Gavin Tollman is a businessman and well-known leader in the global travel sector. He is the CEO of popular travel organization Trafalgar Tours that specialises in providing its customers with quality guided holidays and experiences. He also works as the Chairman of The Travel Corporation in South Africa, a company that spans more than 60 different countries and owns the largest selection of international travel brands in the world, including Brendan Vacations, Insight Vacations and Red Carnation Hotels.
Born in South Africa in 1963, Tollman left to begin studying finance in Washington DC in the US and attended The American University. Due to his passion for the travel and tourism industry he also studied to become a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC).
He quickly worked his way into the travel and hospitality profession when in 1987 he was appointed as the Executive VP of the Buckhead Hotel Management Co. based in Georgia, Atlanta.
In 1997 Gavin Tollman began working for Trafalgar Tours in the US, as President of the organization and later in 2010 he became the company's CEO. Tollman has made it his goal to develop new products and services for those travelling with Trafalgar Tours and in response to the proliferation of cruise holidays which he believes do not make the most of destinations, he wants to offer people richer experiences when they travel. He believes guided holidays should give the travellers much more than they would experience on a normal holiday, including unique insight into the culture and destination, flexibility, and an ample amount of free time to explore independently. He is currently working on a range of new programs, such as Be My Guest, At Leisure and Hidden Treasures, to give people unique experiences along with creating holidays designed especially with families in mind. Through these programs, guests are invited into the homes of the locals to eat and experience first hand what it is like to live in that destination and visit private or hidden locations that are not on any other travel agenda.
The Travel Corporation 2010 International Sales Conference took place in South Africa and over 350 leaders from various organizations within the travel and tourism industries were invited to attend for a week. The conference was very significant since The Travel Corporation announced that it would be entering into a partnership with South African Tourism. The aim of the partnership will be to promote South Africa to a global audience as a destination for either tourism or opening up a business; this initiative was named Destination South Africa.
Along with building South Africa's profile among business and tourism professionals, Gavin Tollman is passionate about ensuring the wellbeing of the country's people. At the same time as TTC's International Sales Conference, Tollman and other employees from The Travel Corporation volunteered at Project Wendy House, an initiative that saw various volunteers build Wendy houses for poor families from the areas nearby.
