Three years after opening their doors, Caledonian Travel and sister brand UKBreakaways have carried over one million people between them
Caledonian Leisure is celebrating after its Caledonian Travel and UKBreakaways brands welcomed their one millionth holiday customer just over three years since their launch. The milestone was marked with a surprise £500 gift voucher for traveller Pam Renwick as she booked her next break at Caledonian’s Travel Centre in Middlesbrough. In addition, the company gave away limited edition ‘One in a Million’ T-shirts to the first 50 bookings made at each of its seven travel centres during the week commencing Monday 16 September.
Winner Pam said: “It feels amazing, unbelievable actually!
We didn’t think it’d be us. We’ve booked a few holidays with Caledonian Travel before, we’ve done Blackpool, Torquay, Liverpool… we like Torquay, and that’s where we might spend our one millionth customer voucher.”
Managing Director Graham Rogers commented: “Reaching one million customers in just over three years is another key milestone for our business. I’d like to congratulate our lucky winners and thank every holidaymaker who has travelled with us during this time as well as our dedicated team and network of trade partners who have all played a significant role in our success. This summer we’ve experienced record-breaking sales, surpassing our daily sales records multiple times, with many customers making repeat bookings.”
Since launching in April 2021, Caledonian Travel has quickly established itself as a major operator of breaks by coach in the UK while sister company UKBreakaways, which specialises in hotel breaks, has made its mark in the entertainment and tribute breaks sector.
Caledonian Leisure says its million customer landmark comes on the back of a record financial year for the business after announcing an annual turnover of over £55million for 2023, up 37% on the previous year. Further growth is expected in the future following significant investment across many parts of the business, says the company.
Earlier this year, the company strengthened Caledonian Travel’s presence in Scotland with the acquisition of Glasgow-based operator Tartan Travel and announced new departure points in Edinburgh and the East of Scotland. Caledonian has also moved into the hotel sector with the launch of The Caledonian Hotel Collection, a range of Caledonian-branded hotels in some of its best-selling UK holiday resorts, following the investor-led acquisition of the Claymore Hotel in Arrochar, the Torbay Hotel in Torquay, Liberty’s in Blackpool and more recently the New Southlands in Scarborough.
The company also operates seven travel centres in high footfall central locations in Glasgow, Gateshead, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Hull, Leeds and Wakefield, and has expanded to operate a fleet of over 80 coaches.
Commercial Director Martin Lock added: “Hitting the one million customer milestone is an incredible achievement. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, and we continue to be motivated by the positive feedback we receive on review platforms such as Trustpilot on Feefo, with many customers frequently commenting on both the exceptional value of our breaks and the first class customer service they receive from our brands. The following on our social platforms now exceeds 250,000, including an incredibly active ‘Fan Group’ that now has over 32,000 fans. These platforms are so important to our business as we grow and develop with our customers being at the centre of all of our decisions.”
