HOLIDAY-MAKERS can book custom-made breaks with local experts in their dream destination thanks to two travel junkies from the Stroud Valleys.

Following investment Tom Stapleton from Rodborough and Huw Owen of Minchinhampton have launched a new website through which customers can pick and choose their ideal holiday.

The duo launched TravelLocal, which is based in Bristol, four years ago and are looking to connect travellers directly with carefully selected in-country travel companies in their destinations around the world.

“We are turning the tailor-made travel business on its head and radically improving it – and our customers love it,” said Tom.

“After all, no-one knows a country better than its local travel experts.

“Why book with travel agents thousands of miles away from your destination, who only rarely visit it, when you can now go direct?”

TravelLocal’s new website enables its customers to create their holidays with the real experts in their destination, cutting out travel agents and international travel companies, whilst also benefitting from 100 per cent financial protection backed by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

Tom and Huw argue that the result is a fairer deal for local travel companies and a better experience for clients.

“We are bringing the fair trade ethos to tailor-made travel, using the power of the internet,” said Huw.

“Many travellers want to book with a travel company in their destination, but they don’t know which ones to trust and they rightly worry about transferring money abroad.

“TravelLocal solves this by carefully selecting excellent local travel companies, by providing ABTA-backed financial protection for all bookings and by taking payment in the UK.”

The company has already attracted a global customer base with bookings from countries including the USA, China, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Dubai and Brazil.

Customers can browse the destination pages, engage directly with the local tour operators to refine the trip and book the entire holiday securely online.

TravelLocal currently showcases travel companies from more than 35 countries around the world including Burma, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia and Argentina. It plans to expand to cover 80 destinations on its new website in the next six months.