According to Which? Travel 13 million, or one in seven, Brits take a group holiday every year. The consumer publication asked for feedback from its members earlier this year for their experiences in travelling as part of a group.

The scores in each category were based on a total of 2,852 member experiences, which in some cases included non-escorted tour holidays.

The final list comprises companies that Which? Travel received 30 or more responses about.

Which? Travel editor Jill Starley-Grainger said: “The companies that came top achieved good scores for quality of transport, accurate tour descriptions and value for money.”

In last year’s overview of the sector, Riviera Travel finished in joint fourth position with a score of 87%. Trailfinders finished top that year on 92%. But Which? Travel said it had not received enough responses about Trailfinders from members to include it this year.

Caroline Brown, commercial director at Shearings Holidays, said: “It’s great for our brand to be ranked amongst such premium operators and we’re pleased to receive a high score for value for money, tour guides and transport. As a group, we carry one million passengers every year and monitor customer satisfaction using questionnaires.

We’ve had 250,000 questionnaires completed which on average rate us at 80% for customer satisfaction. This rating has been climbing steadily since we introduced the questionnaires 18 months ago.”

The scores

1. Riviera Travel (89%)
2. Explore (88%)
3. Great Rail Journeys (85%)
4. Exodus (84%)
5. Voyages Jules Verne (84%)
6. Ramblers Worldwide Holidays (80%)
7. Titan (78%)
8. Shearings (73%)