travelBulletin

CREATIVE Cruising has changed hands, with The Travel Corporation selling the wholesale cruise operator to the owners of Express Travel Group (ETG), including ETG CEO Tom Manwaring.

While it’s business as usual for Creative Cruising, the new owners have set their sights on doubling the business over the next three to four years.

Manwaring told travelBulletin this growth would be achieved “by working hard and being clever and by producing product that the customer wants, talking to our retailers and making sure we are delivering what they want”.

The sale was a result of ETG members calling for the group take a stronger position in the cruise market, Manwaring said, adding that the buy provided “surety”.

“There’s been some movement in the wholesale market over the last couple of years so by us being directly involved in that sizeable market now, we’ve protected our position as a group,” he said.

Under the new ownership, Creative Cruising will remain in its existing office with bookings to continue as normal and be serviced by the existing team.

“ETG and its agents will be a preferred partner of Creative Cruising and outside of that, Creative Cruising will continue to service other businesses within the travel industry,” Manwaring explained.

“This is a long-term investment that we’re going to have which will run parallel to the way we grow our distribution business.”

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