Holloways Travel eyes second shop as first branch passes £1m in sales

Welsh agency Holloways Travel is set to open its second retail shop 12 months after its debut store.

The new outlet in Brecon is due to open in October, a year after the agency opened in Abertillery. Holloways Travel was set up by former Hays Travel branch manager Gareth Holloway and is a member of Hays Travel Independence Group.

The initial store has already topped its £1 million annual sales target several months ahead of schedule, driven by a strong lates market alongside robust demand for short-haul, cruise, package and coach holidays.

Holloway and agency director Ray Hudson-Evans have now secured a Grade II listed former art gallery in Brecon town centre for their second premises and aim to align the opening with their upcoming anniversary celebrations.

Holloway told Travel Weekly: “The plan was always to have two shops and we originally said we would start looking 18 months after opening the first, but then I got a bit restless and needed to tap into another market.

“We were specifically looking for somewhere that used to have a travel agency, like our current location in Abertillery. Brecon used to have a Thomas Cook branch and a Hays Travel branch, which both closed down, and there’s not been anyone there serving the high street since.”

Before officially signing the lease on the site, the pair posted on local social media groups to gauge demand for a bricks-and-mortar agency.

The post received more than 300 replies within 48 hours, with local residents overwhelmingly confirming they would “absolutely love a travel agency to open” in the town again.

“It was a complete no-brainer and a definite winner for us,” Holloway said, adding that Brecon would become the agency’s flagship branch, enabling the business to focus more on driving high-margin long-haul sales to a “wealthier” rural clientele across the region.

Holloways Travel staff will be shared across both Welsh locations, while trade partners and suppliers have been invited to sponsor dedicated window displays at the new Brecon store.

Hudson-Evans said the agency plans to open the second branch shortly after holding a first-birthday celebration for 1,300 customers, suppliers and local community members at a nearby venue on October 1, exactly one year after the business opened its doors for trading.