Estravel Group expands to new markets
Estravel AS, the largest travel agency in Estonia and the Baltic countries, continues to expand to new markets – this spring Estravel acquired 100% of Preferred Travel Services LLC, a Phoenix based travel agency in the USA, along with the Finnish Helin Matkatoimisto OY travel agency this summer.
Estravel now operates in six markets, with representations in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Australia and the US. The company has 16 offices and employs over 200 people. Estravel is the first travel agency in the Baltics to enter the US, Australian and Finnish markets.
Aivo Takis, a member of the Estravel management board, said that although Estravel is a small player in the large US market, the company has the prerequisites for business success, including intragroup synergy. “I am glad that Estravel’s expansion to foreign markets is continuing. To date, all our subsidiaries have been successful in terms of financial results as well as marketing,” Takis added.
According to Anne Samlik, a member of Estravel management board, expansion to new markets is primarily beneficial for domestic clients because Estravel’s private and business clients can now purchase trips to the US for local market prices available for travel agencies registered in the United States or US residents. The acquisition of the Finnish travel agency primarily provides benefits for holiday makers interested in long haul destinations. “Helin Matkatoimisto has been operating in the Finnish market for 33 years and has years of experience in serving holiday makers. It has also secured good purchase agreements in exotic destinations – these advantages are now available for Estravel clients in Estonia,” Samlik added.
Preferred Travel Services LLC is fully owned by Estravel and is located in the trendy Biltmore district in Phoenix, the fifth largest city in the US. The company employs five people that cooperate closely with the representations of Estravel in other countries.
The service bureaus of Helin Matkatoimisto OY, a company established in 1984 by Finnish private capital, are located in Helsinki and Jyväskylä and employ 13 people. Helin Matkatoimisto holds an IATA licence and is specialised in the sales of quality long haul trips.
Estravel is the largest travel agency, hotel agency and travel bureau in Estonia and will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year. The company has 16 offices in six countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Australia and the US) employing over 200 people. The sales revenue of Estravel Group was almost 76 million euros in 2016. The company is 100% based on Estonian capital.
Leaders of Estravel's representations at six countries visiting Tallinn this August. Photo: Paul Lushkov