JTB takes over Tour East

TOKYO  JTB has purchased Tour East from the group’s main shareholder, Holiday Tours and Travel.
It gives Japan’s oldest and largest tour operator control of the entire Tour East network throughout Asia, although it is understood the stock purchase for Tour East Thailand was an exception with JTB limiting its purchase to a minority 49%.
Reliable sources told TTR Weekly all Tour East companies were purchased outright except for Thailand where the 51% rule on local ownership prevented a total stock purchase.
inside-no-11JTB will have full control of the Tour East Group entities in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Malaysia when the transaction is complete.
In a media statement obtained earlier today, Tour East said: “The agreed acquisition with JTB will put Tour East on the road to further expansion and growth, as JTB’s strong brand will enable Tour East to enhance its business proposition to customers through enhanced global reach, technology, and more comprehensive products and service offerings.”
According to the short statement, dated 4 October, Holiday Tours & Travel Pte Ltd, announced that it had reached an agreement with JTB Group to sell its interest in Tour East.
The statement was forwarded to TTR Weekly earlier today by Tour East Group vice president sales and marketing, Judy Lum.
The statement read: “The completion of sale, however, remains subject to regulatory clearance and will only be effective then. It is very much business as usual for Tour East with no change to staffing and key executives.”
In Australia, Qantas is a shareholder, but the airline has not made any announcements so far on a share sale to JTB.
The Japanese tour giant has not released a media statement on the purchase, but reliable trade sources in Tokyo said the deal was signed off on late last week.
However, it is understood that in Thailand the company’s directors have said it is business as usual with no plans to lay off or change the company’s business model. Veteran travel agent, Prasert Isvapphornchai is the major shareholder of the Thai company.
Earlier in the year, JTB purchased all of Dynasty Travel’s stock for an estimated several billion yen. The Southeast Asian firm, which generated sales of 94 million Singapore dollars (USD74.2 million) in fiscal 2013, excelled in the area of package tours aimed at wealthy ethnic Chinese.
JTB handled 810,000 foreign tourists in 2013, through its group tour business and aims to serve 1.5 million in 2015.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organisation, tourist traffic from six Southeast Asian nations — Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines — leapt 48% in 2013 to about 1.15 million people. That puts the region not far behind third-ranked China, which sent 1.31 million tourists to Japan.

sourced:ttrweekly.com