Par Excellence Lifestyle latest step in European growth plans
LONDON, UK (November 13, 2014) - Travel Leaders UK has announced that bespoke travel specialist Par Excellence Lifestyle has joined its growing portfolio of concierge-style independent agents and agencies. Danny Akhtar, the founder of the new travel, event and lifestyle management company, has more than 20 years experience serving Blue Chip companies and high-net worth individuals. He joins Travel Leaders UK, whose core brands include Protravel and Tzell UK, from an independent travel management company where he headed the VIP travel team.
Akhtar is arguably one of the travel industry’s most complete professionals, having spent his career working for major companies in both the corporate and leisure travel sectors. His CV includes tenures with major intermediaries in the business and luxury leisure travel industries, in addition to senior roles with hotel representation companies and major firms including Unilever, Citi, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and British Telecom where he established bespoke travel services for senior executives.
Akhtar said: “Having dedicated my life to serving high-end customers at the pinnacle of the market and developing relationships with the world’s foremost hotel suppliers, I felt now was the right time to start working for myself. Travel Leaders UK, with its Protravel and Tzell UK brands, gives travel professionals such as myself the platform to grow a business, provide the highest standards of service and ultimately to be profitable.
“The Travel Leaders Group’s buying power globally means we as agencies can provide our clients with the most competitive rates and fares available in the marketplace. Making bookings is, of course, the simple part. Having the support of Travel Leaders UK allows us to focus on providing the white glove service that our customers have come to expect,” concluded Akhtar.
Travel Leaders UK, part of US-based Travel Leaders Group, opened European headquarters in London in May as part of its strategy to grow the business across the Continent. Barry Whittaker, the company’s Executive Director of Business Development and Acquisition, said the introduction of Par Excellence Lifestyle was another significant step towards establishing the brand in the UK and European marketplaces.
“Danny has not only arranged travel for some of the world’s most iconic celebrities and celebrated sports stars, he also has the rich knowledge that comes with working with leading corporate brands. The introduction of his new agency to Travel Leaders UK demonstrates our ability to attract the industry’s brightest minds. Our model gives agents with established client bases the opportunity to work for themselves and grow successful businesses.”
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About Travel Leaders Group
Travel Leaders Group (www.travelleadersgroup.com) is transforming travel with a commitment to our vacation and business travel clients via our progressive approach toward each unique travel experience. Having already assisted millions of travelers – through our beginnings as Carlson Leisure Group, a division of Carlson Companies, TraveLeaders and Tzell Travel Group and through the additions of Nexion, Protravel International and Vacation.com– Travel Leaders Group manages leisure, business and franchise travel operations under a variety of diversified divisions and brands. With annual sales of approximately US $20 billion, Travel Leaders Group not only ranks as the #1 corporate travel management company by Business Travel News, but it is also among the top ten travel companies on the 2013 Travel Weekly Power List. In 2013, Entrepreneur ranked a Travel Leaders Franchise Brand #1 in the category of “Travel Agencies-Miscellaneous.”
Travel Leaders UK is made up of our two unique brands, Tzell UK and Protravel International.
With annual sales in the UK in excess of £30 million and throughout the group more than $2billion , Tzell Travel Group – as part of Travel Leaders Group – is currently ranked within the top 30 travel management companies (TMCs) in the UK, according to UK trade publication Buying Business Travel . Tzell maintains its headquarters in New York City and has offices in 20 states. Its UK & European headquarters is in London.
Tzell focuses on the needs of its agents by providing a stellar work environment an experienced leadership and industry leading support group. These elements combined with the industry’s most competitive air, hotel and leisure programmes, create the paramount that is Tzell Travel.
Protravel’s diversity of products, size of annual sales and internationally recognized stature permits them to leverage these strengths to bring the most competitive pricing and aggressive negotiations for our highly diverse client base. It is a company-wide commitment to search for the best possible travel options for our customers. Travel arrangements are personally tailored to take optimum advantage of the most up to the minute changes in the industry.
www.protravelinternational.com