About Us - History
Dr Tom Tangney was a well known London GP who became involved in Lourdes pilgrimages as “The Doctor” in 1954. Having five children it was natural for all to be taken to Lourdes from an early age. John Tangney went for the first time in 1961 and managed to go most years in different rolls. On the 11th February 1974 Tangney Tours was founded strangely enough not as a pilgrimage operator. In 1976 the first pilgrimages happened and the business rapidly expanded from there with some of the early pilgrimages still travelling with the company to date.
In 1978 John married Katrien from Bruges, who has taken an active roll in Tangney Tours ever since. In 1980 Nicholas was born followed by William in 1982. Tangney Tours went from strength to strength and in 1994 the newly built freehold premises at Borough Green in Kent were purchased and are still the headquarters today. In 1999 the Hotel Beau Site in Lourdes was purchased jointly with Eric Wagner, who also owns the Hotel Mediterranée.
In 2003 Nicholas joined in the business having qualified in Hotel Management in Switzerland. In 2008 William, now an airline pilot also joined the workforce in his “off” days. The Company is now majority owned by Nicholas and William with John still playing an active part in the management.
Looking to the future, you can be assured that your booking with Tangney Tours will be safe. The Company is unique in its field, being able to look after without hesitation groups as small as a family, to diocesan pilgrimages of more than a thousand people travelling together. Financially, the Company is licensed and bonded well in excess of the requirements of the regulatory bodies and owning the freehold of its premises is well placed to survive the world financial problems of 2008/09 and is expanding to meet the growing demands of the modern pilgrim.
Lourdes
