Through a roundabout route, Swain Tours is
back in the hands of its founder, Ian Swain, who had sold the
company to Far & Wide in 1999.
Swain, who
founded the Australia-New Zealand custom travel packager with his
wife Linda in February 1987, bought it back earlier this month from
its British parent, Travel Corporation.
Swain told Travel
Weekly he has no immediate plans for changing the company, which he
has been running since its inception, although he said, "You will
see a different look and feel on the promotion side."
Over the next 12
to 24 months, Swain said, "There will be some expansion. I believe
there is a need for the service we provide for destinations further
afield.
"We have agents
who love what we do and keep saying, 'Why can't we do this?' The
growth potential is huge for companies that provide custom FITs to
the midmarket and upper market, a company that can plan for them
and not have a cookie-cutter package."
After Far &
Wide's collapse in 2003, Swain tried to buy the company back but
was outbid by the Travel Corporation, which purchased the company
for $3 million.
"I've always been
interested in owning the company," Swain said. "The Travel Corp.
was aware of that.
"We came to an
agreement about a month ago. It was a very amicable separation. We
use many of the Travel Corporation's brands, like AAT Kings and
Thompson Tours, and we're going to continue doing that."
Alan Kilkenny, a
spokesman for the Travel Corporation in London, confirmed the sale
and the amicable nature of the separation, but neither party
disclosed the terms.
The company will
be eligible to rejoin the U.S. Tour Operators Association on Sept.
24, three years after the Far & Wide bankruptcy.
To contact
reporter David Cogswell, send e-mail to[email protected].