Blue Bay Travel CEO Alistair Rowland has said expansion will happen ‘fairly quickly’ as a result of a multi-million-pound investment in the group, which was announced today.
Founder Stuart Wilson, Chairman Andrew Gardner and existing investor Lawrence Dean have all pumped more money into the business, with existing backers LDC remaining as shareholders.
The investors said the additional capital will support ambitious plans for expansion through both organic growth and acquisitions.
Stuart said: “This investment marks an exciting new chapter for Blue Bay. We’ve built a strong, trusted brand in long-haul travel, and this gives us the means to accelerate growth through innovation and strategic acquisitions.”
Andrew added: “The travel market is evolving rapidly, and Blue Bay is perfectly positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for expertise-led, digitally-driven travel. Blue Bay has an impressive track record and a clear strategic vision.
“Together with Lawrence, we’re delighted to support Alistair Rowland and the leadership team as they pursue exciting new opportunities to take the business to the next level.”
Alistair told Travel Gossip the team has been working on the investment plan for a year.
He said: “Creating a fighting fund allows us to do lots of acquisitions, invest in better, AI-led technology, expand into new destinations and add more curated tours around fly and flop in long haul.”
He said Blue Bay is strong in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean, but is already planning to expand into the UAE and Africa, as well as adding more twin-centre options, such as in Thailand.
“Lots of people want to do touring – people don’t want to do a 14-night safari but they want to do a safari and beach. We currently offer Zanzibar, with a tag-on safari, which is popular. The success of this has encouraged us to look at similar options elsewhere. The more curated you can be, the more you can offer the consumer. We’re already doing it, but we will now be doing it faster. All of it needs investment.”
Alistair said it will take ‘three to six months to see outcomes’. “It’s all planned and prepped. Lots will happen fairly quickly.”
Acquisitions are also being looked at. “It could be a bolt-on specialist in a particular destination where we are not the specialist,” he said.
The investment will also help attract more homeworkers to the group. “We’ve got 50 agents and I would like to grow that,” Alistair added.
LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, first invested in Blue Bay Travel in 2017 and remains a shareholder in the business.
