Five of Kuoni’s 12 shops will join Advantage Travel Centres managed services scheme by the end of the year as the first agency chain to sign up.
The remaining seven outlets, and up to eight new stores being phased in next year, are due to join once the partnership has proven to be a success, according to Advantage
The deal will enable Kuoni’s travel stores to offer a broader range of non Kuoni products and services but the company stressed it would not be “selling everything”.
The first five Kuoni shops to join will be in Bristol, Bluewater, Cheltenham, Milton Keynes and Solihull.
Advantage Managed Services, introduced last year, offers travel agents an opportunity to off load back office functions as well as allowing independent specialists to broaden their range of products and services.
Kuoni distribution and operations vice president Derek Jones said: “The Kuoni retail estate is growing quickly and we need to ensure that we are delivering a tailored range of top quality luxury holidays.
“We have rapidly established ourselves as the leading luxury travel agent in the UK and our customers expect us to able to cater for all of their luxury travel needs.
“We’re not planning to sell everything though, we will hand pick a small number of key suppliers in the premium sector to recommend to our customers.”
Advantage chief executive John McEwan said: “We firmly believe that Advantage Managed Services is the most competitive and transparent managed service agreement in the travel sector, offering a fair partnership and best share of profits to its members.
“We plan to significantly increase the number of our managed services members over the coming 12 months and signing Kuoni is a great start.”