Founded in 2005 as the very first UK online franchise travel agency, Explorer Travel has flourished in the two years since Hays Travel purchased it in 2021.
The ‘Explorer Travel Franchise together with Hays travel’ offers budding entrepreneurs a route into the travel sector, confident they are supported by a large travel industry organisation. The Explorer brand sits within Hays Travel’s Homeworking Division and its business partners can choose to trade using the Explorer brand or to build their own identity.
Steven Reilly, Head of Explorer Franchise said: “Explorer Travel offers a choice of three investment levels designed to meet the needs of travel agents who are ready to start their own travel franchise business, with the flexibility of working from home. Our franchisees include people new to travel and people with a background in the industry and lots of experience who feel ready to establish their own business.
‘’All our franchisees have access tailored business development and admin support as well as Hays Travel’s excellent head office functions and some of the best commercial deals in the market. I am delighted with the growth that we have seen and with demand still high we expect to see this trend continue.’’
Explorer Travel’s Booking profit has increased by 353% on the pre pandemic 2019/20 financial year, and agent numbers have seen 47% growth. There are currently 101 Explorer Travel Franchise agents operating across 73 franchises.
As well as the Explorer Travel homeworking franchise model, over the next 12 months Hays Travel intends to expand its high-street franchise offering, giving those businesses looking to connect with customers in person the option to invest in a Hays Travel franchise branch.
