An Elite Travel Group managed agency has become the first to take full control of its business and get its own ABTA number.
Jo Watts founded Holidaze agency in Bournemouth in May 2005 having moved to the area from the Midlands where she spent about 15 years working for the Midlands Co-op Travel.
Now, following nearly five years of Elite running its back-office operations and handling the money, the agency is going it alone so it can take charge of its own finances. It will remain a member of the consortium.
Watts said: “When we started we didn’t know how the business was going to go, so we thought it would be safer to be a managed agent. It is not cheap to join ABTA
so I needed to make sure the business was going to work.”
Elite commercial manager Julie Franklin said: “Holidaze has always been one of our best managed agencies. The staff have worked really hard and really grabbed the bull by the horns.”