Travel Counsellors’ annual transactional value nears £1 billion
Ilaria Grasso MacolaTravel Counsellors says its trading momentum has continued in the first six months of its new financial year, with annual transaction value nearing £1 billion and new agent numbers up by nearly a quarter.
The pioneering homeworking firm on Thursday (25 July) revealed in a trading update that total transaction value (TTV) ran to £941.6 million in its 2022/23 full year (12 months to 31 October 2023), up 31% year-on-year thanks to its B2C and corporate business segments delivering record results.
Corporate TTV ran to £215 million, while B2C sales accounted for nearly four-in-five sales (79%). TTV is up a further 14% year-on-year in the first six months of its 2023/24 full-year (six months to 30 April 2024).
Top-selling destinations during H1 2023/24 included Thailand, Japan and Sri Lanka, as well as favourites such as the Middle East, Indian Ocean, US and Mediterranean.
Travel Counsellors also welcomed 148 new homeworkers and franchisees during H1 2023/24, an increase of nearly a quarter (23%) compared with the same period last year.
Full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda), meanwhile, increased by just shy of two-thirds (64%) to £32.8 million, while revenue increased in line with TTV, up by 31% from £347.8 million to £456.6 million.
Travel Counsellors chief executive Steve Byrne attributed the "positive outcome" to its differentiation strategy and the "dedicated and relentless customer focus" of its community, comprising both its employed support team and its network of more than 2,000 trading Travel Counsellors.
Byrne added Travel Counsellors "asset-light business model" had allowed it to "further capitalise on the continued growth in the global travel market".
Travel Counsellor numbers increased by more than 300 in its 2022/23 full year to 31 October, both organically and through its acquisition of Holidaysplease for an undisclosed sum in March 2023 – the firm’s first acquisition in its 30-year history, which it followed up at the start of the year with a deal for travel technology platform Planisto.
Speaking in January, Byrne said Planisto would bring "market-leading functionality" to its TCs, allowing them to create and manage complex, personalised itineraries for their clients.
"I’m extremely confident that, underpinned by continuous investment in developing our proprietary technology, we are exceptionally well placed to further build on our significant growth over the coming years," said Byrne on Thursday (25 July).
“We are focused on continuing to disrupt the travel market through personalised service and our scalable, relevant, and differentiated business model."
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Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
