Just two months after its acquisition by a new owner, the Apple Leisure Group (it includes the tour operator Apple Vacations®) is in the market to acquire either an OTA or another tour operator, from either the USA or Latin America, that can drive more traffic to the group’s destination attractions that have a strong presence in the Caribbean and Latin America.
Javier Coll, executive vice president of the Apple Group, which is headquartered in the western Philadelphia suburb of Newton Square, made the revelation in an interview with the Mexican travel trade publication Reportur, responding to a question about plans that the company has under its new ownership: “At first, we are open to any investment that means an increase in the number of passengers to the destinations where we have our hotels … Our ideal investment would be a tour operator, whether OTA or traditional operator that has passengers in the United States to the Caribbean.” He said the company will also be looking to grow traffic from Latin America and will also be looking for a tour operator or OTA in that region as well.
It was announced Dec. 13, that Boston-based venture capital firm Bain Capital Private Equity had completed the sale of its Apple Leisure Group (which includes the operator Apple Vacations®) to New York-headquartered KKR, a private equity firm and an affiliate of Denver-based KSL Capital Partners.
As Coll explained it: “We had some investors, some of these investors, those who had a majority position that was Bain Capital, decided to sell their share because the company gave better than expected results and it was time to capitalize their investment and they decided to sell their stake to another group and that is what they did.”
Apple Leisure Group bills itself as “North America’s top seller of all-inclusive vacation packages.” Its collection of leading subsidiaries includes AMResorts (hotel management and marketing services), Amstar (the largest destination management company for Mexico and the Dominican Republic), a portfolio of travel distribution brands in addition to Apple Vacations (Travel Impressions®, CheapCaribbean.com®) and the exclusive Unlimited Vacation Club travel program.
