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Boyles take control of CV Travel
Former Direct Holidays boss John Boyle and his brother Hugh have taken a controlling interest in up-market villa specialist CV Travel.
Terms of the deal for London-based CV Travel have not been disclosed. AITO member CV Travel has a £10 million annual turnover with an average holiday selling price of £1,000 per person.
The Boyles, owners of low cost Canadian carrier Zoom Airlines and Glasgow-based Go Direct Travel, pledged to maintain CV’s “independence and high standards of personal service and attention to detail”.
Zoom’s UK director Debbie Marshall – a former boss of Crystal Holidays – becomes managing director of CV Travel, while founders Richard and Patricia Cookson are to remain “actively involved” in the business their family established in 1972 as Corfu Villas. The company operates in Greece, Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean.
John Boyle, who sold Direct Holidays to Airtours (MyTravel) for £84 million in 1998, said: “While mass market tour operators are experiencing difficulties at the moment, there is no doubt that the future lies in the top end specialists.
“It is not every day that you get the opporunity to acquire a business the calibre of CV with a 30 year pedigree.
“We recognise the need for investment in technology and we will be drawing on our established espertise to enhance CV’s position at the top end of the villa market.”
Ms Marshall, who retains her UK director roles with Zoom and Go Travel Direct, told TravelMole: “We have no intention of going in and radically changing things.”
She added that improvements would be made to the operator’s website.
In a statement, the Cooksons said they were “confident that we have found the right new owners who will mainatin the CV ethos as well as continued stability”.
John and Hugh Boyle have been involved in the travel industry since the mid-1970s when they established the Falcon Leisure Group, whch was sold to Owners Abroad – now First Choice – in 1981.
Report by Phil Davies
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