Travel Counsellors announces the acquisition of Holidaysplease

We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of Holidaysplease, a leading network of specialist luxury travel advisors. This marks an exciting milestone in our mission to support and grow our vibrant community of travel entrepreneurs.

Supporting Travel Entrepreneurs with the Holidaysplease Acquisition

Holidaysplease, based in Birmingham, is an award-winning travel company boasting approximately 100 home-working travel experts, 50 franchisees, and around 50 employees. The company aligns strongly with Travel Counsellors’ people-first values and customer-focused business model.

This acquisition will enable nearly 2,000 travel professionals in our global network to leverage our personal digital platform and community to scale their businesses effectively. Holidaysplease homeworkers and franchisees will continue running their businesses with the support of their current Directors, staff, and leadership team while benefiting from joining the broader Travel Counsellors family.

The collaboration paves the way for shared expertise, collective growth, and an exciting future for both brands. It exemplifies our commitment to empowering entrepreneurs and delivering exceptional customer service.

A Historic Milestone for Travel Counsellors

This is our first-ever acquisition in almost 30 years and comes on the heels of record-breaking performance in January 2023, where we achieved £114m in sales. This success reflects 65% growth compared to pre-pandemic levels and an impressive start to our financial year. With official results to be announced soon, we look forward to continuing our growth trajectory.

CEO Steve Byrne shares his vision

Steve Byrne, CEO of Travel Counsellors, comments:

“We are delighted to have acquired such a highly regarded and successful business, finding a company that is both culturally and strategically aligned to our people-led values and focus on customer care. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the entire Holidaysplease community; we are extremely excited at what this combination will mean for both businesses, our communities of travel experts, and our customers.

“We are incredibly passionate and focused on building a community of the very best travel entrepreneurs who are empowered by our platform to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Both businesses share incredibly similar cultures and this is clearly reflected in both brands’ excellent customer feedback and ratings, including consistently achieving 5-star ‘Excellent’ ratings on Trustpilot.

“Both businesses share outstanding momentum having each delivered exceptional growth in 2022 as well as record-breaking performances in January 2023. I am confident that this move will only serve to strengthen both business’ momentum and offers a safe, secure, and exciting future for all within the community.”

Strengthening a shared commitment to excellence

Charles Duncombe, Director of Holidaysplease comments:

“We are delighted that Holidaysplease is joining the Travel Counsellors community. Travel Counsellors is a business we have long-admired for its relentless customer focus, multi-award-winning proposition, and outstanding, technology-led growth.

“The opportunity to become part of such a strong, fast-growing business with significant growth prospects was incredibly compelling. I would like to thank our staff, homeworkers, franchisees and customers who have contributed to our success so far, and have no doubt that our community will continue to thrive and be cared for as part of Travel Counsellors. I am looking forward to working closely with Steve and the rest of the Travel Counsellors team to deliver our ambitious shared vision for the future.”

Join a thriving community of travel entrepreneurs

This acquisition cements our position as the UK’s largest technology platform empowering travel entrepreneurs. With shared values and momentum, the merger ensures long-term growth, exciting opportunities, and continued excellence for all involved.

Are you ready to join a global community of entrepreneurial travel professionals? Discover how we can support you in building and growing your travel business.

Interested in joining our global community of business owners? Get in touch with us here.