Welcome Travel

What Welcome Travel does

Welcome Travel Holidays Ltd is an independent UK travel agency headquartered in Leyland, founded in 1990 and operating under director Paul Donnelly with ABTA registration C2227. The agency functions as a booking intermediary between UK leisure consumers and a broad set of suppliers — tour operators, hoteliers, airlines, and rail/cruise partners — selling package and bespoke holidays across verticals including beach, honeymoon, ski, safari, villa, spa, themed breaks, business travel, weddings, and cruises via its website, phone, email, and a single physical office.

The product set is built around advisor-led itinerary curation rather than proprietary technology. The disclosed stack is third-party and modest: Mailchimp for email marketing, Sendgrid for web-form capture, and a CRM hosted on UK servers. There are no claims of in-house platforms, recommendation systems, or automation tooling. Featured supplier relationships with premium resort brands (Beachcomber Mauritius, IKOS Dassia, Disney Grand Floridian, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray) and a cruise partnership with The Cruise Club anchor the higher-margin segments of the offering.

The business model is a hybrid commission-plus-fee structure. The agency earns supplier commissions on bookings and, effective 13 January 2018, charges consumers a 0.5% booking fee per transaction, formalised in its published terms and conditions. Customer segments are consumer-led (families, couples, honeymooners, luxury travellers) with no disclosed corporate or enterprise accounts. Geographic reach is destination-diverse (Europe, Indian Ocean, North America, Middle East, South-East Asia) but exclusively serves UK-resident buyers.

Name

Welcome Travel

Legal name

Welcome Travel Holidays Ltd

Website

https://welcometravel.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Welcome Travel Holidays Ltd is an independent UK travel agency based in Leyland, booking leisure holidays for UK consumers through supplier commissions and a 0.5% booking fee, supported by ABTA membership and partnerships across tour operators, hoteliers, airlines, and cruise providers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Agency Services

NAICS

Travel Agencies (561510), Travel Agencies (56151)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Inbound/Local Retail Travel Agencies (Destination Booking Offices) (THAKABAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Luxury Travel Agencies (THAKAFAA)

Keywords

• Travel agency services
• Holiday packages
• Flight booking
• Cruise holidays
• Travel insurance

Headquarters

HQ city

Leyland

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Travel Booking Commission: Welcome Travel acts as a booking agent on behalf of approved suppliers including tour operators, hoteliers, and airlines. They earn commission on each booking confirmed by suppliers. Being independent allows them to offer products from multiple suppliers.
2. Booking and Processing Fees: From 13 January 2018, a 0.5% booking fee is charged for processing all forms of payment. Customers can avoid this fee by paying directly into the company's bank account.
3. Travel Insurance Sales: Travel insurance is offered at the time of booking as an add-on. Appropriate travel insurance is a prerequisite of travel and a booking condition of all suppliers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Welcome Travel is an independent travel agency based in Leyland, UK, established in 1990. It acts as a booking agent on behalf of approved suppliers including tour operators, hoteliers, and airlines, selling personalized and bespoke holiday packages across categories such as all-inclusive, beach, luxury, family, honeymoon, ski, safari, rail, villa, spa, city breaks, and cruises. The company earns commission on supplier bookings and charges a 0.5% processing fee on card payments, with travel insurance and car hire offered as add-ons.

Product overview

Welcome Travel is a local independent travel agency established in 1990, acting as a booking agent on behalf of approved suppliers including tour operators, hoteliers and airlines. The company offers a single unified travel agency service providing personalized and bespoke holiday packages. The core product is their holiday booking service which encompasses multiple travel categories including All Inclusive Holidays, Beach Holidays, Luxury Holidays, Family Holidays, Honeymoon Travel, Ski & Winter Sports, Safari & Wildlife, Rail Holidays, Villa Holidays, Spa & Wellness, and Cities & Short Breaks. They also offer dedicated Cruise Holidays through The Cruise Club partner. The portfolio includes partner resort pages featuring Beachcomber Resorts in Mauritius (Shandrani, Victoria, Trou aux Biches), IKOS Dassia in Corfu, Disney's Grand Floridian in Orlando, and Jumeirah Zabeel Saray in Dubai. Ancillary services include travel insurance and car hire as add-ons to the core booking service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Holiday Packages

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Jet2holidays: Major UK package holiday provider with own airline and large agent/distributor footprint, including retail partner agencies. Comparable on UK package holiday distribution and family/all-inclusive focus, though it competes with independent agencies for shelf space and commission levels.
• Virgin Holidays: UK retail and online holiday brand selling beach, luxury, and themed holidays. Comparable on UK consumer holiday focus and ABTA membership, but operates a broader multi-channel retail and DTC model with captive product.
• TUI UK: Largest UK package holiday operator with own airline, hotel brands, and high-street retail stores. Comparable on UK package holiday distribution and ABTA membership, but as a vertically integrated tour operator it competes with agents on margin and inventory control.

Others

• Booking.com: Global online travel agency dominant in hotel and ancillary bookings. Not a direct competitor in advisory-led luxury/family holidays, but sets the price benchmark and consumer expectation for self-service booking that constrains independent agents' pricing power.

Direct peers

• Hays Travel: Largest independent retail travel agency chain in the UK, operating a multi-branch high-street model selling holidays, cruises, and tailor-made trips. Comparable on retail travel agency model, ABTA membership, UK consumer base, and multi-supplier agent structure, though at materially larger scale.
• Travel Counsellors: UK-based travel agency franchise/home-working network offering personalized, consultant-led holiday booking. Comparable on independent advisor model, personalized service ethos, broad holiday category coverage, and ATOL/ABTA-style consumer protection.
• Audley Travel: UK specialist tailor-made travel operator focused on long-haul, luxury, and experiential holidays with country specialists. Comparable on the high-touch, expert-led booking model, premium and luxury category focus, and ABTA membership, though Audley operates its own product rather than pure agency.
• The Cruise Club: UK cruise specialist travel agency explicitly listed as Welcome Travel's cruise partner. Directly comparable as a cruise-focused retail agent using personalized consultation and a multi-line cruise portfolio.
• Trailfinders: UK-headquartered independent retail travel agency offering personalized, consultant-led holiday booking across flights, hotels, cruises, and tailor-made itineraries. Closely comparable to Welcome Travel on independence, advisory-led model, UK consumer focus, and broad multi-supplier portfolio.

Emerging players

• Not Just Travel: UK home-working travel agency franchise network targeting independent agents. Comparable on independent-agent commission model and UK consumer holiday focus, but operates via distributed agents rather than a single retail office.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/welcome-travel

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Welcome Travel