Well Situated Travel Agents For Sale

Business description

Well-situated Travel Agent specialising in the
Far East
Freehold premises
Excellent profit record
Annual sales in excess of £2m
Prominent High Street location
Large, Far Eastern multi-national Clients
Excellent reputation for customer service
Significant Retail and Corporate Client base
Perfectly situated at the heart of the Far Eastern ex-pat community
Main agents for several Far Eastern international & domestic airlines
Well trained, highly experienced employees
Far Eastern language speaking staff
Excellent growth opportunities
High level of repeat business
Long established reputation
Training and handover
Goodwill

Established nearly twenty years ago this very successful business specialises in providing Far Eastern travel to an extensive retail and Corporate Client base including a number of large multi-national corporations. This business is a main agent for several Far Easter and Asian international and domestic airlines.
Ideally situated in a prominent High Street location in the heart of a very strong Far Eastern ex-pat community, this business specialises in providing flights, hotels, car hire, insurance and packages to the Far East. As such it is able to offer airline fares direct to the public at a level at which other travel agents purchase at.
As well as extremely competitive fares, the cornerstone of the success of this business has been its commitment to customer service. This commitment to high quality, personal, customer care has earned it a deservedly strong reputation amongst customers and suppliers alike – reflected in the fact that nearly 80% of business booked is either on behalf of a large Far Eastern multi-national or by one of their employees.
The business has invested extensively in technology and employs a computerized administration and booking system as well as using the Internet and e-mail to ensure Clients have constant contact and support from the company. All of the staff are very experienced and well trained. Far Eastern ex-pats themselves, they are able to communicate with customers and suppliers in their own language and draw upon their local knowledge, resulting in a very high share of custom from the local marketplace but perhaps more importantly ensuring that every booking is exactly to customer requirements and excellent value for money. Working either to book specific flights or putting together ideas for a possible tour, extensive holiday or short business trip, for destinations throughout the Far East this is the place to go.
The business is highly regarded within the industry and is a member of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

Property information

Location:

The business operates from the Ground Floor of a two storey freehold building, of approximately 1000 square feet with around half of that given over to retail space. There is a two-bedroom maisonette of similar size situated on the first floor, with a separate entrance. Prominently located on the very busy High Street of a town well known for its Far Eastern ex-pat community, the business enjoys significant walk-in traffic.
The freehold premises possess an A3 license for restaurant use and consideration has been given in the past to re-locating the Travel Agency to the first floor and leasing the Ground Floor for conversion to what would then be the town’s only Chinese Restaurant, generating significant additional revenue. Planning permissions are currently being sought to extend the First Floor premises.

Other information

Expansion potential:

Having foreseen the trend for more and more travel to be booked via the Internet the business has invested in a web-site which allows customer to book their flights remotely. However there is much more that could be done through this medium promoting it to a much wider audience outside its currently limited locality.
As a specialist operator with highly trained staff there is considerable scope to offer a wider range of Far Eastern focussed services to its current target audience.
In addition, having built a significant reputation for competitive prices and excellent customer service there is the possibility of widening the business’s appeal amongst the local population generally particularly as customer trends are increasingly moving away from short haul packages and more towards long haul tailor-made itineraries.
Although several of the currencies in the Far East are non-tradable this business is ideally placed to use its excellent reputation to offer a potentially lucrative foreign currency service using its contacts throughout the Far East to supply foreign currency to customers as they land at their destination

Competition / Market:

For the local Far Eastern ex-pat community this business’s prominent position on a busy High Street is far and away its most effective advertising hoarding. This business has however invested heavily in the past to capture the Corporate sector via trade press, exhibitions, direct mail, leaflets and brochures, telesales and direct sales efforts, although ‘word of mouth’ recommendation has and always will be its most effective advertising medium. This business has a well designed and easy to navigate web-site. However this is fairly limited and does represent a potential opportunity for future growth.

Support & training:

The owner would be more than pleased to assist with any handover to ensure a smooth transfer of the business and a swift return on investment by the new owner.

Reasons for selling:

The owner, an ex-pat from the Far East himself wishes to return.