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BREAKING NEWS: Opodo pays £1.2m for Quest Travel
Online firm Opodo has bought long haul tour operator Quest Travel for £1.2 million.
The purchase of Quest, which carries 30,000 customers a year mainly to Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Asia, was made from the United Co-op Travel Group. Quest Travel will continue to be run as a stand-alone business.
Quest Travel is the first step in an acquisition strategy by Opodo as it pursues a goal of becoming one of the top three European online travel agencies, the company said.
The deal brings long haul expertise to Opodo’s strength in short-haul. Opodo believes there are “major opportunities” to further develop long-haul travel expertise in countries not covered by Quest.
The online company’s chief executive Simon Vincent said: “Opodo is already a leader in European online travel and is particularly strong in flight sales and the short haul market.
“Quest Travel will complement our existing portfolio of products and enable us to provide our customers with a unique range of holiday offers to key long haul destinations.”
Mr Vincent, previously with Thomas Cook tour operations, added: “With the acquisition of Quest Travel we are obtaining a well-respected brand and a team of highly professional travel experts, who we look forward to working with in building on their excellent achievements to date.”
Mike Greenacre, general manager of United Co-op Travel Group said: “Within our business, Quest was unusual in being a tour operator rather than an additional distribution channel.
“Having reviewed our plans for the future, we concluded that the best way for Quest to develop its potential was as part of a larger tour operator business which was already well-placed in the market and Opodo fits that bill perfectly.”
Quest managing director Dave Simmons added: “Opodo has access to significant numbers of customers who want the type of product that Quest has to offer. This is an excellent opportunity for Quest Travel to achieve rapid growth amongst both our core destinations and potentially new markets”.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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