—Government authorities in Brazil have given the country’s largest travel company, CVC Corp., approval of its acquisition of Esferatur, the industry’s largest consolidator. It has offices in 14 cities in Brazil. The purchase price was 245 million reais ($65.6 million). With the acquisition, the CVC Group increases its sales in the corporate segment (via consolidators), providing it with a better balance in the leisure/ corporate sales mix. Esferatur saw the move as an opportunity to perpetuate its business by integrating with a publicly traded company and solid financial position. From now on Esferatur becomes part of CVC Corp. and its employees will be integrated into the company. Not all directors and employees should stay, but these adjustments will be announced over time. CVC Corp reported sales of $ 13.26 billion reais ($3.55 billion) last year. With Esferatur, not counting the growth of 2019, it would increase to almost 16 billion reais ($4.3 billion) billion.
—World Choice Investments, the operating partner of Dolly Parton’s dinner theaters, will expand its dinner theater holdings to seven with the purchase of three theaters and a restaurant from David Fee and Jim Hedrick’s Fee Hedrick Entertainment in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Parton’s enterprise now operates spectacular shows in Branson, Missouri, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and with the purchase, five theater attractions in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. “My theater production company just purchased Fee Hedrick Entertainment, and I am so excited to have more family entertainment to present to our guests in Pigeon Forge. In 2019, we’ll operate Comedy Barn, Hatfield & McCoy and Smoky Mountain Opry in the same way folks have come to remember them,” Dolly Parton said. “David, Jim and their team have done a great job with these shows through the years and, for now, we don’t plan to change anything. They are fun family entertainment, and that is the business I’m in.” Founded in 1988, World Choice Investments, LLC, doing business as Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner Attraction and Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show, operates dinner attraction venues for family fun and adventure in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Branson, Missouri and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Its shows feature special effects, musical productions, live animals and a four-course family feast.
—Minnesota-based Travel Leaders Group has acquired Halifax, UK-based YES (Your Event Solutions), a MICE business with global meetings and event expertise. The addition of YES complements Travel Leaders Group’s growing presence in the meetings and incentive marketplace, the company said, and will provide both firms with additional geographic reach and meetings expertise. A full-service event provider, YES provides a range of corporate event solutions from individually-tailored venue sourcing, meetings and training events to executive conferences, large-scale exhibitions, product launch events and incentive travel programs in all locations globally. The firm also assists in client outsource planning for annual meetings, calendar training programs and fulfillment. Sue Gill, founder and Chief Executive Officer of YES, will remain in her current leadership role. YES will retain its brand and no major operating changes are anticipated at the company. Travel Leaders U.K. portfolio will now include YES, Barrhead Travel, Colletts Travel, Protravel International U.K. and Tzell U.K. and ALTOUR, which are among the UK’s leading travel companies.
—Concierge Travel Group has announced its acquisition by global corporate and event travel company Reed & Mackay. The acquisition includes brands such as Concierge Business Travel, Concierge Traveller, Alquemie, Elegant Resorts & Villas and Freighter Expeditions. Its sale became effective on February 1, 2019. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Concierge Travel Group specializes in travel arrangements and services for both leisure and business travelers. Since 2012, Concierge has been the official travel service provider to the Australian Olympic Team and will manage the travel requirements for the team destined for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. Concierge Travel Group was founded in 1979 and acquired by Don Ferguson and Michael Keating in 2001. The company aims to provide highly personalized travel arrangements often with complex requirements. Chairman Michael Keating, commented: “The business had grown to a point whereby we had to make a decision how to take it to the next level. We felt the answer was to more deeply connect into international markets, so the opportunity with Reed & Mackay presented a perfect opportunity”
