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Love Travel Adventures celebrates Apex of Achievement Award 2026

Boutique travel specialist recognised for its personal service, destination expertise and commitment to creating unforgettable long-haul adventures

Love Travel Adventures Ltd has been recognised with the Apex of Achievement Award 2026, celebrating the boutique tour operator’s dedication to bespoke travel, exceptional client service and carefully crafted adventures designed around the individual traveller.

Founded by husband-and-wife team Heather and Craig Bones, Love Travel Adventures specialises in bespoke long-haul journeys for discerning travellers seeking something beyond the conventional package holiday. Guided by the philosophy “Your adventure, your choice,” the company creates individual itineraries around each client’s interests, priorities, budget and preferred way of travelling.

 

For Owner & Director Craig Bones, the journey into travel began through an unconventional route. Before entering the industry, he spent more than 10 years serving in the RAF Regiment, including working as an instructor. The experience instilled values that have remained throughout his career, including discipline, teamwork, organisation, resilience and, importantly, looking after the people around him.

After leaving the military, Craig entered the travel industry in 1999 and quickly discovered an industry he loved. More than 25 years later, his career has encompassed sports, group and specialist travel, providing opportunities to meet remarkable people and experience parts of the world he might otherwise never have seen.

Over time, he realised the part he enjoyed most was not simply selling a holiday or tour, but getting to know people, understanding what they wanted and creating experiences they would remember. 

Combined with Heather’s love of travel and their own adventures together, that experience ultimately led to Love Travel Adventures.

The idea developed while Heather and Craig were travelling around New Zealand on their honeymoon. They identified a gap between arranging everything independently online and booking with a large mainstream travel company. Their vision was for something far more personal, where clients could speak to the same people from their first conversation through to travelling and after returning home, while focusing on destinations Heather and Craig genuinely knew and loved.

Then the pandemic arrived. With planes grounded and borders closed, the couple saw an unexpected opportunity to begin building the business. While some may have considered launching a travel company when nobody could travel unusual, Heather and Craig firmly believed people would always want to explore, experience different cultures and make memories.

The period allowed them to build the business carefully, develop relationships with trusted partners around the world and define the kind of company they wanted Love Travel Adventures to become: personal, knowledgeable and centred around the individual client.

“For us, it’s always been about their adventure, their choice.”

Integrity, personal service and doing what you say you are going to do remain fundamental. Craig credits much of this approach to his military background, where people relied on one another and commitments mattered. Whether dealing with clients, colleagues or suppliers, his belief is that people should be treated properly. When something goes wrong, the priority is to take responsibility, communicate and find a solution.

Listening is equally important. Rather than simply trying to sell, Heather and Craig take time to understand where clients have travelled before, what they enjoyed or did not enjoy, how they prefer to travel, their budget and what would make the experience genuinely special. Clients are never simply booking numbers. Heather and Craig know their names, where they are travelling and why the journey matters to them.

Love Travel Adventures deliberately remains a small and personal business, supported by a carefully selected network of trusted partners and specialists around the world. Maintaining standards is about choosing the right people and continually developing knowledge.

Heather and Craig travel extensively themselves, visiting destinations, experiencing hotels, meeting local partners, trying excursions and understanding how journeys actually work on the ground. This first-hand knowledge allows them to speak from experience wherever possible rather than simply repeating information from a brochure.

Continuous learning is particularly important in an industry where destinations, hotels, airlines, regulations and customer expectations constantly change. Close relationships with overseas partners ensure knowledge remains current and standards consistently high. Their philosophy is simple: they should not recommend something unless they are confident they would be happy experiencing it themselves.

Specialising in bespoke long-haul travel, Love Travel Adventures focuses on experiences rather than simply selling holidays. Destinations include Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar, New Zealand, the Maldives and, more recently, the beautiful and largely untouched Bhutan.

International flights can be combined with carefully selected accommodation, private drivers and guides, safaris, rail journeys, cultural and food experiences, hiking, cycling, wildlife encounters and relaxing beach stays. The company particularly enjoys creating journeys that showcase several sides of a destination.

Sri Lanka is a perfect example, where one journey can incorporate ancient culture, incredible wildlife, tea country, spectacular scenery, wonderful food and local communities before finishing with time relaxing on the beach. Rather than expecting travellers to fit into a pre-packaged itinerary, the journey is designed around them.

For Craig, the key ingredients behind the company’s success are trust, knowledge, relationships and genuinely caring about the customer. Clients are not only investing significant amounts of money in their holidays, they are also giving Love Travel Adventures something even more valuable: their time.

A journey may represent somewhere a client has dreamed of visiting for years, a honeymoon, retirement celebration, anniversary or lifelong bucket-list destination. Heather and Craig never forget the significance behind these experiences. Their objective is not to sell the most expensive holiday, but the right holiday for the individual.

Repeat business and referrals are therefore particularly meaningful. When somebody returns home and recommends Love Travel Adventures to friends or family, it is one of the greatest compliments the company can receive.

“Be personal, be knowledgeable, be honest and look after people.”

These are not simply corporate statements; they reflect how Heather and Craig genuinely operate the business. Clients deal directly with real people who care about the holiday they are planning, rather than disappearing into a system.

The company also believes travel should have a positive impact wherever possible. It has supported charities, community initiatives and environmental projects connected with its destinations. For Heather and Craig, travel should create connections between people, cultures and places while leaving something positive behind.

There is rarely a typical day at Love Travel Adventures. Conversations might involve Sri Lankan temples and elephants, a South African safari, a honeymoon in Tanzania and Zanzibar, a journey through India or the wellbeing and peacefulness of Bhutan.

Much of each day is spent speaking with clients and overseas partners, designing itineraries, checking hotels and flights, researching experiences, managing budgets and coordinating the details behind each journey. They may also gather feedback from returning travellers while helping others begin planning their next adventure.

Travel can nevertheless be unpredictable. Flights change, weather shifts, hotels become unavailable, prices fluctuate and political situations can develop quickly. The pandemic demonstrated how rapidly the industry can change.

Communication is therefore essential. Clients may not expect a travel company to control world events, but they do expect support when circumstances change. Problems are addressed quickly, clients are kept informed clearly and honestly, and trusted partners help identify the best possible solution.

Being a smaller company gives Love Travel Adventures a personal advantage. Clients speak directly with Heather or Craig, who know their preferences and itinerary, rather than navigating a call centre. Trust is central to the business. Clients receive support throughout the planning process, during their travels and after returning home. For Heather and Craig, success is measured by repeat bookings and recommendations, with reputation built one client and one holiday at a time.

Asked what he loves most about the work, Craig replies: “The people, without question.” While he and Heather enjoy discovering new destinations, the relationships they build with clients, guides, hoteliers, local communities and partners are what matter most. Some have become genuine friendships.

They also take great satisfaction in turning clients’ dreams into reality, whether that means exploring Sri Lanka, watching elephants in the wild or relaxing beside the Indian Ocean. Hearing clients return with stories and ask, “Where should we go next?” is particularly rewarding.

Heather and Craig see the recognition as a reflection of their commitment to looking after people. Founded during the pandemic, Love Travel Adventures was built on the belief that people would travel again and that there would always be a place for a knowledgeable, caring independent company.

The couple are not aiming to become the biggest travel business. They want to build one people trust, remember and recommend, while maintaining the personal approach at the heart of Love Travel Adventures.

That will always be at the heart of Love Travel Adventures.

Contact

Telephone: 07956 501041

Email: hello@lovetraveladventures.co.uk

Website: lovetraveladventures.co.uk