First Choice to return with no-fly package holidays and backpacking experiences

Operator aims to lure younger travellers with new proposition

On the move: Brussels Central station. The Belgian capital is one of the destinations on offer from the new version of First Choice (Simon Calder)

One of the most familiar names in travel over the turn of the century is back – with a very different proposition.

First Choice became one of the UK’s leading tour operators when it was launched in 1994 to offer mainstream package holidays using a fleet of charter aircraft.

In 2007 it was taken over by Tui, which kept on the First Choice brand for all-inclusive holidays. The name was later dropped.

Now, though, First Choice has been brought back by the travel giant as a holiday booking platform. FirstChoice.co.uk offers flight-free travel and backpacking experiences including camping and hostels stays.

The brand is also selling experiences such as cooking classes in Crete, as well as activities including paddleboarding in Mallorca and rafting on the Soča River in Slovenia.

Tui is aiming to lure younger travellers who currently are more likely to put together trips independently. The firm has coined a new term, “fear of better options” or “FOBO”.

Bart Quinton Smith, managing director of First Choice, said: “Our research shows that many of us get a thrill from piecing our perfect trip together. But, in a world of endless choices, the fear of better options can take all the fun out of planning a holiday.”

In a survey by the brand, two in five people said they consider holiday planning to be one of “life’s most stressful decisions”.

First Choice is partnering with an established flight-free operator, Byway Travel. The company says: “Together, First Choice and Byway are helping you learn to love the journey, as well as the destination.”

A three-night break by rail from Manchester to Brussels, travelling on Avanti West Coast and Eurostar, and staying at a guesthouse in the Vorst district of the Belgian capital, costs £516 per person for travel in early October.

First Choice is also offering standard package holidays, with one-week trips available by air from Manchester for less than half the cost of a weekend break in Brussels. Flying on 19 September to the island of Zante, the firm has seven nights in the resort of Laganas for £248 per person.

At the time of its takeover by Tui in 2007, First Choice was one of the “big four” travel firms – along with Airtours, Thomas Cook and Tui itself. Airtours was subsumed into Thomas Cook, which then went bust in 2019. The Thomas Cook brand has now been revived as an online travel agency.