.
  8. ^ Fearis, Bev (2007-06-25). "Kuoni to buy CV Travel". Travel Mole.
  9. ^ "CVTravelin ski move". Travel Weekly. 2006-01-13. Archived from the original on 2009-05-21. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  10. ^ Fearis, Bev (2009-01-14). "CV Travel introduces UK collection". Travel Mole.
  11. ^ GmbH, DER Touristik. "DER Touristik - History". www.dertouristik.com (in German). Retrieved 2017-09-11.
  12. ^ Staff, SquareMeal (4 November 2016). "Book with CV Villas for a luxury getaway". Squaremeal. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
  13. ^ Grigoras, Andy Houldsworth, Jon Harris (c) 2017 www.OmniwebAgency.com +44 1883 742 2650 Dorin. "CV Villas launches new Resorts Collection - CV Villas". blog.cvvillas.com. Retrieved 2017-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "The ABOVE collection by CV Villas". Jet Logic.
  15. ^ Travel Weekly. "CV Villas adds Sri Lanka to portfolio". Travel Weekly. Archived from the original on 2020-11-20. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  16. ^ "Villa Rental Companies: Readers' Travel Awards 2007". Condé Nast Traveler. 2007. Archived from the original on 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
  17. ^ "Villa Rental Companies: Readers' Travel Awards 2009". Condé Nast Traveler. 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
  18. ^ "Villa Rental Companies: Readers' Travel Awards 2008". Condé Nast Traveler. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
  19. ^ Kuoni Travel, 2020-12-21, retrieved 2020-12-30

External links edit