Trade-only operator Major Travel has hailed its relationship with InteleTravel since its acquisition by the homeworking agency and insisted it has “turned around” relations with some trade partners whose sales dipped after the deal.
Major sold a 60% stake to InteleTravel in May but insists it remains operationally independent and supportive of all trade partners.
Managing director Qasim Gulamhusein (pictured with InteleTravel chief executive James Ferrara) said growth of the business had “accelerated” since the deal was signed, with the acquisition offering scale to expand.
“We are not a massive company and if you want to be able to compete with direct-sell operators to provide agents the best pricing and service then you need scale,” he said.
“That either meant expanding into direct sales or building our scale to leverage relationships to get exclusive product at the best rates.”
He said: “Our sales through InteleTravel went up [following the deal] and we remain very happy with them, and while some agencies’ sales flattened a bit we have now turned those around.”
Gulamhusein acknowledged some animosity towards InteleTravel from established agencies which object to its rapid growth through recruitment of agents who sell travel as a secondary job.
But he said a growing number of the agency’s recruits were choosing to make travel a full-time career, with some making record-breaking bookings via Major.
“We were one of the first operators to work with InteleTravel and we have had a very good relationship with them since 2018,” he said.
“We took the plunge and it has been good for us in the long run. The quality of agents is improving all the time and we had one booking worth £350,000.”
He added: “Prior to the pandemic we made very few bookings of more than £100,000 but those numbers have risen since Covid, and we are seeing a lot more in the £50,000-plus category with a lot of those coming from InteleTravel.”
InteleTravel is currently completing an integration of Major travel into its booking system to further improve agents’ access. The integration is also available to the operator’s other key agent partners.