NEW YORK -- VTS Travel Enterprises, based here, agreed to buy New
York-based Direct Travel, according to Direct Travel president Herb
Edelberg. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Direct Travel, with $192 million in air sales last year, had
been in merger talks with several agencies in recent weeks,
including Rosenbluth International, according to industry sources,
yet managed to hammer out a last-minute deal with VTS Travel late
last week. VTS has 1998 air sales of $346 million.