5 2


Magic Rooms and Belleair to merge


Lucy Huxley lucy.huxley@travelweekly.co.uk


Belleair Holidays owner The Holiday Malta Company has pledged support for the trade after announcing it is to merge with bed bank Magic Rooms.


Holiday Malta operates brands including Belleair, Malta Direct and Flexicruise. The merger is due to be completed by May 31. Magic Travel Group Limited will be the umbrella company for all brands within the portfolio. Holiday Malta Company joint


director James Coughlan said the two businesses would combine to “bring together two highly complementary businesses that will be well-placed for further growth in both the B2B and B2C sectors”. Belleair has been operating


for more than 40 years, initially as a Malta specialist, but latterly offering a broader range of worldwide destinations, including brands in the cruise sector. Magic Rooms was set up in


2014 by former Thomas Cook chief executive Manny Fontenla-


Novoa, who is now chairman of the bed bank. Coughlan and Holiday Malta co-director Dave Green both worked for Fontenla-Novoa at Cook. Green said the merger would mean better commercial terms through increased buying power that could be passed on to agents. He said: “We’ve found the match


that we wanted to find. It’s a great mutual fit. We’ve known each other for a long time and we both have ambitious growth plans for the future.” Coughlan added: “We have certain growth that we’re looking at. We have a clear plan and if you said that plan was A to Z, we’re currently only at D or E with this deal. There is more to come.” He stressed that all the current


trading brands would remain initially and “will continue operating in their own right”. Coughlan said there would


be “more options and choice for agents” following the merger. But he said the combined group


would look at its organisational structure. Magic Rooms carries more than 200,000 passengers and turns over £30 million a year.


3


John Hays: ‘It’s the most proud I’ve ever felt in my life’


STORIES HOT


Sunderland gives Hays civic honour


Lucy Huxley lucy.huxley@travelweekly.co.uk


John Hays, managing director of independent travel agency chain Hays Travel, will today receive Sunderland’s highest civic honour when he is given the Freedom of the City.


Hays opened his first agency in the back of his mother’s clothing shop in Seaham, County Durham, in 1982. He opened his second shop, in Sunderland, where the Hays empire has its headquarters, and has since grown the business to one with an £800 million turnover. It is the largest private sector employer in the city. The honour is bestowed upon


a highly valued member of the community or visiting celebrity. Hays, who will be honoured alongside former Sunderland Football Club goalkeeper legend Jimmy Montgomery, said there would also be a “strange irony” about the ceremony. “My wife, Irene, was recently


asked to go back as chief executive of Sunderland City Council. So I


don’t really know what’s going to happen on Thursday, but Irene has already had a rehearsal for it, in full wig and gown. “I’m delighted to be recognised


by my city in this way. It’s the most proud I’ve ever felt in my life.” Hays Travel opened its fifth shop in the Leeds Bradford area last week and will open a further six in the region in the next two months. The chain, which acquired Bath


Travel in 2013, also opened two new stores in the southwest, in Exmouth and Chard, and will open a third, in Tiverton, this week. More shop openings are planned in the second half of 2016. Hays said the company had


employed 100 extra employees this year and had taken on more than 200 apprentices. Asked for his views on


Barrhead Travel chairman Bill Munro recently announcing he was also looking to open shops in the Leeds Bradford area (TravelWeekly, May 5), Hays said: “I’ve lived with competition all my life. It’s just how it is. “But we have done everything


we said we would and we are rolling them out pretty fast.”


12 May 2016 travelweekly.co.uk 5


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76