Harry Chandler (1913–1992) & Rene Chandler MBE (1913–2008) established The Travel Club of Upminster in 1936, and with its advent saw in the origins of the package holiday that has since become the industry giant we know today.

The Travel Club of Upminster came into being following a cycling tour of Switzerland that Harry had thought to arrange as a group trip with the idea of reducing personal cost. Harry was then a young east-Londoner struggling to make ends meet, and although this first excursion did not attract the number of people required to make it a success, it sowed the seeds of what would develop into a post-war joint husband and wife venture, beginning with the sale of the first package holidays on chartered flights to Portugal in the early 1960s. Later, as the Travel Club expanded, the couple would also offer Greece and the Balearic Islands amongst the destinations to choose from.

The Chandlers were founder members of what would become the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO), later merging into ABTA with Harry taking the role of Chairman of the Tour Operators' Council, and Rene holding a place on the Convention Committee.

They were jointly honoured in the 1996 British Travel & Hospitality Hall of Fame, with Harry Chandler being awarded posthumously.