Is it Time to Sell Your Travel Company?

For some travel company owners, the real danger isn’t selling too soon — it’s waiting too long. Bob Sweeney and Doug Haugen of Innovative Travel Acquisitions have spent decades helping people buy and sell travel companies. They know the signs that a founder is losing the technological edge, the energy or the succession plan needed to keep a business healthy. Bob and Doug join this episode of the podcast to explain what it looks like to sell a tour company, how owners can know when it’s time to list their travel businesses, and how buyers determine what those companies are worth. They also discuss employee buyouts, post-sale roles and the emotional reality of stepping back from a business someone spent decades building. Plus, we have news about Southwest Airlines’ possible long-haul flights, a resource for meeting planners and a Hot Minute about what Boomer tour operators need to hear about their businesses. Insights from Bob and Doug Bob and Doug had a lot of great insight about when and how travel company owners should sell. Here’s what Doug had to say about one of the clearest signs: “A big one is that they find that they’re competing against everybody in a way they’ve never had to compete. Whether they’ve lost out in the marketing, the search engine optimization or their clients are going somewhere else and they don’t know why. So they see themselves falling behind. And so, in order to save what they got, they want to find a buyer that could come in and that already has the marketing tools, the technology to help them to stay alive and survive.” Plus, they had great perspectives on: • How travel companies are valued when they don’t have many hard assets • Why earnouts can help buyers and sellers share risk • What owners can do after a sale to keep the work they love and leave the headaches behind Resources Mentioned in This Episode Learn more about Innovative Travel Acquisitions at tvlacq.com (https://tvlacq.com) . Email Bob Sweeney at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . Email Doug Haugen at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . Discover our meeting planning resources at smallmarketmeetings.com/start (https://smallmarketmeetings.com/start) . Key Moments From This Episode 2:06 — Travel News: Southwest Airlines says long-haul flights could be coming 3:53 — News From Us: A resource for meeting and event planners 6:22 — How Bob Sweeney began helping people sell travel companies 9:15 — How to know when it’s time to sell your travel business 12:11 — What happens when owners don’t have a clear successor 14:16 — How travel-company buyers and sellers find each other 17:00 — Who buys travel companies? 20:18 — How travel companies are valued 23:15 — What can make acquisitions harder 27:33 — What owners can do after selling their company 30:38 — What the selling process looks like 35:33 — How long it takes to sell a travel company 49:11 — Hot Minute: Is it time to transition out of your successful tour business? About the Podcast Gather and Go with Brian Jewell is a tourism industry podcast that helps group travel leaders plan, promote and lead better trips. There are also tips and insights for destination marketers and others who support the tourism trade. Each episode reaches thousands of professional tour operators, travel agents and the volunteer group leaders they serve. The audience also includes destination museum leaders, church travel leaders and other tourism enthusiasts around the world. Each show includes an interview with a smart travel pro or an insightful person from outside tourism who’s expertise can help make travel businesses better. You’ll also hear travel news, road tips and more. New episodes are released about twice monthly. You can find Gather and Go wherever your listen (https://grouptravelleader.com/podcast...) to podcasts or subscribe by email (https://grouptravelleader.com/podcast...) .