Short-break specialist gains Scottish tour firm in partnership deal

Leeds- based coach holiday and short break specialist­ Caledonian Leisure has completed the acquisition of Tartan Travel as part of a wider mutual partnership with hotel and tour operator Blackpool Promotions.

The acquisition of Glasgow-based Tartan Travel will further strengthen Caledonian Travel’s presence in Scotland, where it already has strong roots, with new departure points Edinburgh, Halbeath and Bathgate, while enabling its customers to enjoy an even greater range of short break and holiday options across the UK, Ireland and Europe.

Founded in Glasgow in 1983, Blackpool Promotions is the UK’s largest coach operator of breaks solely to Blackpool and also owns four hotels there: The Royal Seabank Hotel, The Royal Boston Hotel, The Royal Alexandra Hotel and The Royal Carlton Hotel.

A joint partnership between the two holiday operators will see Caledonian Leisure promote and sell holiday packages featuring Blackpool Promotions’ hotels and also Blackpool Promotions supporting Caledonian package promotions.

Graham Rogers, managing director at Caledonian Leisure, said, “We’re delighted that Tartan Travel has joined the Caledonian family, and look forward to welcoming their customers on one of our short breaks and holidays. We’re also pleased to announce our partnership with Blackpool Promotions, a specialist tour operator to Blackpool as we look to increase our offering in the UK’s biggest seaside resort.

“Blackpool has always been one of our best-selling UK destinations, with high levels of packaged sales through both our Caledonian Travel and UKBreakaways brands.

“It was for this reason that we launched the Caledonian Tower Hotel in the resort last year and are thrilled to add Blackpool Promotions’ hotels to our portfolio of products going forward. All four hotels are renowned for offering excellent facilities and entertainment and will complement our existing range of partner hotels in Blackpool.

“Blackpool Promotions shares our ‘customer first approach’, and we look forward to working closely with the team to create memorable package breaks for our customers in this fabulous resort.”

John Westhead, operations director of Blackpool Promotions said: “This is the first time we have ever partnered with another holiday operator but one that we’re extremely excited about. With both companies being leading operators of breaks to Blackpool and Caledonian’s performance in the past couple of years being nothing short of extraordinary, we believe joining forces between our two reputable brands will deliver exceptional products and packages to our growing audiences to mutual benefit.”

Since launching in June 2021, Caledonian Leisure has enjoyed impressive year-on-year growth, with sales of over 850,000 customers across its brands: coach holiday company Caledonian Travel and hotel breaks and events specialist UKBreakaways.com.