US travel giant acquires UK’s Colletts Travel
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US-based Travel Leaders Group has acquired UK-based Colletts Travel, including its prestigious Colletts Collection.
The acquisition is a concerted move by the company, formerly known as Carlson Leisure Group, to further enhance its expertise in counselling and serving affluent travellers globally. Colletts Travel will maintain its distinct brand identity within Travel Leaders UK, Travel Leaders Group’s United Kingdom operations.
Established in 1983 by Roy Collett to focus on luxury vacations in worldwide destinations, Colletts Travel has grown into one of the UK’s most respected luxury travel agencies. With annual sales of approximately $57 million, Colletts Travel is headquartered in the London suburb of Hendon, and employs 48 staff across its three London-area offices, as well as in Lancashire.
The leadership of Colletts Travel – including Roy Collett and Michael Berlin, who each serve as Managing Directors – will report to Travel Leaders Elite Division President Gail Grimmett, who is also responsible for Protravel International and Tzell Travel Group.
“We are thrilled to welcome Colletts Travel – along with its leadership, its highly skilled luxury travel agents, and its exceptional clientele – into the Travel Leaders Group family. What attracted us to Colletts is its strong brand reputation within the UK’s luxury leisure market,” explained Ninan Chacko, CTC, Chief Executive Officer for Travel Leaders Group. “Colletts only strengthens our already formidable expertise in counseling luxury clientele both in the United Kingdom and throughout the world.”
“Together with our Protravel and Tzell UK operations, the addition of Colletts Travel further fortifies our platform in the United Kingdom as we expand our leadership position in serving the extraordinary and sophisticated needs of ultra-high net worth leisure travelers,” added Grimmett.
“After 33 years of serving the traveling public, Michael Berlin and I decided that the best path forward to accelerate Colletts Travel’s growth was to secure the backing of a major travel company in the United States,” noted Collett. “As the largest traditional travel agency enterprise in North America, Travel Leaders Group will dramatically heighten the array of offerings we can provide to our discerning clientele.”
Travel Leaders UK now consists of Colletts Travel, Protravel International UK and Tzell UK, which are among the UK’s leading travel companies that employ both independent and in-house travel agents. Combined, the three brands together are ranked among the top 20 travel management companies in the UK.
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