Addressing an event in London on Wednesday (13 March), InteleTravel co-founder and president James Ferrara said the acquisition would go through "within the next two weeks". “What we are about to announce means we will take hold of our destiny in a way that we haven’t before,” said Ferrara.
“We’re trying to offer the most powerful distribution in the travel business and take advantage of efficiencies of scale to create a fully integrated enterprise."
The timing coincides with the spring Atol renewal window, although it is unclear whether InteleTravel would seek to licence the operator from 1 April or would instead look to negotiate a licence once the busy renewal period is complete.
Ferrara added that by having InteleTravel operate for itself at greater scale, it would be able to ramp up its IntelePerks programme in the UK, which he described as "a points-based, sophisticated loyalty programme allowing advisors to earn points on behaviour that will lead to their success".
In addition, Ferrara told guests InteleTravel was also accelerating development of its purpose-built mobile app, which will allow advisors to run their businesses through their phones. “We have more capabilities coming – and more ways to move market share,” said Ferrara.
Earlier this week, InteleTravel managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes revealed February was the business’s second-best month ever since it launched in the UK six years ago.
February revenue across its 17,000 UK homeworkers was up 47% year-on-year, while average booking value increased by 5.5% year-on-year in February.
