European Travel Services

EUROPEAN TRAVEL SERVICES ACQUIRED BY ABBEY TOURS

London, November 2015. Long established destination management company European Travel Services (ETS) has been bought by Abbey Tours in a move which gives the major Irish tour operator its first presence in London.

Privately owned ETS has been providing tourist services throughout Great Britain from its central London base to the overseas travel trade for nearly 30 years, and its purchase by Abbey Tours gives the Irish operator an important boost to its presence in the UK. The new London office builds on Abbey’s existing locations in Dublin and Edinburgh.

ETS managing director Jim Brown commenting on the development said, ‘We believe this is an exciting opportunity for both Abbey Tours and ourselves. Abbey have established a wide base of travel partner clients throughout Europe, North America, Canada and Australia. We are very much looking forward to providing expert assistance in London and across the UK for their clients’.

With the acquisition ETS becomes part of the Abbey Group, but it will continue to trade under the ETS brand. A recruitment strategy has been put in place to increase the existing staff levels, and Jim Brown will remain in charge of the company.

Originally founded in 1978, Abbey Tours has become the largest incoming operator to Ireland with over 800 travel trade partners in 42 countries worldwide. They employ 85 full time staff in their Dublin based headquarters and last year serviced some 115,000 visitors to the country. The company’s growth has been accelerated with a number of acquisitions over the years and the setting up of Abbey Tours Scotland in 2008.

Abbey Tours Chairman Brian Mc Colgan said, ‘We have been looking to establish a business in the UK for some time now, we found our clients have been increasingly requesting this service from us. There are many synergies between the two companies and given the great reputation ETS enjoys with both clients and long-time suppliers the acquisition made perfect sense. We see great opportunities arising from this move and we look forward to realising the potential which this acquisition presents’.

Added Jim Brown: “ETS has enjoyed many years of success in the industry and with the valued support of Abbey Tours, we look forward to achieving further growth in the years to come.

Encore Tickets is proud to be ETS’ preferred partner for the supply of theatre tickets since 2001. We consider ETS a strategic and key partner, a leading tour operator who through professionalism, excellent service and innovation allow Encore Tickets to widen our distribution and develop our businesses for mutual benefit.

Johan Oosterveld, Chief Operating Officer, Encore Tickets Ltd

We've been working with ETS for many years now and it's been a really successful partnership. They have been of great support to us in the markets they cover and our products feature prominently in almost all of their client programmes. They've used our attractions to put together some new and creative packages and we value our relationship with ETS closely.

We've been working with ETS for over 30 years now and have enjoyed an excellent working relationship over the years. Their reservations staff have always been polite and efficient and payments are always made on time. This has certainly helped to grow our business together and we look forward to continued mutual success. ETS's clients will always be most welcome in our hotel.

We’ve been highly appreciating our reliable partner ETS for several years now. TUI Wolters has always experienced the company’s high level of competence and great commitment. We’re looking forward to continuing our successful working relationship with the professional and very kind team of ETS.

Lisa Twesten - Product Manager Northern Europe - Wolters Reisen GmbH

TUI City Breaks is proud to look back on a long and successful partnership with ETS. They are family for us when we are in London and it’s like coming home. The biggest compliment always comes from the representatives of the hotels or agencies when we visit them together with ETS. ETS has such an excellent reputation, as they are all good professionals. You always feel in good hands and “you never walk alone”. Keep it up ETS!

Ulrike Blase - Productmanager - TUI City Breaks

Prima Reisen arbeitet seit vielen Jahren mit ETS im Bereich Rundreisen für den gesamten UK erfolgreich zusammen. Wir schätzen die Zuverlässigkeit und Flexibilität von ETS und freuen uns auf eine weiterhin gute Zusammenarbeit mit unserem kompetenten Partner