Travel agency, tour operator and other reservation service and related activities (SIC division 79)
Division 79 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 4 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
What sits in division 79
Division 79 splits the travel trade by who carries the risk. Agencies under 79110 sell travel provided by others. Tour operators under 79120 contract and package it themselves. Code 79909 collects other reservation services, from booking platforms to ticket agencies. Tourist guides have their own code, 79901. The public record mixes long-established shopfront agencies with a big wave of home-working franchise agents. That is why many entries show a home address and no premises. Read that, rather than filtering it out.
Suppliers to travel work these codes for bedbank access, booking technology, merchant payment services and specialist insurance. ATOL consultants and trade associations target new tour operators, who face financial protection duties that agencies do not. A fresh 79120 incorporation is a strong sign that licensing help will be wanted. Marketing services do well with homeworker agents, where the poor-website filter shows real unmet need rather than a dead company. Travel is seasonal, so timing outreach around booking peaks is worth the effort.
How to read a division 79 code
A UK SIC code is five digits and division 79 is the first two of them. Everything filed under 79 shares those digits: all 4 codes below begin 79, then the third digit narrows to a group, the fourth to a class and the fifth to the subclass a company actually picks. Division 79 sits inside section N, administrative and support service activities, which is the broadest tier of the classification. So a code is read left to right, from an industry down to a specific activity.
More on how division 79 codes are built
Companies choose their own codes at incorporation and can change them on any confirmation statement, and Companies House does not check the answer. A company may list up to four. That is worth knowing before you treat any division total as a headcount: the numbers here are what companies said about themselves, on the August 2026 register, and the largest single code in this division is 79110, travel agency activities.
Working division 79 as a list
Division 79 holds 4 codes and 30,894 active companies between them. One code carries most of it: 79110 accounts for 51 per cent on its own, and the top three take 91 per cent, with the rest spread across the remaining 1 code. Filtering by the whole division is therefore close to filtering by 79110 with a tail attached, so start from the code and widen only if the list runs dry.
More on working division 79
A caveat that matters more in some divisions than others: a company may register up to four SIC codes, and the figures below count every position, not just the first. A business filed under two codes in this division appears under both. Treat the totals as reach rather than a headcount, and if you need a clean list, filter to companies whose FIRST code sits in the division. Every company you pull carries the Companies House record, the director's name, a verified website and a verified email, and the ones we cannot complete are not charged.
Prospecting this division
Division 79 companies, as leads
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Division 79 questions
Do I need an ATOL before registering a travel SIC code?
No, the two are unrelated. Companies House accepts any SIC code without checks, chosen at incorporation or on the confirmation statement (CS01). An ATOL comes from the Civil Aviation Authority. You need one before you sell flight-inclusive holidays in the UK. Many agents avoid holding their own by working under a host or consortium. That is a regulatory decision, not a registration one.
Should my business register as a travel agency or a tour operator?
Pick the code that matches your contractual role. Use 79110 if you sell arrangements as an agent for suppliers. Use 79120 if you contract the parts and package them under your own name, which brings package travel duties with it. Businesses doing both can hold both codes. A company may declare up to 4, and can switch or add codes at any confirmation statement without approval.
Find companies across division 79
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