Travel Counsellors has expanded into North America with the acquisition of Canadian firm The Travel Agent Next Door.
The Manchester-based firm powers a community of more than 2,200 independent travel entrepreneurs via its technology platform. It recently launched TC Co-Pilot – a data-driven AI agent designed to boost productivity for these ‘business owners’.
Founded in 2014 by CEO Flemming Friisdahl and two other travel entrepreneurs, TTAND operates a similar community model in Canada, supporting more than 1,700 independent travel professionals and generating annual turnover of more than £250 million.
The enlarged group will bring together more than 3,900 professional travel business owners, with Travel Counsellors saying the combination will provide greater scale, a more diversified international footprint across the UK and Canada, and the opportunity for deeper knowledge sharing between the two communities.
Friisdahl will continue to lead TTAND as CEO, while the Canadian network is expected, over time, to migrate onto Travel Counsellors’ bespoke technology platform.
The acquisition is the company’s third in three years following its purchase of premium leisure travel company Holidaysplease in March 2023 and the Planisto technology platform in January 2024.
It also comes after a record 2024/25 financial year for the business.
In the 12 months to 31 October 2025, Travel Counsellors reported total transaction value of £1.1 billion and EBITDA of more than £40m, representing a doubling since the pandemic and compound average EBITDA growth of nearly 15% per year over the last three years.
With TTAND added, the group expects total transaction value to rise to £1.5bn and EBITDA to £50m over the next 12 months.
“We are delighted to join forces with Flemming and the team at The Travel Agent Next Door, Canada’s most successful travel agent community,” said Steve Byrne, CEO of Travel Counsellors.
“TTAND is a business we have long admired for its strong entrepreneurial culture and leadership, exceptional internal engagement amongst its community of travel business owners, and outstanding reputation for providing first-class customer care.
“Together, we will continue to build on the outstanding culture and essence of TTAND and drive further success.”
Friisdahl added: “I have always looked at Travel Counsellors as a leader when it comes to travel professionals that work remotely and flexibly, and I am very excited to be partnering with them for two very important reasons.
“Number one is the culture, it aligns very much with the TTAND culture, given it is all about our support team and our agent partners.
“The second reason is their commitment to being innovative and bringing the most effective technology tools to their community of travel experts.
“We cannot wait to bring some of the benefits of Travel Counsellors’ sector-leading technology and product to support our team in Canada.”