Travel Counsellors pulls out of US market

BOLTON-based travel agency Travel Counsellors has closed down its operations in the United States.

The company, which is majority owned by founder David Speakman, has said that its decision to withdraw from the market was based on the weak economic environment in the country and the fact that it had taken “much longer than we expected to get the traction needed”, according to managing director Steve Byrne.

He said that Travel Counsellors would now concentrate its efforts in North America on the Canadian market.

“We are very grateful for the support we have had from the industry and specifically those agents and staff that joined us,” said Byrne. “At its peak, we had about 50 agents out of the current total of 1200. When the overall economic environment improves and we believe the market is more conducive to our model, we will consider returning to the US market.”

The Us was the third overseas base established by Travel Counsellors when it was set up four years ago, but the company argues that its other markets are helping the business to grow “at an extraordinary rate”.

Travel Counsellors Group recently filed accounts for the year to October 31, 2009, which showed that the total transaction value of the holidays it sold increased by 3.2% to £253m. Pre-tax profits also climbed to £544,618 (2008: £15,470) reflecting what it described as “the underlying profitability of the UK business and the increasing maturity of the six international businesses we have launched in recent years”.

Byrne said that the firm’s global sales were up 30% this year, having increased by 20% in the UK and 100% in its other international markets – Ireland, Canada, South Africa, the Netherlands and Australia.

“Worldwide turnover for the year to the end of October 2010 is expected to be £320 million,” he said.

“This growth is testament to the  success of our relationship-based model; recruiting full-time professional agents and empowering and enabling/training them to build fantastic relationships and friendships with customers.”