Upmarket US agency Travel Leaders Group plans major expansion in the UK. Lee Hayhurst reports
Major US agency Travel Leaders Group, which boasts Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen among its clients, is poised for big growth in the UK.
Its upmarket full-service travel agency brands Tzell and Protravel could grow their number of UK agents by as much as five times as part of major international expansion plans.
Speaking to Travel Weekly as Travel Leaders prepared to showcase its new central London offices, close to Leicester Square, chief executive Barry Liben (pictured) said: “We just want to grow”.
Travel Leaders has 83 UK agents in total, a mix of office and homeworkers, of which Tzell and Protravel account for 60, turning over £40 million a year.
Luxury Glasgow-based agency Scotia Travel is also part of the group, following a buyout by Protravel’s Pro Luxury Cruise arm in 2012, and it has a fledgling Cruise Holidays franchise in the UK.
Liben said the decision to grow the UK business came after the performance of its operations in London, set up primarily to support the US, indicated there were opportunities to grow.
Travel Leaders also intends to open new offices in other major European cities, starting with Paris within the next few months, and it has its eye on Asia and Dubai.
Asked how big the UK operation could become, Liben said no number had been put on it, but added: “Three hundred, 500 agents? We just want to grow.
“I would hope when I retire in five years’ time we will be in a dozen cities in Europe. We understand there are challenges. We won’t be silly.
“Europe is made up of a lot of different countries so we will go slowly and deliberately – we might acquire or we might start up on our own.
“We will take each city individually and go about growing in the best way. We are formally committed to London because it is a key global city.”
Travel Leaders is looking to acquire agencies or take on agents who have high-value clients to offer a concierge-style service catering for their every travel need, be it corporate or leisure.
In the UK, Tzell and Protravel are particularly strong in the entertainment and music industries, which is also a lucrative source of clients in the US.
But hedge fund companies and other smaller entrepreneurial corporations that want service above everything else are also a prime target.
Liben said: “Agents come to us with a book of business and we provide them with everything they need: space, technology, accounting, deals and, most importantly, our name and influence.”
He added he is never short of potential acquisition targets. “I don’t think a week goes by when someone does not want to sell themselves to me.
“We only buy best-in-class people, who we feel we can have a relationship with and that have been rooted in their markets for a long time.”
Tzell and Protravel operate a commission-based remuneration package for its agents and Liben said average earnings are much higher than in salaried roles.
He claimed in the US, where the group accounts for about one-third of all travel agency operations, its 50 top agents earn an average of $300,000 a year.
Travel Leaders’ overall revenue grew to £12 billion last year from £3 billion in 2008. “There is an unlimited amount of clients with money that’s growing every day,” said Liben. “More people have money now than ever before, and those people are spending it on travel.”