More mergers and acquisitions were predicted for the trade by Hays Travel founder John Hays who denied this was a sign of an industry in decline.
“There are a lot of opportunities out there, but you have to careful about what acquisitions are made. I have got no intention of being acquire, we are acquisitive at the moment,” he said.
Hays said commentators on the industry tend to make the mistake of thinking only about the high street when they talk about travel retail.
But he said there was a mix of online, call centre and homeworking interests throughout the sector, some of which are affiliated to Hays Travel.
The retailer’s own Independence Group consortium includes the likes of pure online player Sunshine Travel, which is a trading name of Hays Travel.
“The travel industry will never stall,” Hays said. “I think the industry’s in a constant state of flux, I think it will constantly change.
“Although there will be consolidation there will always be entrepreneurs and always be new people coming through and these are not always in the obvious online environment.”