About us

Tourdust is a revolutionary online travel agent for independent travellers who are looking to book with responsible, quality local operators.  We offer full financial protection and competitive local prices. Experiences offered by Tourdust include Inca Trail treks, Galapagos Cruises and trekking in Morocco's Atlas Mountains alongside a host of other unique travel experiences.

What makes Tourdust different?

At Tourdust, we believe there are two choices when you travel; (1) Book into a big bland hotel, eat much the same food as we do at home and interact only with our fellow travellers or (2) Get off the beaten track, stay somewhere local and go exploring the culture and landscape. We choose the latter.

Tourdust is not a tailor-made travel agent, we don’t sell flights, we rarely sell full detailed itineraries, we’re here for the things that will make your trip memorable, whether that is a rainforest expedition with an expert biologist in Peru, an outback camping trip in Kakadu, or just a wonderful treehouse lodge in South Africa. Tourdust is a travel agent for independent minded travellers.

Why book with Tourdust?

• Independent Travel Specialists

  Tourdust specializes in activity holidays and adventure travel for independent minded travellers. 

• The Best Local Operators

  We go to great efforts to identify and handpick the best responsible local operators. Many of our operators are award winning and all have a fantastic reputation. We don't choose the cheapest, but look for small to medium-sized locally owned and run operators with a great value product and fantastic quality and attention to detail.

• Competitive Local Prices

  We are committed to selling to you at exactly the same or lower rate than you would pay if you booked direct with a local operator. We don't package, and we certainly don't put on a mark-up. And with our best price guarantee if you find the same experience cheaper elsewhere we will match the price*.  

• ABTA Bonding for your protection

  Tourdust is a bonded member of ABTA which means you have the benefit of ABTA's assistance and Code of Conduct. Our membership number is L7477. And because we often work with small overseas operators who don't have access to bonding, we always include complimentary supplier failure cover on all our bookings. Giving you peace of mind when you book through Tourdust.
  

   

   

   

Why doesn’t Tourdust offer flights?

Booking a tailor-made package with a UK agent means a significant proportion of your holiday budget goes to sustaining a large UK operation, which of course means less money reaches the local economy you are travelling too.

At Tourdust we try to avoid middle men wherever possible. We encourage you to book with quality local operators (often the same people the expensive tour operators outsource their local operations to anyway!), and wrap your local bookings up carefully with all the protection that credit card payments, ABTA bonding and complimentary supplier failure cover affords. If you are interested in the challenges of booking direct with local operators, read Travelling irresponsibly, The impact of the package travel regulations.

The inspiration behind Tourdust

The original inspiration for Tourdust came in a ger amidst the vast Mongolian steppe. We found a guide who took us to stay with a wonderful nomadic family. We drank fermented mare’s milk and gnawed on mutton bones and attempted to communicate. Finding this amazing experience had been a matter of chance, how could we make it easier?

Now, when we are travelling, we always try to hunt out passionate and knowledgeable tour guides or hosts like our Mongolian friends. The kind who love what they do, and love sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with you. The kind who don’t pretend to do 4 star luxuries or flawless service, but who deliver an experience with character and charm. Finding these little gems is difficult, and often it feels like we are looking for stardust (hence the not so cryptic name)

The Tourdust team:

Co-Founder: Ben Colclough - Responsible for pulling it all together. Ben has travelled extensively in Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, America, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China and Mongolia. His dream is to fit out a combi van with a broadband connection and enough space for three kids and a couple of surf boards and travel the world. Prior to launching Tourdust, Ben was a marketing director at American Express, having started out his career as a strategy consultant at L.E.K. Consulting.

Co-Founder: Anna Colclough - When Anna’s not getting us all excited with her boundless energy, she is on hand to make sure we source all the best local travel experiences. If you are ever short of ideas for your next holiday, then drop Anna an email, she loves planning other people’s holidays only slightly less than she loves planning her own. Anna has travelled extensively in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, America, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, Mongolia and all across mainland Europe. Prior to building Tourdust, Anna was employed as operations manager and social media consultant at Market Sentinel and Account manager at Unilever.

Head of Customer Services: Becky Dale - Becky joined Tourdust from Abercrombie & Kent where she was General Manager of their Private Travel Division. Becky has a wealth of experience in the travel industry and (you’ll notice a theme here) has travelled extensively herself throughout Europe, Africa and parts of India, Sri Lanka, South America, Australia and the Indian Ocean.

Technology Guru: Peter Sweetman - Tech wizard and all round wise head. Peter held some rather senior technology positions at BP and ensures we make sensible and robust technology decisions. Peter has travelled extensively in Libya, Ethiopia, Fiji, Chile, Australia, Ecuador and China and is an enthusiastic diver.

Technology Guru: James Croft - James is the superb Ruby on Rails developer responsible for the fine underpinnings that keep Tourdust fast, easy to use and complete. James is perhaps the best travelled developer in the known world. He spent 6 months travelling around South and Central America exploring an intimidating array of countries (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico) and has also travelled extensively in South East Asia, China, Pakistan and India.

Writer: David Jobanputra - David is a PhD student in anthropology, keen traveller and superb travel writer. He has travelled extensively in Africa and Asia, including overland trips from Tibet to Scotland and Beijing to Java. David recently returned from 18 months living with a tribe in the Rajasthani desert.

Writer: Amy Rich - Although Amy rarely boards a plane without sinking some Diazepam first, she'd rather face her fears than sit at home on facebook. Her highlights so far include Siberia for a family wedding, two weeks travelling solo in Turkey, and cruising around the Greek Islands. Amy is a trained journalist, and as well as writing for Tourdust, has also been published in The Guardian.

Writer: Zeke Iddon - Zeke Iddon - Zeke is a professional writer and SEO consultant living just down the road from Tourdust HQ. He has travelled around Europe and lived in Paris for some time armed with nothing more than a song in his heart and a confused look on his face, and his life-long travel goal is to reach the geographic North Pole. He also has a curiously-named personal website which is neither informative nor educational.

Chief Distraction Officers: Alex, Emily & Juliet Colclough - Responsible for general mayhem. Are already avid little travellers who have survived budget wanderings around Italy, S Africa and the deep South of the US.

* Best Price Guarantee: We will match a price (or refund the difference) if you notify us by email to help@tourdust.com within 24 hours of booking with written proof that the same experience from the same operator is on sale elsewhere at a lower rate. The comparison must be quoted in the same currency as Tourdust has quoted in.