Travel Counsellors has agreed to acquire The Travel Agent Next Door, creating a combined business of 3,900 global travel professionals. The Travel Counsellors TTAND acquisition brings together two companies with closely aligned business models centred on home based travel agents and personalised service.
Manchester headquartered Travel Counsellors is backed by Vitruvian Partners. The Travel Agent Next Door, founded in 2014 and headquartered in downtown Toronto with an additional office in Vancouver, supports more than 1,700 independent travel professionals. It specialises in the home based travel agent model and generates annual turnover of approximately CAD$500m.
The Canadian business was established by Flemming Friisdahl and two other travel entrepreneurs, built on a culture of care and entrepreneurial spirit. It has grown rapidly to become a prominent provider of personalised, premium leisure travel advice in one of the world’s largest outbound travel markets. The Travel Counsellors TTAND acquisition brings both scale and international diversification to the enlarged group.
The combined business will benefit from the expanded community of travel professionals and strong brands in the UK and Canada. Over time, TTAND’s community is expected to migrate to Travel Counsellors’ bespoke technology platform. The acquisition also advances Travel Counsellors’ international growth strategy, adding to operations across seven international markets. It marks the company’s third acquisition in three years following the purchases of Holidaysplease in March 2023 and the Planisto technology platform in January 2024.
Travel Counsellors recently reported a record breaking 2024/25 financial year. In the 12 months to 31 October 2025, it achieved a total transaction value of £1.1bn and EBITDA of over £40m. EBITDA has doubled since the Covid 19 pandemic with compound annual growth of nearly 15 per cent over the past three years. Following the Travel Counsellors TTAND acquisition, the enlarged group expects TTV of £1.5bn and EBITDA of £50m in the next 12 months.
Steve Byrne, chief executive of Travel Counsellors, said: “We are delighted to join forces with Flemming and the team at The Travel Agent Next Door, Canada’s most successful travel agent community.
“TTAND is a business we have long admired for its strong entrepreneurial culture and leadership, exceptional internal engagement amongst its community of travel business owners, and outstanding reputation for providing first-class customer care. Together, we will continue to build on the outstanding culture and essence of TTAND and drive further success.
“This is a partnership where the combined company will become more than the sum of its parts. Both organisations have been built on strong values that put people, personalisation and entrepreneurial spirit first.”
Flemming Friisdahl, chief executive of TTAND, added: “I have always looked at Travel Counsellors as a leader when it comes to travel professionals that work remotely and flexibly, and I am very excited to be partnering with them for two very important reasons.
“Number one is the culture, it aligns very much with the TTAND culture, given it is all about our support team and our agent partners. The second reason is their commitment to being innovative and bringing the most effective technology tools to their community of travel experts. We cannot wait to bring some of the benefits of Travel Counsellors’ sector-leading technology and product to support our team in Canada.”
The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Advisers on the acquisition included Harris Williams, Mayer Brown, FTI Consulting, PWC, McCarthy Tétrault, Gowling WLG, Broadway Insurance Partners, CG Consultancy and Travel Trade Consultancy for Travel Counsellors, while Optimus SBR and WeirFoulds LLP advised TTAND.
