Qantas’ 51pc ownership of TripADeal has caused the firm’s revenue to double

A year after Qantas bought a majority stake in TripADeal the partnership has sent the online travel agency’s sales through the roof.

Qantas’ partnership with TripADeal has lifted sales for the Byron Bay-based business. Picture: AFP

When Byron Bay travel agency TripADeal agreed to sell a 51 per cent stake to Qantas, co-founder Norm Black hoped the partnership would increase their brand awareness and sales.

A year on, his hopes have been realised beyond his wildest dreams with TripADeal’s revenue now more than double its best year pre-Covid.

“It’s probably a rare thing – the smaller privately owned business ends up with the big corporate giant and doesn’t get swallowed up,” Mr Black said.

“We’ve managed to keep our identity really clear but at the same time the (flying) kangaroo is a really trusted symbol. We’ve been excited by that extra level of trust that comes out of having Qantas involved, it’s been incredible.”

The demand for TripADeal’s curated holiday packages was also extraordinary. Mr Black said annual revenue was now well over double the $200m achieved in 2019.

He said the sort of growth being experienced was far beyond that of 2016-17, when it was named BRW’s fastest growing business in Australia.

“We’ve gone well past any projections we had ever anticipated,” said Mr Black, who founded TripADeal with friend Richard Johnston in 2011.

“There was always concern about when and how the demand for travel would return. We thought it would come back stronger but we didn’t expect it would happen so fast.”

As a result, TripADeal was now selling packages to China in “massive numbers” although Japan continued to be its top destination.

Tokyo is TripADeal’s most popular destination.

Mr Black said the “formula” of price-driven propositions providing high-quality accommodation and experiences at budget prices was a clear winner.

It also helped that travellers could book packages using Qantas frequent flyer points, and earn three points for every dollar spent.

Qantas loyalty chief executive Olivia Wirth said the airline knew giving members access to great holiday packages would be very popular but the success had exceeded all expectations.

“Redeeming points on hotels and holidays has tripled since Covid, becoming the second most popular way for members to use their points, after flying,” Ms Wirth said.

“A lot of that has to do with our investment in TripADeal. We’re continuing to see strong demand for packages and tours as people continue to prioritise spending on travel over other categories.”

Millions of frequent flyer points had been earned and redeemed through the company, including three million for a 35-day around the world tour.

Mr Black said the company was seeing a lot of repeat travellers making up for time lost to the pandemic.

“It’s not uncommon to see people booking two to three trips a year,” he said.

“We’ve got one lady there who’s booked five (trips) for the next seven months.”

Qantas revealed the highest amount of frequent flyer points earned on a holiday booking was 112,000 by an individual who booked seven tours.

After Japan, a 27-day Egypt, Jordan and Turkey tour was the most popular, followed by an 18-day European tour of Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia.

“We’ve got a lot of new product which has lit a bit of a fuse,” Mr Black said.

“Every time there’s a new offering or change of itineraries we’re having this immediate reaction.”

With so much success, it seemed likely Qantas would move to buy the entire TripADeal operation which was an option in the original arrangement.

Mr Black said there was no hurry to sell out but they would see how it “ended up”.

“That was a big part of their interest,” he said.

“But at this point we’re just enjoying the ride.”