Travelpack managing director Vishal Patel is excited about the tour operator’s future – with good reason.
The operator has just acquired a new business, providing new product opportunities, and is on target to hit £85 million turnover this year.
While Patel is determined to make the most of the acquisition, he is also set on improving the operator’s service with faster response times to travel agent calls and improved technology, such as its new trade website, due to go live later this year.
More: Travelpack aims for record sales ahead of new trade site launch
Agents account for around 98% of business – it dialled down its direct advertising during Covid – and its sales are split between packages, flight-only and ground-only bookings, including standalone sales of tours, accommodation, cruises and tickets for events.
These component elements are available for agents to dynamically package and pushes its passenger numbers above the number it is licenced to carry via its Atol.
Currently, the company has just under 1,500 ‘active’ agents on its books – it has deals with most agents bar Tui – but gets much of its business from a ‘strong core’.
In fact, it has commercial agreements in place to sell via more than 4,500 agents, which leads Patel to note there is ‘lots of room for improvement’ and sales growth.
Patel is also quick to acknowledge there is still work to be done to improve its trade service levels, adding: “The core focus for me is trade, but we fly under the radar and have work to do.
“We know where we need to make internal improvements, with the speed of our responses on call times and making sure the team know what is important to agents.
“We have a core of agents that give us a lot of business and it is that understanding of what is important to the agent; it’s not just about the price. There are more structures to put in place to service our current partners better.”
On the holidays side of the business, the company has taken on an extra 20 staff in its call centre in India this year. A further 10 have just joined this month and there are plans to take on more. It is also has eight homeworkers in the UK working for its call centre, and also aims to expand that.
Its on-the-road team currently stands at two, down from six pre-Covid, but is already recruiting to increase the number working on the front line with agents.
This year the operator has brought back fam trips for the first time since Covid with Greece this month, Mauritius in October, Sri Lanka next year, and India in the pipeline.
The US is the operator’s biggest seller, followed by south east Asia. Despite being well-known for its long-haul programmes, Patel cites its tailormade European programme, which includes city breaks, as its fastest-growing, while the operator also provides sports packages to events such as Formula One.
The recent acquisition of Infinity Media Promotions, which trades under various names including Infinity Tours, a Latin America specialist, and travel websites such as Infinitycruises.co.uk, provides some obvious opportunities for growth in Latin America and cruise.
“We bought the database, assets and the staff and there have been no changes for them since the acquisition. They are relatively small. We took on £3.2 million worth of forward bookings but they have the potential to do £5 million to £10 million in turnover in the next two to three years,” he says.
Patel insists the acquired business – which is direct-sell – will continue to operate independently while Travelpack can tap into its product and expertise.
He says: “There is a lot to learn and they work in a very different way but it’s important not to destroy the structure they have; they are a really good team and they know cruise product inside out.
“We will keep them at arm’s length. It’s more of a merger than an acquisition. We need to get our systems aligned and we can benefit from the knowledge of their team.”
From a personal point of view Patel – who says he started in the family business as “tea boy” after starting his career in the pharmaceutical sector – also has an ulterior motive to steer the family business towards further growth.
He wants to surpass the turnover achieved by his father – chairman Ashok Patel – in the next two years.
The operator is on target to hit £85 million turnover this year and would need to top £102 million, his father’s record, to achieve his aim.
“I want to make sure we surpass that, I want to beat my dad’s record,” he says, explaining that the company’s previous high turnovers were linked to its legacy in large charter flight commitments out of Manchester to Goa and Canada.
The company ultimately made the decision to pull out of that market. “It became silly money and at the same time there was so much competition. It wasn’t difficult to get the numbers but it was difficult to get profitable numbers,” he adds.
The business, which employs 150 staff in Wembley, London, and has a call centre in India, where it also owns a destination management company, is also looking at other ways to grow, such as expanding into other source markets. The UK makes up the lion’s share of its business currently but it does achieve a slice of sales in India.
“There is no reason why we can’t sell to other source markets such as South Africa or Australia,” he says, adding: “The goal for us to keep growing. I have always got a game plan in my mind.”
More: Travelpack aims for record sales ahead of new trade site launch