Glasgow agency acquired by Caledonian Leisure

Glasgow-based Tartan Travel has been acquired by coach holiday and short break specialist­ Caledonian Leisure.

The deal will further strengthen Caledonian Travel’s presence in Scotland, where it already has with new departure points Edinburgh, Halbeath and Bathgate.

It forms part of a wider mutual partnership with Glasgow-based hotel and tour operator Blackpool Promotions, claimed to be the UK’s largest operator of coach breaks solely to Blackpool. The firm also owns four hotels in the resort – The Royal Seabank Hotel, The Royal Boston Hotel, The Royal Alexandra Hotel and The Royal Carlton Hotel.

A joint partnership between the two operators will see Caledonian Leisure promote and sell holiday packages featuring Blackpool Promotions’ hotels and also Blackpool Promotions supporting Caledonian package promotions.

Caledonian Leisure launched in 2021 and has achieved sales of more than 850,000 customers across coach holiday company Caledonian Travel and hotel breaks and events specialist UKBreakaways.

Managing director Graham Rogers said: “We’re delighted that Tartan Travel has joined the Caledonian family, and look forward to welcoming their customers on one of our short breaks and holidays. 

“We’re also pleased to announce our partnership with Blackpool Promotions, a specialist tour operator to Blackpool as we look to increase our offering in the UK’s biggest seaside resort.

He added: “Blackpool has always been one of our best-selling UK destinations, with high levels of packaged sales through both our Caledonian Travel and UKBreakaways brands.

“It was for this reason that we launched the Caledonian Tower Hotel in the resort last year and are thrilled to add Blackpool Promotions’ hotels to our portfolio of products going forward. All four hotels are renowned for offering excellent facilities and entertainment and will complement our existing range of partner hotels in Blackpool.”

Blackpool Promotions operations director John Westhead added: “This is the first time we have ever partnered with another holiday operator but one that we’re extremely excited about.

“With both companies being leading operators of breaks to Blackpool and Caledonian’s performance in the past couple of years being nothing short of extraordinary, we believe joining forces between our two reputable brands will deliver exceptional products and packages to our growing audiences to mutual benefit.”