Travelzest is eyeing up large-scale growth for its niche tour operators after relaunching its flight and holiday websites as core sales channels.
Chief executive Chris Mottershead also hinted the group could buy additional online retailers abroad and more niche operators later in the year.
Both moves indicate the group, which owns operators including Tapestry Holidays, is looking to establish itself as a more powerful portfolio of brands.
The group is revamping online retail sites Flight.co.uk and Holiday.co.uk, acquired when it bought Holiday Express in 2005. Both will have dynamic packaging capability within a year. It also owns the Canadian site Itravel2000.com.
Mottershead said: “Between the sites we have 10 million unique visitors a year. Our operators currently sell thousands, not millions, of holidays. This is a great opportunity to promote our products through one portal.”
The sites have started to advertise Travelzest-owned operator products, opening the operators up to a potential customer base of millions. The group aims to double the size of its operators within three to four years.
Flight.co.uk managing director Carol Dray, who joined the company in November, said: “The breadth of the market we are going to is huge.”
She added there were now 24 deals for Flight.co.uk to sell charter, scheduled and no-frills air fares. Insurance, car hire and hotel-only product will go live shortly.
She added: “There are not many sites that search all these airlines at once.”
Holiday.co.uk has ditched brand names of operators’ selling packages on its site because they were driving traffic to rival sites.
Meanwhile, Mottershead said there was potential to increase sales further by selling to holidaymakers abroad by buying more sites like iTravel2000.
“What’s to stop us promoting to holidaymakers in New Zealand or Australia; we can make the business as big as we want to,” he said.