Colletts Travel plans to retain the brand Fortune Travel after acquiring the agency for an undisclosed sum.
Roy Collett, managing director of Colletts Travel, which has offices in Hendon, north London, and Rossendale, Lancashire, said the newly-acquired agency in London’s Hampstead Garden Suburb would become a division of Colletts rather than lose its name.
“It will be run separately and we would probably look to make it division of Colletts. We have got a northern office in Rossendale and that’s a division of Colletts,” he said.
But for the moment it will be “business as usual” for the seven-strong agency, he added. All seven staff are being retained.
Joint managing directors Collett and Michael Berlin say Fortune Travel will also benefit from some of the competitive supplier rates Collett has access to as a founding member of travel industry luxury network Virtuoso.
“The idea is to incorporate as much as possible from the benefits we have as Colletts Travel. You cannot just be an agency booking packages any more, you need the flexibility to be able to book tailor-made trips.
“We have access to preferential rates for major hotel chains and cruises. We can package up holidays ourselves or use tour operators. Fortune Travel will benefit from our negotiated rates.”
Colletts also has a direct-sell, Atol-bonded tour operation, Colletts Collection.
Collett added that the company had not ruled out further acquisitions in future. “We will always look at opportunities that come along,” he said.