private travel company behind the mighty Southall Travel, whose owner Kuljinder Bahia has featured in the Sunday Times Rich List.
Different path
Still some way behind but determined to catch up, Travel Up has followed a different path from Southall, which grew its business out of a high street store specialising in the Indian diaspora in London visiting friends and relatives. Travel Up began life as a
Teletext-based leisure travel agent, specialising more in Asia and Australasia holidays than short- haul fly-and-flop breaks. Shah says despite the challenges
of not speaking English, running an agency in the UK was relatively simple compared with working as a business travel agent in Pakistan. “Travel in Pakistan was really complicated at that time,” he says. “There were no computers. I
used to create tickets longer than I am tall. Here it’s easy – mostly point to point.” Easier it may have been, but
when Travel Up started, it did not have access to any airline net rates and had to rely on its customer service ethos, something Shah says the firm retains. “I was always very personal with
my customers, taking care of all their needs. I used to buy birthday cards in Tesco for them. “I had no back office –
everything was run manually.” Shah also had to overcome the language barrier. He admits his English was terrible in the early days. “My biggest problem was my language, so I had a script I read out, and I learned English by watching the BBC.
“People still trusted me. I was
never shy. I knew language was how I had to communicate my message and understand what people wanted from me.” Before long, Shah had opened
a shop on Reading’s busy Oxford Road. But he saw early on the demise of Teletext’s analogue model, and that the way forward was to be an online travel agent and embrace Google. By this time, Travel Up had
joined the Travel Trust Association which came with Atol licensing and, crucially, a Streamline merchant payment machine. He engaged the services of a
technology expert and built a bespoke system called ‘e-traveller’ to run the OTA, which still forms the backbone of Travel Up today. “That was one of the best decisions I made,” says Shah. “If we had gone through a third party, we would still be reliant on them today. “The system’s one of the best
in the market because it’s built with a travel agent mindset, not a software engineer’s mindset. “I’m always focused on what my customers want to do.”
Growth strategy Shah has also been savvy in how he’s grown the company, taking advantage of opportunities as they have emerged. In 2011, he acquired
London-based South American specialist Bravo Travel from the owner, who he was introduced to by an airline partner. Diversifying from its grow-by- acquisition strategy, in January 2014 Travel Up launched the
Magicholidays.com brand, which specialises in selling Orlando trips to first-timers. Based in Blackpool, it took
I always wanted to do something on a bigger scale. I still think that the best is yet to come. Maybe one day I will come up with an idea that will replace Google
advantage of job losses at Travel City Direct, formerly an XL Leisure Group brand that was taken on by Virgin Holidays, picking up 15 former employees. Later that year, Travel Up bought
Bookable Holidays and moved into its headquarters in Aldermaston, Berkshire. The following month, it announced the acquisition of
HolidayGenie.com.
Global reach
Today, Travel Up is a family of brands with global reach. Employing more than 150 people, its specialist brands offer personal service on the phone, while its core business is conducted online. It is looking to build on its
packaged holiday offering in its main markets such as the US and the Caribbean by adding product in the Middle East and Far East. The firm has a growing inhouse
ground-product contracting team to help it maintain a competitive edge, and has just been made a BA preferred partner. The complexity of running a
group of brands is handled by what Shah describes as another shrewd move: investment in good call centre technology. Travel Up operates call centres
in the UK and Pakistan. “We knew what we wanted,”
says Shah. “When other people were spending only about £4,000, we spent £65,000. I have always been a fan of technology. “It’s all about the execution.
Everyone has plans, but it’s execution at the right time that makes the difference.” Despite his obvious success in anticipating and adapting to industry trends, Shah admits he does not know what’s coming next to knock Google off its dominant perch. Collecting and analysing data is
vital, he says, but he’s also excited about what artificial intelligence, machine learning and virtual reality promises. But ultimately, Shah believes
offering superior customer service will win the day. “I still think customer service is
Q. Do you prefer tea or coffee? A. Coffee
Q. What is your favourite film? A. The Godfather
Q. Do you have a favourite sports team? A. The English cricket team
Q. Who has been your biggest inspiration in business? A. Steve Jobs
Q. What’s your greatest extravagance? A. Cars
Q. What advice would you give someone entering the travel industry? A. To be ready to take on exciting challenges every day
WITH ALI
Q. What’s your favourite holiday destination? A. Orlando
Q. If you hadn’t become an agent, what would you be? A. Investigative journalist
what makes your brand – that and investment at the right time.” Shah adds: “I want to leave a
legacy to generations to come that someone can come here without any money and end up running the second-biggest Asian-owned travel company. “I have a purpose and that is
I wanted to do something that facilitates people’s lives. “I always wanted to do
something on a bigger scale. I still think that the best is yet to come. “Maybe one day, I will come
up with an idea that will replace Google.” That would be some legacy, and there are many people in travel who would wish him well in that ambition.
2 June 2016
travelweekly.co.uk 15
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