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Loveholidays eyes long-haul sector
Lucy Huxley and Lee Hayhurst
Loveholidays will grow its long-haul business and launch in other countries after being sold to private equity investor Livingbridge.
The online travel agent, which
was founded in 2012, has been one of the UK’s fastest-growing travel firms and is now the sixth-biggest Atol-holder. It is licensed to carry just over 800,000 customers a year, fewer than On the Beach (1.3 million) but more than Travel Republic (610,000). The company’s founders, Alex
Francis and Jonny Marsh, and the senior team will remain in place. Speaking to Travel Weekly,
co-founder and chief executive Francis said: “We are still exploring further growth opportunities, which will include long-haul. We believe with Livingbridge’s support we can continue this.” Francis would not confirm the
value of the deal but it is rumoured to be about £180 million. He said the company was still
exploring options in terms of international expansion. Asked why he thought
Loveholidays had been so successful, Francis said: “We do things a little differently. We believe everything is possible and that a lot can be achieved in a day. When we started, everyone in the industry said what we wanted to do was impossible and there was an incredible lethargy. “‘That’s just the way it is’ was
what we heard the most. “We’ve really disrupted how things are done and believe it’s making us and everyone we work with better every day.” He also praised the Loveholidays
team and all its partners. “We are very different to
everyone else in the industry, but they’ve put up with our demands and we are grateful to them for their support,” Francis added. Livingbridge owns Sykes Cottages
and is a former investor in rival OTA On the Beach, which floated on the stock exchange in 2015. Loveholidays employs 250people
and reports a total transaction value of more than £300 million.
‘Day-to-day role of Tui agents will evolve’
Flintham hints at future agent role
Lucy Huxley
lucy.huxley@
travelweekly.co.uk
The role of travel agents may evolve to focus more on customer service and less on selling holidays, according to the travel giant’s new UK boss.
Andrew Flintham said the business would always need “people to talk to customers” but the day-to-day role of its retail agents “may evolve”. In his first interview since
being appointed UK managing director, Flintham said a “blend” of distribution channels was required but insisted the future of the Tui retail estate was strong. “We’ll always need people to
Co-founders Alex Francis (left) and Jonny Marsh
talk to our customers,” he said. “They are the face of the business. There’s a huge amount of loyalty to our agents. I’m always impressed when I go into a Tui shop and see customers come in asking for a specific consultant and saying they will come back if he or she happens to be on their day off. “What our agents do day-to-day
may evolve. They are currently a sales team but they could become
more of a customer service team. “We want to make booking and
taking a holiday with us as easy as possible, and so if there is a place customers can go to get advice, book excursions and extras, and get their boarding passes printed – that could be really appealing for some. There are many people who live completely online, but there are plenty who don’t, and so our retail shops could help them.” Tui currently operates 600
shops. Flintham said the company was “continually reviewing” its high street locations and “remixing” where they are. Commenting on third-party
sales, Flintham acknowledged Tui had a direct-sell approach but stressed it would always consider working with more independents where it made sense. “It’s not a fixed piece. That’s
not it for ever,” he said. “There’s a chance we will work with others if we need support in certain regions or with certain products.” Flintham, formerly Tui’s commercial director, succeeded Nick Longman as head of Tui in
the UK on March 1. › Face to Face, page 14
31 May 2018
travelweekly.co.uk 5 3 STORIES HOT
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