Conlin Travel in Ann Arbor, Mich., recently acquired two other Michigan-based agencies, Classic Travel in Okemos and Suburban Travel in Rochester Hills and is on the lookout for others interested in selling.
"I am very optimistic there's a bright future for the travel industry, and we're just looking for other people who would like to join us," president and CEO Christopher Conlin said.
Conlin Travel is No. 46 on Travel Weekly's 2020 Power List, with 2019 sales of $180.2 million. The majority of its sales, 88%, were business travel, with 8% leisure and 4% other.
Conlin estimated Classic Travel had annual pre-Covid-19 sales of around $12 million, 80% of that leisure. Suburban Travel had annual pre-Covid-19 sales of around $2 million, mostly in leisure. Classic's former owner, Joy Thrun, will stay on with Conlin, while Suburan Travel's Dean Markwardt will move on.
According to Conlin, his agency is looking to acquire other agencies in the Midwest with pre-Covid sales from $1 million to $25 million.
"I'd like to think we have pretty good staying power," Conlin said. "We're well capitalized. We have pivoted before like many other agencies that are still around today. Of course, this pivot, or this incident, is far worse than what we've ever faced before with 9/11 or the Great Recession or many of the others, but we've got a great team in place and we can work on these things right now."