NEWS FACE TO FACE


ALI SHAH


Travel Up Group


Travel entrepreneur explains how in 12 years he turned a one-man operation in his living room into a £200 million business. Lee Hayhurst reports


T


o have achieved what Ali Shah has achieved in just 12 years, having come to the UK from


Pakistan, speaking no English and with no experience of the UK outbound leisure market, is nothing short of remarkable.


And yet, most people in the


travel sector will not have heard of him. Shah, whose firm Travel Up


emerged from relative obscurity two years ago when it bought the assets and brand of failed rival Bookable Holidays, likes to fly under the radar. He says keeping his head


down while training his sights on the future trends that will shape travel has helped Travel Up develop almost unnoticed by its competitors. “That’s been key to our success,”


says Shah. “Our competitors say they did not notice while we came up and overtook them.” Shah claims Travel Up is the


UK’s second-largest Asian-owned 14 travelweekly.co.uk 2 June 2016


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