The agency, which opened its first branch in Abertillery on 1 October 2025, hit £1 million in turnover in August – two months ahead of its original target – with the team poised to pick up the keys to its second branch, in Brecon, a little over a year later.

"It's absolutely blown us away," Holloways Travel co-owner Ray Hudson-Evans told TTG. "Brecon is a more affluent area, so we've set £1.5 million as the target – but I'd be over the moon with £1 million."

The agency, which was founded by former Hays Travel branch manager Gareth Holloway, expects demand for long-haul holidays and higher-value cruise and hotel products to help drive the new branch, which Hudson-Evans and Holloway expect to open in October.

'It was a no-brainer'

Holloways did not initially set out to open in Brecon. The agency's approach was to look for towns where a travel agency had once operated but where "that level of service" was no longer available.

Brecon fit the profile, prompting the agency to carry out its own research to establish whether there was still demand. A survey posted across social media generated more than 300 responses within around 48 hours.

"We literally just put a Google and Microsoft form up on social media," said Hudson-Evans. "The response was pretty overwhelming."

Holloways Travel

The research established many Brecon residents were either travelling out of town to book holidays or had turned to online booking because the town no longer had a travel agency.

"But they kept saying they really missed that face-to-face interaction from just going in to speak to somebody," he said. "So it was a no-brainer in opening in Brecon."

The new branch will be based in a former art gallery in what Hudson-Evans described as a "really prime location".

First homeworking recruit

Alongside its retail expansion, Holloways is also building a homeworking operation; it has recruited its first home-based agent, Iestyn Jones, who is due to start working by the end of August.

The longer-term ambition is to build a network beyond South Wales. "We'd like to branch out into England, ideally, although I'm not ruling out out Scotland," Hudson-Evans said.

The agency is aiming to add another two or three homeworkers by the first half of 2027, although Hudson-Evans stressed it was "not something to rush into".

'We'll do anything for our customers'

Hudson-Evans said the agency's growth can be credited to the team's focus on personal service and community. “It is that human touch,” he said, pointing to everything from birthday and Christmas cards to checking customers in and printing their boarding passes.

The approach also extends to the team itself, with staff not set individual sales targets or specific KPIs. Hudson-Evans said the agency was happy to book lower-value products, such as coach trips, if it meant building a longer-term relationship with the customer. "We'll do anything for our customers," he said.

Holloways will also replicate its community-focused approach in Brecon, having recruited local tradespeople to help with the refurbishment – as they did in their first branch – and have made plans to sponsor its local rugby team.

Further retail expansion 'likely'

The new branch will initially be staffed by existing team members, with Holloway and agent Chelsea Hughes moving to Brecon while Hudson-Evans and manager Andrea Gardner remain at the Abertillery branch. Chelsea, currently part-time, will move to full-time hours in the new branch.

The agency will assess further recruitment after the January and February period, with further sites also on the table – particularly in Mid Wales. However, Hudson-Evans told TTG the business had not set a fixed target.

"We always said that we wouldn't open another branch for a good 18 months, and look what's happened," he said. "So, if the opportunity comes to us, then we will absolutely take it."