Caribtours promises trade loyalty and new destinations following merger
Caribtours will introduce new destinations following its merger with US-based ID Travel Group, while insisting it is business as usual with the trade.
Paul Cleary, Caribtours chief executive, has confirmed he will stay on with the operator following the merger. He said the partners would “learn from each other”.
"We can see what they are doing possibly in the Far East and certainly in Africa, it gives us an easy entry if we want to,” Cleary told TTG.
However, he ruled out expanding the Caribtours brand to Australia, another ID destination, “at the moment”. “What agents don’t want to see is you expanding just because you can,” he said.
ID Travel Group was founded as Island Destinations by UK-born Maurice Bonham-Carter, a former investment banker who moved into tourism.
He started the business in New York more than 30 years ago to provide reservations and marketing services for his resorts in the British Virgin Islands, as well as Anguilla’s Arawak Inn.
Cleary said he led a management buyout of Caribtours in 2019 with a view to passing it on to ID Travel Group, but due to the pandemic, this was only made public in October 2022. Completion did not take place until this year.
“The deal was signed on 1 January [2024] – but we then got into peak season and since then, we’ve been planning the next steps,” he explained.
Cleary joins the ID Travel board as a partner and becomes chief commercial officer alongside chief executive Bonham-Carter, partner and chief operating officer Laurie Palumbo, and partner and chief financial officer Padu Padmanaban.
Bonham-Carter said: "I’ve known Paul for more than 30 years and I’m excited to bring this merger to fruition as we share the same values and vision.”
Cleary added Caribtours would not change its approach to business or expand for the sake of it following the deal: “Of course there are synergies, but they should not be the reason for it.
"The reason is we’re doing a beautiful job here and they have a wonderful business there. That’s the joy of it, not the cost savings. I’ve seen it so many times where companies lose the very reason they are loved.”
However, he hinted at future acquisitions. “We will see over time what happens whether we add other companies. There is a whole world out there.
"So long as we can expand in a well thought-through way, we will, but we have to add value because travel advisors crave operators that really know their area and see through it when people are faking.”
He insisted the end game was not a full sale to ID. “Not at all – we still have a lot of energy for this.
"Last year was the second-most successful in our history, and this year is equally exciting. Things have never been better in the UK and Ireland; the outlook is so encouraging. We’ll keep doing what we do.”
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