National Leisure Group, a cruise and
vacation seller, was acquired by World Travel Holdings, a New
York-based company run by the former presidents of Travel
Impressions and Empress Travel, creating what World Travel Holdings
called the world's largest cruise product distributor.
"Our dream was to
create a multi-tentacled travel distribution company with great
brand names," said World Travel Holdings co-chairman Bradley
Tolkin. "We were trolling the waters for a while."
Before the
acquisition, World Travel Holdings consisted of high-end wholesaler
Creative Leisure International, luxury villa rental company Villas
of Distinction and cruise seller Cruise411.
NLG subsidiaries
include Cruises Only, Cruises.com, CruiseOne, Cruises Inc. and Vacation
Outlet. NLG also offers private-label packaging and
distribution.
World Travel Holdings
was founded by Tolkin and his brother and co-chairman Jeffrey
Tolkin last year; they ran Travel Impressions and Empress Travel
before selling the companies to American Express in
1998.
Tolkin said World
Travel Holdings had no plans to change names, staff or operations
of NLG brands.
"We are not sellers
or investors, we are operators in the travel industry," he said.
"We love that business, we intend to grow that business, we know
that business."
Concentration
of cruise business
Terms of the deal
were not disclosed by the two private companies. A cruise industry
veteran said that at one point, the minimum asking price for NLG
was $100 million, a price he called much too high, and suspected
that World Travel Holdings paid much less than that. He said the
significance of such a deal was the further concentration of the
cruise distribution business.
"It's a consolidation
of selling power," he said. "I would believe their claim that they
are the world's largest seller of cruise vacations."
Cruise lines had
their eye on what would become of such a large producer. Vicki
Freed, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Carnival
Cruise Lines, said Carnival had been "very concerned" as to who
would acquire its top producer, and called the news a very positive
development.
"We wanted someone to
acquire them that would keep them going," she said. "We are
thrilled. Having people who understand our business and are in the
travel business makes the most sense. The Tolkins have been around
a long time and will do well. They're highly motivated, smart
people."
Carnival Corp. loaned
NLG about $30 million in 2003 to buy Cruises Only, CruiseOne and
Cruises Inc. from U.K.'s MyTravel Group, almost a third of its $110
million price tag. As of press time, Carnival did not say what
happened to that loan. Tolkin said his company did not acquire any
such debt.
Looking for a
home-based model
Tolkin said his
company intended to focus on NLG's home-based network. World Travel
Holdings was intent on finding a home-based model.
"We were almost at
the point of building one from scratch," he said. "But our first
offense was to acquire a home-based model. When we got into the
business in 2005, it was the critical ingredient we wanted."
Tolkin plans to make
the products of World Travel Holdings' other entities, Villas of
Distinction and Creative Leisure, available to NLG's affiliates to
broaden their products. He was careful to say that this would not
be mandated but available if they so desire.
"They are brother and
sister companies, not distant cousins," he said. "I definitely see
cooperation. It's one ownership structure."
Becky Piper, a
CruiseOne home-based agent near Cleveland, is optimistic about the
deal.
"We've been through
this before," she said. "There's always a transition, but at the
end of the game it's a good partnership. The feedback I'm getting
is that these are people that know what they're doing and know how
to do it right."
She said she was
always looking at better ways to do her job but appreciated hearing
that the new owners won't "try to reinvent the wheel" or change
company names. "There are certain things you don't mess with," she
said.
To contact
reporter Johanna Jainchill, send e-mail to [email protected].