Caribtours managing director and minority shareholder Paul Cleary has completed a management buyout of the luxury tour operator.
Cleary has purchased 100% of the share capital of the London-based firm from Norman and Valerie Brunskill, who founded Caribtours in 1979, and were seen as pioneers who opened up the Caribbean to luxury tourism.
Cleary was appointed managing director in 1999 and has overseen Caribtours’ expansion for the last 20 years, growing from the Caribbean to add other destinations such as the Indian Ocean, Arabia and luxury breaks in Europe.
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Caribtours has doubled its European programme in the last 12 months including the additions of Santorini, Ibiza and Turkey. It has also opened an office in Dublin in addition to its headquarters in Fulham, south London. It employs 40 people and turned over £17.5 million last year.
A bookable website for travel agents is due to launch soon.
Cleary said: “It has long been the plan for me to do this and I want to thank the Brunskill family for their support. I am immensely proud of what we have achieved on our journey so far and excited too about our plans for the year ahead.
“What we have here is incredibly special – the Caribtours brand is trusted, respected and regarded with real affection by our loyal travel agents, hotel partners, tourist boards and our guests. I am surrounded by our talented and loyal team and we’re perfectly positioned to take advantage of all the opportunities that are open to us. We have some ambitious growth plans that will be shared in February and March.
“This is a very exciting time to be in luxury travel and, with so much consolidation happening in the sector – there is a huge opportunity for us to successfully continue our growth strategy with our loyal independent agents at the heart of everything we do.”
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