The TTG Top 50 Travel Agencies 2019 business acquired coachholidays.com in November 2017 and plans to launch the new site in August, with Tour & Explore to follow. The Kent-based independent, which was founded in Chislehurst in 1999 and now has four branches, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year.
Director Mike Roberts told TTG the new websites were part of a wider tech overhaul across the business, which also includes a new Go Travel website and another for its Cultural Breaks brand, as well as a new cloud-based phone system.
“We’ve got a lot of tech upgrades on the go,” said Roberts. “The [new] back office is already done, now we’re bringing our consumer sites into it.
“Making Coach Holidays and Tour & Explore online bookable is a big thing for us. The team often comes into 150-200 enquiries on Monday mornings; by then, clients have sometimes booked direct with the tour operator.”
Go Travel’s second branch opened in Petts Wood in 2000, followed by Locksbottom in 2006 and Blackheath in 2008. All four have been refurbished over the past two-and-a-half years – “a massive investment”, said Roberts.
The agencies are all within an eight-mile radius of each other, which Roberts said was key to running the business efficiently. Staff now total 40 across the various strands of the business.
Roberts said while Go Travel is not actively looking for a fifth agency, if something suitable became available, the business would consider it.
“Our branches are doing really well so far this year,” he said. “We’ve had fewer bookings, but higher-value ones.”
Roberts said Go Travel would mark its 20th anniversary with a team day out.
