[1][2] Club 18-30 was set up in 1968 by the Horizon Group to offer package holidays targeted at young singles and couples to travel without families or children.

Advertising for the company promoted the idea of holidays with sexually-active and uninhibited, often alcohol-fuelled fellow holidaymakers, which would become Club 18-30's reputation.

In 1995, the company was sold for around £9.75m as a part of a "bimbo" (Buy-in Management Buyout) with various venture capitalists, including Royal Sun Alliance and others and incorporated with Sunset Holidays and the newly-formed airline Flying Colours.

In 2002, following a strategic review of the business, the management company UP Trips was formed to ensure that Club 18-30 retained its dominant position in the youth market by providing a dynamic package offering.

From 2008 onwards, Club 18-30 continued as a part of Thomas Cook, specialising in the youth travel market.

In May 2018, Thomas Cook announced that, due to the changing tastes of consumers and a new focus on the company's own brand portfolio, the future of Club 18-30 would be reviewed.

[4] The adverts were the subject of an activist graffiti campaign in Manchester[5] and succeeded in gaining local and national media attention.