- Apple Leisure Group and Mark Travel Corporation Form Combined Company: The Mark Travel Corporation and Apple Leisure Group have signed a definitive agreement to join for the deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018. Trisept Solutions, a leisure travel technology solutions provider and sister company of Mark Travel, will also be part of the combined company, which will continue to operate the various brands offered by both Apple Leisure Group, Mark Travel and Trisept Solutions and will maintain principal executive offices in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, a Philadalphia suburb, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Apple Leisure Group’s subsidiaries include AMR Resorts, tour operator Apple Vacations, Travel Impressions and OTA CheapCaribbean.com. Mark Travel’s tour businesses—they include the receptive tour operator Mark International—will gain access to 52 high-end resorts and spas operating under the Zoetry, Secrets, Dreams, Breathless, Now and Sunscape brands.
- Flytour Travels and MMTGapnet Announce Merger: In Brazil, the Flytour Group’s Flytour Viagens and MMTGapnet recently announced their merger, creating Brazil’s second largest tour operator company, behind only CVC. The move brings together the domestic and international market strengths that the two companies had separately.
“Flytour Viagens MMT is the most complete operator in Brazil in terms of national and international services,” said Michael Barkoczy, who had taken over as president of both brands. “We will never let go of the DNA of each company, Flytour Travel with excellence in the domestic and MMTGapnet strongest in international products of high standard and personalized service, always with travel agents as the only distribution channel, of whom we want to be even closer.’
Data from the Flytour Group indicate that 65 percent of travel agents who bought MMTGapnet did not buy Flytour Viagens, the same as those who bought with the second and did not work with the first. “This shows the opportunity when we talk about this merger. Apart from product differentiation, there is a huge opportunity for customers to work,” noted Barkoczy.
- Vision Travel to Acquire UNIGLOBE One Travel: Vision Travel, a Direct Travel company, has announced that it is acquiring UNIGLOBE One Travel, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The acquisition continues Vision Travel’s strategy to expand in key markets throughout Canada. UNIGLOBE One Travel, a franchise of UNIGLOBE Travel (Western Canada), has been delivering innovative, customized and technology driven corporate travel solutions to Canadian corporations and the SME market for over 25 years. They will continue to operate under the UNIGLOBE One Travel brand for a transition period. The acquisition is certain to increase the standing of Direct Travel among North America’s largest travel companies. Based near Denver, Colorado, it is already ranked No. 15 in the 2017 Travel Weekly Power List of the largest travel agencies in the U.S.
