- Club Travel has completed the acquisition of Maureen Delmar Travel.
- Maureen Delmar continues as managing director under her brand.
- The deal brings together corporate and leisure travel expertise.
- Clients gain access to wider supplier relationships and technology.
- Operations proceed as usual for existing customers.
Club Travel has acquired Maureen Delmar Travel, a business known for corporate travel management and retail clients.
The move combines two established names in Irish travel while the acquired company retains its brand and operations. Liam Lonergan took ownership steps to integrate the business into the Club Travel group.
Maureen Delmar will continue to manage operations under the existing brand. Clients have been assured they will experience continued service with added resources from the larger group. The acquisition process maintained personalised service levels for existing customers.
Club Travel Limited is the largest travel management company and travel agency network in Ireland with annual revenues of over €150m and maintains over €50m in accumulated cash reserves and employs over 200 to 250 travel professionals.. Established in 1971 by Liam Lonergan, who also co-founded Ryanair, the family-owned company commands major dominance in the Irish outbound market, controlling roughly 20pc of all long-haul flight sales from the country.
Its headquarters is located in the city center at 30 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1 and it is fully licensed and bonded by the Irish Aviation Authority (Licence No. TA0054), offering full financial protection on holiday funds.
The agency is known as Ireland’s original specialist in consolidated discount airfares, leveraging bulk purchasing power to secure cheap airline pricing across 55 global carriers. It provides in-house proprietary online booking tools, live traveler tracking, account consultancy, and detailed expense/carbon tracking.
The specialised group travel: division organises complex corporate meetings, incentives, conferences, and faith-based packages like dedicated Umrah spiritual tours out of Dublin.
Club Travel dominates both retail consumer holidays and business travel management through distinct brands:
- Club Travel Corporate / Atlas Travel: The corporate division serves over 250 business clients across Ireland, the UK, and Europe (including the Irish Government). It functions as the exclusive Irish affiliate for American Express Global Business Travel (GBT).
- Budget Travel & Abbey Travel: Major retail holiday brands acquired by the group to handle low-cost European sun holidays, city breaks, cruises, and custom family trips to Disneyland Paris.
- BudgetAir: An online comparison engine targeting the low-cost flight market.
- Escape2: A specialized long-haul direct division focused on luxury honeymoons and exotic holiday packages to Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.
- Go4Less: Catering largely to students and young adults arranging working-holiday visas for the USA, Canada, and Australia.
- Sports Travel: A major arm handling official sports ticketing, packages, and flights, famously acting as an official agent for events like the Rugby World Cup, Six Nations, and Premier League football matches.
It follows notable previous acquisitions by the Club Travel group including purchase of the Budget Travel brand and other major acquisitions over the past twenty years:
Liam Lonergan shared “We are delighted to welcome Maureen Delmar Travel to the Club Travel family. Maureen and her team have built an outstanding business with a strong reputation for delivering exceptional service to corporate and leisure travel clients alike. We look forward to working closely with Maureen and her team to continue supporting their valued clients while providing access to the wider resources, technology and supplier relationships of Club Travel.”
Maureen Delmar shared “I am delighted to begin this new chapter for Maureen Delmar Travel as part of the Club Travel group. This acquisition creates exciting opportunities for our business, our team and our clients. Importantly, I will continue to manage the business under the Maureen Delmar Travel brand, meaning it will be business as usual for our customers. We look forward to combining our strengths with Club Travel and building on the success we have achieved over many years.”
