Hays Travel eyes further acquisitions after Cruise.co.uk deal

Hays Travel is considering further acquisitions to bolster its long-haul and specialist business after striking a deal to take over Cruise.co.uk parent Victoria Travel Group from private equity firm Bridgepoint.

The company previously outlined a strategy to develop its long-haul and cruise sales so each makes up a third of its business alongside short-haul.

Speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, owner and chair Dame Irene Hays said the future of travel agents lay in booking more-complex, higher-value holidays, which also contributed higher margins.

Adding the company would continue to grow through acquisitions as well as organically, she said: “We are not moving away from short-haul. In fact we are continuing to grow it significantly but at the same time we are elevating cruise and long-haul.

“I think in the future, the preference would be acquisitions in the long-haul and cruise area.”

The Victoria Travel Group deal is the agency’s first OTA acquisition and covers the Seascanner brand and German division Kreuzfahrtberater.de in addition to Cruise.co.uk.

It is Hays’ seventh acquisition since 2019 and follows its recent acquisition of 12-branch Spear Travels as well as Miles Morgan Travel, Travel House and Just Go Travel in recent years.

Existing chief executive Chris Gardner will continue to lead Victoria Travel Group as a standalone business, with Hays chief operating officer Jonathon Woodall-Johnston joining its board alongside Hays non-executive director and experienced cruise executive Jo Rzymowska.

Dame Irene described the deal for an established business with a total transaction value last year of £252 million as “significant and clear-cut” and said it would offer Hays a ready-made platform to expand its online presence and test the water of operating in an overseas market.

She also said the two businesses were complementary but “played in different spaces”, with Hays’ bookings focused on future seasons and Cruise.co.uk “more successful in selling closer to sailing”.

She added: “It was a very simple decision. We have been looking at moving online and we wanted something where there was already a very good reputation, a very strong senior team and that we were comfortable that we could work together.”

Gardner said the deal offered Victoria Travel Group “a new long-term home” after 20 years of private equity investment, adding: “The team is very excited and I think it’s an important test whether the senior leadership team in any business is engaged with the idea of doing something different and starting a new chapter.”

He said: “We’re going to really celebrate and value the differences between the businesses, as we are different [and] we are going to remain separate.

“We’re going to learn as much as we possibly can from Hays Travel, and we hope we can help them along the way as well.

“This is a travel business that’s been incredibly successful over these last few years especially and we want to be a part of that journey with Irene and Jonathon.”