Travel Counsellors, the tech-enabled travel firm and holiday planner, has acquired Planisto for an undisclosed fee.
Founded in 1994, Manchester-headquartered Travel Counsellors operates a technology platform that allows home-based travel advisers to provide travel advice and arrange trips for leisure and business customers.
The Planisto platform has been developed by Belgian B2B travel technology company EURAM.
Steve Byrne, CEO of Travel Counsellors, said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Planisto, an award-winning technology platform, along with its exceptional key development team.
“At our annual global conference, we announced our commitment to further building our personal, digital platform with a significant £15m investment in technology and AI for the upcoming year.
“The acquisition of Planisto builds on these plans and not only strengthens our proprietary tech and talent pool but also propels us forward on our development roadmap for our premium leisure tour operation to the benefit of our global TC community.
“It will also strengthen our position in the Benelux region, where we have a growing business and where the Planisto platform is highly regarded amongst the professional travel community and already among many of our own TCs who are based there.”
As part of the acquisition senior creators Vincent Hekkert, Tom Allard and Carmen Dils will join Travel Counsellors.
Byrne said: “They all embody our shared values and culture and will further strengthen our senior technology talent and team in the Benelux region.
“At Travel Counsellors, we are committed to building a community of the most talented travel entrepreneurs who bring the human touch to travel experiences, all empowered by the latest technology.
“The acquisition of Planisto aligns seamlessly with our growth strategy to build a market leading technology platform for travel business owners who are passionate about delivering bespoke, caring and highly personalised travel experiences for customers. We look forward to the future with excitement and confidence.”
In 2018 Travel Counsellors was acquired by private equity firm Vitruvian Partner in a deal understood to be worth around £250m.
Equistone had previously backed a management buyout of the business led by chief executive Steve Byrne in October 2014.
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